Dennis RomeroRaves, those late-night parties fueled by ecstasy and electronic dance music, have found some unlikely allies in L.A., including L.A. city Councilman Bernard Parks and city Recreation & Parks board president Barry Sanders.
Talk about your recreation. Last summer's Electric Daisy Carnival at the publicly owned Coliseum saw more than 200 young people treated for mostly ecstasy-related “medical emergencies.”
While Parks and Sanders are cool with continuing to host big parties at the Coliseum and its sister venue the Sports Arena, an LAPD deputy chief who has seen the events up close, Patrick Gannon, just says no to raves.
The website CityWatch on Friday praised Gannon for, in its estimation, telling it like it is when it comes to raves, which have seen ecstasy-related deaths not only last summer (when a 15-year-old who had attended EDC succumbed to a toxic overdose) but at previous events at the city/county/state-run Coliseum and Sports Arena.
Says Gannon:
“I know they're [raves are] wrong. It's been a huge problem for us. We've had overloaded trauma rooms. Am I really overly concerned? I think we are sanctioning things at these types of events. I have listened to other parents and spoken to kids who have overdose on ecstasy and they have serious brain injuries … To me, there's just not enough you can do to protect kids.”
A scene from 'EDC.'; Credit: Timothy Norris
The deputy chief has increased the usual number of badges he sends to events at the Coliseum and Sports Arena by 200, raising the question of who should pay for all those extra cops — you, the taxpayer, or the promoters.
Parks has said the extra officers are not needed and therefore the promoters shouldn't have to foot the bill.
In any case, Gannon's concerns have fallen on deaf ears. The Coliseum Commission, the public body charged with regulating events at that venue and at the Sports Arena, says raves are okay as long as they're 18-and-older and promoters come to it beforehand for its rubber stamp.
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