Approximately 10 000 kids in Toronto ranging from 13 years of age to their mid-twenties are catching the rave craze every weekend. Though raves have just surfaced onto the radar map of mainstream culture, they have been going on in Toronto for over a decade.

For the uninformed, raves are weekly all-night electronic music dance parties, which are described by police, social workers and politicians as one of the fastest growing - and most worrisome - social trends among teens.

Are teens aware of the harm raving can cause them? Could going to parties, using illegal substances, and dancing until the break of dawn possibly be bad for you? "Yes," states one OAC Jarvisite, "but it's worth it. I'd rather live a happy short life than a crappy long one."

Amanda Finkle, another OAC Jarvis student, agrees. "I go to raves because it's fun...the atmosphere is great! Everyone is having fun and people dress up for them."

When asked what they like about raves, many adolescents comment on their ambience. Everyone seems happy, like one big family; everyone is accepted. "[Raves] are a place where you are with a family of friends that gets together to bond and unite without prejudice to one another," states Adrian Segeren, 18. "It's a place where frowns become smiles, where smiles become truth... and handshakes become hugs."

This is one of the reasons why the rave scene is so popular: the outcasts of the outcasts find love here. Although it is the ravers who have the fattest pants, make the best moves, do the most drugs, and have the longest partying history who tend to be the most popular, it does not take much to feel special here. Everyone likes feeling special, feeling wanted, and raves are where many turn to have these emotional needs met.

But despite the rave philosophy of PLUR (Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect), there is still something of a hierarchical and elitist society at work in rave culture. "You dance well, you get noticed," says Jay, a former Jarvisite. "At a party if someone isn't dressed like a raver, a lot of people feel they don't belong there. I used to look at someone's fat pants and automatically assume that I had something in common with them."

Substance abuse is another reason why raves are popular. Paul, 22, feels that the "drugs [at the raves] make this 'love' even more apparent."

Eight out of 10 Jarvis students surveyed recently admitted that they went to raves under the influence of drugs. One reason for this is that drugs are more readily available at raves than they are at school or at work. Upon walking into a rave, one might be offered drugs such as "e" (also known as "ecstasy" or methylenedioxymethamphetamine, MDMA), "crystal" (also a methamphetemine), "k" (ketamine), "acid" (LSD), or GHB (Gamma Hydroxy Butyrate) several times within moments of arriving.

"I think people use 'e' because it makes you feel good. I did it the first time out of pure curiosity, because it sounded interesting," says Paul. According to the people who take it, ecstasy is an attractive drug because it induces feelings of deep peace, euphoria, a closeness and empathy with others, and enhances the senses.

While the psychological effects of drugs like 'e' may be pleasant, their physical effects can be very hard on the body.

"People told me that 'e' doesn't cause brain damage, that it's safe. That's why I tried it," says a 15 year-old raver. This is not necessarily true. The New England Journal of Medicine has documented cases wherein MDMA is suspected to have caused neurotoxic reactions in humans that ranged from memory loss to parkinsonianism. It is also known to lower the levels of serotonin, a fluid that aids in regulating moods, in the brain and spine. Low levels of serotonin can result in cases of depression and anxiety.

The long-term effects of ecstasy are difficult for medical science to study because the purity of the drug is always in question. One 1998 study of samples of street ecstasy, found that 83% of the pills analysed contained no MDMA whatsoever.

Crystal (a.k.a. "jib" and "meth") is another popular rave drug that is derived from methamphetamine. It is both psychologically and physically addictive, and a favourite in the rave scene because it keeps people up on their feet dancing. "It's like being really awake and nervous at the same time," explains Jay.

That's while the effects of the drug are at their peak, but coming down off of crystal is another story. Jamie, 18, describes what it felt like when the crystal she had been taking wore off. "I felt hungry, then nauseous...very jittery and fidgety and my teeth were grinding...and when I finally came down, I was exhausted." Crystal users commonly complain of experiencing withdrawal sickness, feeling extremely tired, ravenously hungry, irritable, and depressed when they stop taking any of the meth derivatives.

LSD is also gaining in popularity amongst ravers. It sells for $5 a hit (as compared to 'e', which can cost anywhere between $25-45 per tab), lasts 12 hours, and definitely provides the user with an escape route away from reality. The down side is that it often causes insomnia, and may trigger psychotic or depressive behaviours.

Sammy, a 19-year-old raver, shares her experience: "I had a bad trip once. I saw this path like Bugs Bunny...digging a tunnel...in a cartoon... And it travelled over certain people, then to me. I heard a voice tell me to stand up on a path, but there was no one there. It'd tell me that it was my turn to get on the path, and when I'd try to get away from it, out of the warehouse and walk forward...I couldn't. I could only walk sideways...I broke down and started to cry."

"I'm never going to do acid again. I had deep bad emotions, remembered things I didn't want to," says Paul. These experiences, called "flashbacks", are common in acid users. A flashback is the replay of an intense emotional experience in the user's head, such as the death of a loved one, the moment one discovers that one is in love, a past traumatic event, or even the trip itself.

One of the most dangerous drugs available to ravers is "K". "[I use it because] it makes me feel detached from the rest of the world, living in a happier space," says Jaime. But that 'happier space' Jaime mentions comes with a price tag: ketamine is a disassociative. Consciousness, memory, perception and motor activity are all disassociated from each other. Depending on the user, the drug may also be highly addictive. It may cause brain damage and trigger psychosis, seizures, depression, and other neurological and psychological diseases. Veterinarians use ketamine as a cat tranquilizer. "K is fun, but I'd never do it again," states Paul. "I'd rather drink if I wanted to feel that way, plus it is safer."

Of course, not every raver goes out to get high. In fact, a significant number of ravers feel that it is unnecessary. "I think it's worth it to go sober, because you still have fun," states Gaby, Grade 11.

Finkle agrees. "I go sober," she says. "I've never tried any drugs...I'm afraid of trying it...I have other things more important to me."

One former Jarvisite raver, stopped going to raves because the temptation to take drugs was too much. "[I went to parties] for the music and to escape from reality. I don't go anymore. I went because I wanted to have fun, to take drugs, to get high."

Whether you choose to take drugs or not, there are other things to consider before setting out for a night of fun. Attending raves, even when sober, can be dangerous. At the Effective (a production company) rave this past August a teenage girl was raped. Someone had slipped GHB into her drink and she was sexually assaulted.

In the rave scene, there is a big movement against the use of GHB, which is gaining a reputation as the new date rape drug ("roofies", or rophynol, is the traditional drug of choice amongst date rapists). GHB is also known as "liquid ecstasy", because in dosages of only 0.5g it causes feelings of relaxation, inner-peace and happiness. But taking only slightly more can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, headaches, confusion, dizziness, seizures, comas and even a cessation of breathing. When mixed with alcohol the chances of overdose and death are greatly increased. "[GHB] made me feel like I was really drunk, drowsy, disorientated. Then I felt sick and threw up," noted Kari, a 19-year-old raver and a first-time user.

Staying out all night dancing is also unhealthy. The body is not only deprived of a good night's rest, but is overworked too (ravers tend to stay up on their feet, dancing for hours) and deprived of quality water. The bottled water that is sold at raves ranges in price between $1.50 and $3.00, and a body that dances and sweats profusely needs more than just one. As a result, ravers fill their bottles up in the washroom. Sometimes the venues' owners turn off the water supply, resulting in the dehydration for many ravers. That lack of water can be fatal.

The location of many rave parties is another serious hazard. Raves often take place in warehouses where there is no running water, no washrooms, no medical aid, no fire extinguishers, fire alarms or sprinklers, insufficient exits, and hazardous materials stored on site. When the police became aware of this they started shutting them down. Raves are now only legally allowed to be held in aboveground, rented spaces like the International Centre and the Toronto Congress Centre.

These locations are a big improvement, and under the watchful eye of the police who are hired to patrol these venues, raves are becoming a bit safer. But that doesn't mean the underground scene is dead. Not yet, anyway.

Geneviève Pagulayan, 18, is an OAC student at Jarvis Collegiate Institute in Toronto.