Dennis RomeroWe're not sure if e-tards will look at a public service announcement and renounce their drug-taking ways, but your tax dollars will be put to work to that end anyway.
The county of Los Angeles is producing a public service announcement that warns about the dangers of ecstasy, according to a letter from Department of Public Health director Jonathan Fielding.
In response to summer's ecstasy related death of 15-year-old Sasha Rodriguez, who had attended a rave at the city/county/state-controlled Los Angeles Coliseum, the PSA will feature hit-maker Will.i.am and electronic music star Kaskade, according to Fielding.
It would hopefully be aired at raves, on social networking sites, and at online ticket destinations.
“The PSA will include harm reduction messages by major electronic music talents, including Kaskade, and Will.i.am,” Fielding writes. “DPH will encourage promoters to broadcast the PSA at the event and online through their websites and other relevant social networking sites, and will work to get online ticket outlets to show the PSA at the point of purchase.”
The crowd at Electric Daisy Carnival, courtesy of your taxpayer-run Coliseum Commission.
Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas has been espousing the electronic dance music sound in the last few years, even DJing at raves and clubs. Bay Area-based Kaskade, clean-cut and Mormon-raised, is one of American dance music's biggest stars.
In the meantime, Fielding urged the county Board of Supervisors to adapt the recommendations of a county rave task force: The ideas, he says, should be used as “general policy direction for all electronic music festivals in Los Angeles County within your jurisdiction.”
The task force's ideas, already implemented at the Coliseum and Sports Arena, include an 18-and-older policy with ID checks, increased medical personnel at-the-ready, and tighter security.
Of course, that would likely do little to prevent a teenager from pocketing a pill and downing it, but it certainly would let county officials cover their asses if anything like Sasha Rodriguez's plight happened again.
June's Electric Daisy Carnival set off the controversy over raves. It saw more than 200 medical emergencies, lots of gatecrashing, and about 60 mostly drug-related arrests. Additionally, Rodriguez, only 15, attended the party and died a few days later from an ecstasy overdose.
Among those invited to be on the county rave task force was EDC's organizer, Pasquale Rotella, the promoter of other major Sports Arena events, Reza Gerami, promoters Owen Gonzales and Jaime Munoz, DJ Fei-Fei Wang, and URB magazine editor Joshua Glazer.
The task force was made up mostly of Coliseum officials, medical professionals and some cops.
Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.