The rave trend just keeps growing, and so are the controversies surrounding them.

The giant, all-night dance parties can attract thousands of people and can be a lot of fun. But there also is a dark side that's bringing on calls to shut raves down.

Raves can give young people a sense of community and belonging. But on top of the fun, there are continuous problems with drugs and raves in illegal locations -- and that's why police often shut the parties down.

In Toronto, Ontario, alone, there have been three drug-related deaths at raves since July .

The story is similar elsewhere in Canada: In Halifax, Nova Scotia a young man died last September after overdosing on ecstasy -- an illegal drug often used by ravers. In Montreal, Quebec, police have raided raves looking for illegal drugs. One raid last summer sparked a confrontation between police and ravers .

The powerful drugs that are often part of youth rave culture are dangerous, warn the experts.

With exotic-sounding names like ecstasy, blue nitro or special K, ravers say, drugs provide the energy to get them through a night of high energy dancing and partying at the events which, as a rule, are alcohol-free.

The Toronto-based Centre for Addiction and Mental Health has just completed a survey of young people in Ontario.

"The 1999 survey results confirm the continuing upswing in drug use among Ontario youth that we have been seeing since 1993," says Dr. Edward Adlaf. "During the '80s we witnessed large declines in student drug use. However, since 1993 use of drugs has been moving upward, to the point where current rates do not differ appreciably from the late '70s."

Dr. Stephen Kish, another scientist at the center, is studying the effects of ecstasy .

"You can die from ecstasy and it's not necessary to overdose," says Dr. Kish. `` The blood levels don't have to be that high for you to die from the drug, we know that.''

Sandy Watter, a Toronto community health worker, says the best they can hope to do is to provide information on how to use the drugs safely.

`` People are going to experiment. People are going to take risks. That's just something that's natural to human beings," said Watter, who works with the Toronto Rave Information Project.

1. When have there been three drug-related deaths at raves?