Ecstasy is all the rave

Erin Neff

Sunday, July 16, 2000 | 10:19 a.m.

Every weekend young Las Vegas emerges at nightfall to cast away the rigors of student life and entry-level jobs in an orgy of dance and unity.

From all-night raves in remote desert locations to the corporate mimicking of that scene in nightclubs, the twirling bodies seek not just space to dance freely, but often a little help in opening up.

These days mother's little helper increasingly comes in a small colored pill called ecstasy, whose use nationwide is soaring among the under-30 crowd.

"The reason this drug is so popular is that ecstasy helps them in their party atmosphere," said Todd Raybuck, a Metro Police narcotics detective. "It's a mild hallucinogenic with a small stimulant that increases their senses."

Try as he might to separate raves from ecstasy, party promoter Chad Craig's anti-drug messages on the invites don't keep the pills away.

"I've always preached on my fliers, 'Quit being dumb asses,' " said Craig, 23, who has promoted raves in both a warehouse and the desert for the past two years. "I'm out there to promote art and music. The people selling the drugs are going to (screw) it up for us."

The majority of the 1,500 people who attended Craig's recent A.Way.Of.Life (A.W.O.L.) Productions rave in a remote industrial area off Blue Diamond Road were, in fact, sober.

But E-puddles -- the 14- and 15-year-olds slumped over on the ground away from the dancers after taking too many pills -- still dotted the venue.

"I'm rollin' real hard," said one 17-year-old boy at Craig's event last Saturday.

"When you're rolling on E you just feel like you can talk to everybody," he said, throwing his arm around his cousin as much for support as affection. "I can just open up and tell him things and feel really close to him."

Brian Alvarez, a 26-year-old UNLV student known better as Paco at local raves, has been attending the techno-music driven parties since the early 1990s. He first tried ecstasy about five years ago, and has recently attended raves sober to distribute information about ravers' civil liberties.

Unlike other drugs he had tried, Alvarez said ecstasy brought him no loss of self-control and an overwhelming feeling of contentment.

"The music seemed more understandable," Alvarez said. "The feeling was the most happy feeling. It literally dumps your happy juices."

Ecstasy, or MDMA (3-4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine), is an acute anti-depressant that essentially triggers the release of serotonin in the user's brain. Originally developed by Germans for psychiatric therapy, the pills are now illegal, selling for about $20 to $30 apiece.

U.S. Customs has confiscated 5.4 million ecstasy pills nationwide in the first six months of the 2000 fiscal year, compared with 3.5 million confiscated in all of fiscal year 1999.

Metro's narcotics unit has also seen a spike in ecstasy sales locally.

"We believe it's going to continue to be the up and coming thing," said Metro Sgt. Keith Carter. "The clientele is a big wide range, male and female, between 18 and 28. It's a lot of people."

Ecstasy is nonaddictive and favored predominantly by middle class whites as a safe drug.

"Ecstasy-related deaths are rarer than hen's teeth," said Dr. Steven Karch, a San Francisco-based drug researcher who also serves as physician for Las Vegas Fire & Rescue. "It's not a toxic drug when it comes to the heart, but there is mounting evidence of long-term neurological damage."

The biggest short-term danger in taking ecstasy is an increased body temperature. Serotonin, the chemical released into your brain when ecstasy is taken, helps regulate mood and body temperature.

Frenetic dancing, especially in a hot warehouse packed with people, can lead to dehydration and heat stroke.

Perhaps the most dangerous aspect of taking ecstasy is getting a pill that isn't MDMA.

DXM, a cough suppressant, has been found in green triangle- and clover-shaped pills sold as ecstasy nationwide. Taking MDMA with DXM only heightens the possibility for heat stroke, as DXM prevents sweating.

"Kids are using it expecting it to be ecstasy," Raybuck said.

At Craig's recent rave, a local chapter of DanceSafe distributed information about a variety of club drugs. Kids picked up color postcards detailing ecstasy, LSD, mushrooms, ketamine and GHB.

DanceSafe, a national organization committed to "harm reduction," also tests pills for people at raves. Testing can tell users whether the pill they have is MDMA, DXM or speed.

"Educating the kids is probably the best thing we can do for them," said Al Glatts, one of two coordinators of the local DanceSafe chapter called LOUD. "If you're going to choose to do an illicit drug of any type, it's better to know what the effects are."

Craig doesn't allow LOUD to test drugs at his raves because he said that sends the message that drug use is permitted at his parties.

Recent attention by national media, including a network television undercover report of an underage Phoenix party, has caused local officials to crack down on all parties, he said.

Craig claims that at one of his past events a Metro Police officer approached him and said, "I know all the kids in there are on ecstasy, but they're all inside and they're peaceful and I don't care."

After a "Dateline" story aired on NBC, police and licensing officials weren't as accommodating, he said.

Craig was arrested following a May event that Metro closed down for licensing reasons. He was cited for operating without a business license and was also charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a charge that was later dismissed.

"I want to work within the system," Craig said. "I have an ambulance at every party and double security and all the permits. I am trying to do everything right."

Michelle Emert, a 23-year-old raver who writes about the Las Vegas scene for national electronic music magazine Lotus, said the political fight to save the all-night parties is a bigger issue locally than the drugs.

"There was one party and they had every single permit, but basically what they do is nitpick," Emert said. "I don't know where the pressure is coming from. All the media focuses on are the drugs.

"But we really look out for each other," she added.

A dozen youths at Craig's most recent rave went out of their way to extol the virtues of the parties.

"It's so about peace and love and unity and respect," said a 21-year-old called Fascination at raves.

"Everybody is happy," added a 15-year-old called Smiley.

"These are all people who care," said a girl called Dreamer.

Raves are filled with such idealism.

One 16-year-old brought $70 so he could buy water for everyone to keep dancers from dehydrating. Bumping into someone in the crowded dance area led to immediate apologies.

Ravers part with beaded necklaces and bracelets, called candy, as tokens of friendship.

But other accessories of the rave scene aren't as cheerful, and some, like 18-year-old Marissa, say the happiness is often the ecstasy "opening people up."

Many dancers suck pacifiers to keep their teeth from chattering because of the effects of the drug.

Others, including a 19-year-old boy calling himself Dimples, wear medical masks to sniff Vicks vapor rub and other menthol ointments to sharpen their highs and cool them off.

Glow sticks flash through the night sky in colorful arcs to the beat of the repetitive music. For some it's simply performance art, while others wave the sticks in front of their friend's dilated eyes to help heighten the light sensitivity that ecstasy brings.

The so-called candy culture borrows cartoon characters. So an Elmo T-shirt fits right in with cat woman masks, glittered hair and metallic shirts.

But Hello Kitty, Sonic the Hedgehog and a dancing red M&M seemed sorely out of place at the bottom of a message posted on a local website devoted to the Las Vegas rave scene.

The subject line read: "OD Question!! Very (expletive) serious help fast!!"

"Alright this chick took some e ... and she said her heart is hella beating fast and she cant breath ... does she need to eat drink? hurry (expletive) very serious."

The person's e-mail with the panicky questions -- posted after Craig's rave -- was accompanied by the happy graphics.

And the dozen or so responses to the writer's query offered as many solutions as the diverse rave scene could muster.

"What did she take? Cuz I heard that some of the purple pills going around had like GHB or something in em," read one.

"Don't take E and you won't have a problem," countered another.

"Just relax and roll with it," offered a third.

Alvarez, who mans a "Rock the Vote, Save the Rave" booth at parties, said he thinks the events should be limited to those 18 and older -- a rule Craig has at his raves.

"A lot of these younger ravers are taking these drugs without the education," Alvarez said. "Nobody wants to see someone on the floor oblivious to the world."

In California, where some DJs draw more than 30,000 ravers to a single event, it is easier for drugs to flow openly.

Security workers at Craig's event routinely patted people down looking for drugs and frisked everyone entering the venue.

While Las Vegas may never draw a crowd like one recent rave outside of San Francisco that drew 50,000, Craig is setting his sights on the neighboring state.

Saturday he was in Southern California promoting A.W.O.L. events at a rave there with hopes of drawing crowds to Vegas "for smaller parties like they used to have."

Even if the local raves do grow, Michael Shulman, who frequently goes to Las Vegas clubs, said the parties will largely remain underground. But the ecstasy won't.

"If your club doesn't have a few people rolling on ecstasy, you're not going to be a club for very much longer," Shulman said. "You can put on the blinders, play Nancy Reagan and 'Just say no,' but that's not going to cut it."

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