cannabisnews.com: Morris Hopes to Close Door on 'Raves' 





Morris Hopes to Close Door on 'Raves' 
Posted by FoM on June 30, 1999 at 11:36:01 PT
By Kenneth Lovett
Source: Bergen Record Online
Morris County is considering banning "raves" after one such overnight dance party over the weekend led to the drug arrests of 77 people and the hospitalization of 15 others.
The "Funk-E" rave attracted 4,000 people to the county-run Mennen Sports Arena in Morris Township."We are going to do everything possible to prevent it from coming to Morris County again," said County Administrator James Rosenberg.An offspring of the 1960s, when the counterculture music and drug scenes became intertwined, the rave culture was officially spawned in Manchester, England, in the late 1980s. Raves feature heart-pounding electronic music, dancing, and, often, mind-altering drugs such as Ecstasy, a methamphetamine derivative, and "Special K," or ketamine, used clinically as an animal tranquilizer.Raves, which made their way to the United States in the early 1990s, attract mainly young adults and are popular in New York and Boston, where they are often held in abandoned warehouses. But they also spring up in smaller areas, and to a degree have become more commercial, with promoters renting out more public spaces. They are usually promoted a week or so in advance, through word of mouth and -- in recent years -- on the Internet."It's all about the music. It's all about the vibe. It's all about the people," said one raver in an Internet posting.Morris County officials say they were unaware the promoters were planning a rave party when they booked the arena several months ago for the all-night dance event, which ran from 8 p.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. Sunday. County officials say they were told the event would be alcohol- and drug-free and was to be a battle of the disc jockeys.But about a week before the dance, the Prosecutor's Office was alerted to an advertisement on a rave Web site promoting the event, which ultimately attracted 4,000 people from across New Jersey and Massachusetts, and from as far away as Texas and West Virginia, said Lt. William Smith of the Morris County Park Police.To find out what to expect, police officials contacted departments in Asbury Park, upstate New York, and Florida, where raves had been staged. The response: plenty of people and plenty of drugs, Smith said.As a result, the security staff was bolstered with an undercover operation that involved several county and local law enforcement agencies.Thirteen of those arrested were charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance with the intent to sell, Smith said. Three were charged with aggravated assault and two were booked on weapons charges. The rest were charged with possessing or being under the influence of drugs.Twenty-eight people were treated at the scene by medical crews; 15 others were taken to local hospitals for observation, police said. All were released after treatment for drug intoxication."The funny thing was they seemed like nice kids, very respectful," Smith said. "At first sight, they wouldn't strike me as stoners."The Morris County Parks Commission was due to discuss the situation at a meeting Monday night.But those hoping for an easy, quick solution to future problems will be disappointed."It's a public building open for rental," Rosenberg said. "It's kind of difficult to just impose a ban."County Freeholder Frank Druetzler said he couldn't remember a similar event in his 58 years living in Morris County."To me this is bringing the drug scene out here in Morris County," Druetzler said. "I believe people recognize that and you'll never see it here again."Other communities have grappled with the problem. In Seattle, for instance, a teen dance ordinance prohibits those under the age of 18 and over the age of 21 from dancing together in certain buildings unless off-duty police are hired for security -- which makes it cost-prohibitive to hold such events.Jim Florio (no relation to the former governor), whose Deal-based One Productions promoted the event, said he went through all the proper county channels.Rosenberg said there are several options Morris County can explore to discourage rave promoters from returning.The county could require promoters to cover all costs for the event, including cleanup, police, and emergency crews. For this event, One Productions paid the county a $2,750 rental fee, $18,500 for police and ambulance service, and agreed to pay 5 percent of the gross proceeds to the Parks Commission.But the county will be on the hook for a substantial amount when the costs for cleanup and the 60 additional officers are totaled, Rosenberg said. Officials are reviewing whether there is any way to recoup the money from the promoter.Rosenberg said the county can also discourage rave promoters by establishing a midnight cutoff time for events and imposing a time limit on the number of hours an event can run.The county could also require up-front disclosure of the type of event being scheduled with the threat of cancellation if the information is misleading, he said."We must ensure all the bases are covered in the future to make sure this doesn't happen again," Rosenberg said.According to one Internet site, a host of raves will be held across the country this weekend, including Brooklyn, Burlington, Vt.; Cambridge, Mass.; and Pittsburgh.This article contains material from The Associated Press.http://www.bergen.com/morris/ravekl199906291.htm
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Comment #1 posted by Someone on June 28, 2001 at 23:01:16 PT
Something I have noticed:
If someone ever writes the word "rave" in "quotation marks" you may as well ignore them from then on, because they have nothing intelligent to say on the subject....."The funny thing was they seemed like nice kids, very respectful," Smith said. "At first sight, they wouldn't strike me as stoners."This quote speaks volumes.
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