Readers React: Could better drug education have prevented two rave deaths?

To the editor: One pill makes you happy, one pill makes you die. The tragic deaths of two young women from suspected drug overdoses at the L.A. County Fairplex in Pomona last weekend only compound the many instances of naive innocents not knowing about the effects of drug use. (“L.A. county supervisors vote to study a ban on raves after latest deaths,” Aug. 4)

Face it: There is a plethora of drugs, legal and illegal, and people must be educated about what is harmful and what is not necessarily harmful except in combination with alcohol and other drugs. For example, is it dangerous for a man take a blood pressure pill, then a Manhattan and then a Viagra? This is all legal, but is the combination safe?

Addicts may have the drug sophistication to know what is dangerous. Girls who just want to have fun should not die out of ignorance.

Kurt Sipolski, Palm Desert

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To the editor: I attend raves and music festivals in Hawaii (where I am a student) and Los Angeles. I feel very safe at the music events. All provide thorough security, but there is no way the organizers can prevent attendees from taking drugs in the parking lot or while standing in line.

It’s ludicrous for Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis to demand stronger measures. Political posturing is the headlining act here.

These two women didn’t die from a stage collapsing or stampeding fans. They died from taking drugs. It was a personal decision that the Hard Summer organizers could not have prevented.

Let’s concentrate on the thousands of other people who attended the festival and didn’t overdose.

Morgan Brock, Honolulu

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To the editor: Two deaths occurred at the Hard Summer music festival. As a result, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors is calling for a ban on raves.

Proponents of the raves can cite their 1st Amendment right of assembly. But as the role of the government is primarily to keep its citizens safe, the supervisors are rightly looking for ways to prevent more deaths.

Why, then, is it not the government’s responsibility to prevent tragedies by banning guns in spite of the 2nd Amendment?

Joan Gosewisch, Encinitas, Calif.

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