Parties to die for

Parties these days can be hazardous to the health, especially those wild, hypnotic bashes known on the street as raves. This holiday season when teenagers have their time off from school, chances are good that somebody somewhere will be hosting a rave.

Here’s the scenario: Hundreds of young people gather in a discreet location, ostensibly to listen to music. Soon, overheated bodies writhe and convulse from the dangerous effects of designer drugs, a mainstay on the rave party menu.

Cops and parents shudder at the thought of young drivers leaving a rave and trying to negotiate the canyon roads, numbed by the effects of Ecstasy, Ketamine (an animal tranquilizer), alcohol, and pot.

GHB (gamma hydroxy butyrate), the date rape drug, is perhaps the most popular elixir. "Liquid ecstasy" is available in small plastic bottles, about the size and shape of a hotel shampoo bottle. One dose is usually a capful. There are approximately nine hits per bottle, and at $10 a bottle, not only is this drug potent, it’s affordable.

The stone cold truth is that amateur chemists use whatever ingredients they can find, and the kids are getting sick.

If you talk to the young people, the reason they go to raves is the music, but it’s really just an excuse to gather and use drugs, law enforcement officials say.

Rave parties aren’t prevalent in this area, but the heavy teen population still gets invited to them elsewhere—in the Valley and in Hollywood. Raves are advertised by word of mouth, or by underground fliers passed out at the local high school campuses.

This holiday season, if your teen wants to stay out for the night, try to find out the particulars. Know your child, and know your child’s friends. Information could be the key to survival.