Don’t rave about it

The dictionary meaning of the word ‘rave’ is to ‘talk wildly, as in delirium.’ For a younger crowd, substitute dance, for talk. Though the rave party concept is old, even prehistoric by today’s standards, since it began in the 1960s, it continues to appeal to the hip youngsters of today for its mixture of a mood of abandon, electronic music and sadly, drugs.

Rave parties are quite common in parts of Goa, and in and around Mumbai too and occasionally, when the police gets to know of them, they get busted, as happened over the weekend. The Pune cops walked in, disguised as party goers, and arrested nearly 300 youngsters from different parts of the country.

It’s interesting to note that the cyber and economic crimes cell of the police picked up information on the party, since the word on the rave had been spread through a website. Even more intriguing is the fact that the party took place on Holi weekend, when Indian revelers traditionally imbibe bhang, a derivative of the cannabis or hemp plant.

As it always tends to happen, whenever a rave party is raided, reports tell us that among those who were arrested were call centre employees, air hostesses and students. The sub-text is clearly that these are the ‘types’ who routinely go in for such degenerate events and take drugs.

Let us look at the big picture here. The main drugs caught were marijuana, hashish, charas and ganja, all derivatives of hemp. A few synthetic party drugs were also found.
By all means even token drug taking must not be condoned, more so since it is illegal. But the thrust of the anti-drug effort of the police and other authorities should be on the cartels, the big drug dealers, the financiers.

It is no secret that India, and specifically Mumbai, is a major point on the international drug trade. It is used as a port for clearance and as the entry point for an important market. This cannot possibly happen without the involvement of local gangs and even the co-operation and connivance of local authorities. The drugs available at a rave party have travelled through a supply chain — that chain needs to be snapped.

Cultures around the world have grappled with the problem of drugs; some of the users turn criminal, while others are largely harmless. In the UK, the government is trying to understand why its tough anti-drug policy has failed. Public policy has to take all factors into account and come up with appropriate responses. No one is advocating libertarian excess, but the state’s intervention must be in proportion to the crime and move with the times.