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<title>blogTO Recent Comments: Comfort Zone Busted in Early Morning Raid (Again)</title>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/feed/recentcomments/?9161</link>
<description>Comments recently made in this post on blogTO</description>
<copyright>Copyright 2009</copyright>
<lastBuildDate>Sat, 21 Nov 2009 23:23:30 PST</lastBuildDate>
<item>
<title>john abbott</title>
<description><![CDATA[
i have heard from a source that the owners changed about a month before the first raid and the new owner was not paying off the cops and thus leading to the raids.]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c286433</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c286433</guid>
<category>Toronto, City</category>
<pubDate>Sun, 01 Jun 2008 22:48:45 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>mark</title>
<description><![CDATA[
There definitely seems to be a wide variety of opinions here.  I will say that in my short lived late-night/early morning clubbing days, I went to CZ only once.  Let's just say that after this experience "dancing" with some of the most dodgy people in the GTA and walking through a busy Chinatown at noon on a Sunday f*cked out of my tree, I never went back and gave up that life for good.

So I thank CZ for being so sketchy that I never wanted to go back.

The fact is that while the police may have been wrong to be heavy handed with the patrons, the club itself profits off the illegal drug trade.  Who are we kidding here?  No one goes to CZ at 10AM on a Sunday because they really love house music.]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c279568</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c279568</guid>
<category>Toronto, City</category>
<pubDate>Wed, 30 Apr 2008 11:36:35 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>EB</title>
<description><![CDATA[
Kevin Bracken said: "Also, if drugs were legal, people would probably use high-quality cocaine nasal spray, not crack. Yes, you can actually drink as much alcohol as you can afford, but you don't, do you? The social etiquette surrounding drug use would be the same as alcohol: recreational drugs are meant to be used, for the most part, at night and on weekends, and not at all if you're going to be driving."

Hopelessly naive. Do you honestly think an addict ? and let?s not fool ourselves because crack use WILL eventually lead to addiction -  is going to be inclined to purchase "high-quality cocaine nasal spray?" Hell no, they?ll go for whatever?s cheapest. There's plenty of high-end quality booze available and yet some people still prefer to chug Listerine.

Kevin, I?d love to see you look into the eyes of someone who?s lost a loved one to the horrors of drug addiction and tell them the police were wrong for cracking down on drug dealers. Your knee-jerk anti-police sentiments are misplaced.

While you?re at it, check out the Globe & Mail?s documentary on Raven and Jason, two addicts struggling on the streets of Vancouver. Pay special attention to the part where Raven says they had been clean for a while but found themselves lured back into drug use because some well-meaning but effing clueless outreach worker gave them a crack kit.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/ravenandjason]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c277195</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c277195</guid>
<category>Toronto, City</category>
<pubDate>Mon, 21 Apr 2008 13:34:54 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>SCREWFACE</title>
<description><![CDATA[
Happy Belated 420 Everyone!

Or is there another designated day for other fucked up drugs? ]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c277161</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c277161</guid>
<category>Toronto, City</category>
<pubDate>Mon, 21 Apr 2008 12:16:47 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>shaun</title>
<description><![CDATA[
The abuse of legal prescription drugs far outnumbers the abuse of illegal drugs, if you exclude alcohol and tobacco.

For everyone who has a problem with people that use illegal drugs you should know that many illegal drugs (like heroin) are very similar to legal drugs. In fact, most prescription drugs come from exactly the same place and are made of the same ingredients as illegal ones.

I make this point because everyone reading this blog probably knows somebody that is taking a legal drug very similar to heroin. They don't tell kids at school this, and people grow up thinking that (illegal) drug users are bad people, leading some people to believe that drug users and people with substance abuse problems are bad and need to be put in prison. 

Illegal drug use (and abuse) happens for a number of reasons (i.e. brain chemistry, personal behaviour). It would cost less to treat drug abuse as a medial problem and not a criminal one. It would also help the person or people affected by substance abuse a lot more.  

These aren't so much my opinions ads they are facts. Talk to (addiction) doctors, social workers, the wonderful folks at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and (heads of) police. They will all tell you the same story. ]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c276001</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c276001</guid>
<category>Toronto, City</category>
<pubDate>Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:08:30 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>tony</title>
<description><![CDATA[
I also wanted to point out that this vendetta against the CZ started before the overdose. On NYE, I was told after leaving the CZ party that the police were in the street behind taking IDs from everyone who was leaving the CZ and running ID checks. They apparently also roughed up some kid.  In my 4 years of occassionally patronizing this establishment, I have never heard of police using this heavy handed of a tactic. Sure, I know they did walk throughs on occassion or would harrass 1 or 2 people here or there that were leaving, but to set up a so called checkpoint behind the CZ is a first time occurence. So it is my belief that there is something deeper here beyond the overdose, which only served as a catalyst, a reason if you will for the raid. Why suddenly target the CZ (even before the overdose) after 12 years (or more) of operation is beyond me. At first, it looks like political posturing and public grandstanding to John Q Public, but I believe it goes beyond that. Development agenda? I dunno. Maybe pressure from other clubs? Maybe cause owners supposedly changed a while back? I dunno. Harper's conservative agenda? Thats probably part of it. 

I also wanted to note that here in Ohio, a citizens group recently put forth a bill in the house which passed which limits all adult entertainment- dancers and customers must never have contact (3 ft rule?) and all nude entertainment must stop by midnight (ie pasties). The result, here in C-town? Customers have disappeared, a few clubs have closed, dancers make no money. To make up for the loss of income, they are doing private booze parties that roam throughout the city every weekend. These are unregulated and put the dancers at great risk. 
The same thing will happen in Toronto to the "scene" as they call it. You drive it underground, and it makes it dangerous for everyone, especially women. At least over the years, the CZ could be monitored. Given the few incidents it has had over the years (there have been a few as pointed out by an angry poster in the last article about the first raid), I would say it has a fairly good track record. ]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c274565</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c274565</guid>
<category>Toronto, City</category>
<pubDate>Thu, 10 Apr 2008 08:16:43 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>tony</title>
<description><![CDATA[
Letter to the editor:
Although I was not present as I now live in the United States, there were a number of troublesome issues that arose from what happened. 
First, the raid was the result of an overdose that took place back in January. The individual in question apparently had been up since Friday and apparently stopped in at the CZ on Sunday. During this time, we was taking numerous drugs and apparently returned to his home in Burlington before he overdosed on GHB. The CZ was then targeted during this raid because of the overdose. The raid effectively assigns liability for his death to the CZ rather than himself. Why wasn't every other estabishment that he frequented that weekend (which were some well known much larger nightclubs) also targeted in the raid since his overdose was a cumulative effect of staying up the entire weekend? Isn't he liable or his own death because he made the decision injest copious quantities of drugs?
 
What the raid effectively did was assign liability to those 100-150 individuals that were unfortunate enough to be manhandled by the police face down on the floor and processed over the course of 3 hours, when none of those individuals probably had anything to do with this guy as he did not frequent the CZ on a regular basis and was known to hang out at other estabishments. This raid does nothing to prevent future overdoses, as a drug seeker would have gone elsewhere and found the drugs anyway. 
 
The negatives personal/ professional effects that the raid will have on those individuals that got caught in it far outweight any long term benefits on criminal activity that will result. No guns were found, and little in the way of any weapons were found. Note that not everyone that comes here is a drug dealer or user, there are many such as myself that have successful careers and professional responsibilities but choose to get away and "enjoy the music" as they say for a few hours once every few months. It is my feeling that a similar surprise raid at any other nightclub would have yielded similar or greater magnitude of arrests. Given the news reports of violent crime throughout the city, perhaps a prioritization of issues by the Police Department would yield greater results in protecting the public safety. 
 
Furthermore, it does not make sense to fight a drug war by targeting such a petty establishment. If you want to fight a drug war, why not go to the source? For example, many of the precursors that make GHB and ecstasy are easily attainable in Canada. They are not in the U.S. GHB is hard to find the U.S. anymore and there is little domestic ecstasy production. So why are these precursors attainable in Canada (via importation from foreign countries)? If you ask me, the drug trade is enabled because of this. This is not the Comfort Zone's fault.
 
But there is one more thing you have to consider. When you try to fight certain drugs, others take their place. Its called a substitution effect in economics.  If you take a look at GHB or ectasy, you will see that they are ranked very low on a recently released scientific study on harmful effects (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6474053.stm).  When you take those drugs away, such as what has been done here in the U.S., more harmful ones tend to take their place. There are severe problems here with many prescription drugs such as Oxy as well as more traditional illegal drugs such as heroin (Baltimore, MD is the heroin capital of the world) and crystal meth (see desert southwest of the U.S.). 
 
Finally note that CZ has recently become a worldwide brand. People that are involved in music, whether in Ibiza or South America, or familiar with the establishment. People come from Detroit, Cleveland, and Buffalo to visit the unique qualities that Toronto has to offer. My wife and I have made numerous trips to Toronto and have spent copious quantities on money over the years on restaurants, hotels, entertainment, etc. Any attempts at sterilization (especially in today's age of social and political correctedness-puke)of the city by ridding it of so called "nuisance establishments" or altogether closing down the entertainment district as has been proposed does the city no good in my eyes. If you want to see what sterillization of cities combined with U.S. style law enforcement that targets the little guy, you only have to look towards Detroit, Cleveland, or Buffalo (add a bunch of condos) to see what the future has to offer. ]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c274512</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c274512</guid>
<category>Toronto, City</category>
<pubDate>Wed, 09 Apr 2008 23:26:31 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>don</title>
<description><![CDATA[
friggin' cops. last summer on the boat cruise there was a group of rowdy steroid guys drinking GHB like it was water. i was lter pulled over for speeding by one of them. that's right they were all cops.]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c274502</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c274502</guid>
<category>Toronto, City</category>
<pubDate>Wed, 09 Apr 2008 20:28:26 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>apetimberlake</title>
<description><![CDATA[
un. sympathetic 
If your son/daughter/sibling died of a drug overdose at a drug hole like CZ im sure you would cry aswell]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c274469</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c274469</guid>
<category>Toronto, City</category>
<pubDate>Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:35:33 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>Rajio</title>
<description><![CDATA[
I'm supprised to find people stll talking about this]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c274431</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c274431</guid>
<category>Toronto, City</category>
<pubDate>Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:51:05 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>un. sympathetic</title>
<description><![CDATA[
Watching the sister whine cry and complain on the news made me FUME. Everyone makes their own choices. He made one and suffered the consequences...it sucks but in the end it's all on him. She makes him seem like an angel but really he's a drug dealer/user no one forced him to take the drugs. The parents are probably regretting making such a big deal about their poor "victim" of a son because now they get to find out about his reputation as a drug dealer. 

I don't think the police should be attacking CZ. It's eventually hurt the business, that's the whole point but that isn't right. 
I've been there once, not really my scene..the patrons are a bit strange but the music is good and i agree with those who say it's safer than a regular club. No groping annoying men chasing tail, everyone is doing their own thing. Plus i think it's great because since alcohol isn't served NO ONE DRIVES HOME DRUNK. If the police want to be more useful maybe they need to get on the establishments the serve alcohol, and crack down on drunk drivers all year round and not just during the holidays. 

I'm not heartless, i feel bad for the parents because i'm sure they thought they did a good job raising their son and they probably did...people do dumb things regardless

This attack on CZ needs to stop ]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c274083</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c274083</guid>
<category>Toronto, City</category>
<pubDate>Mon, 07 Apr 2008 17:34:50 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>jake topp</title>
<description><![CDATA[
this is stupid the guy that died was a drug dealer himself he knew what he was getting into why blame comfort zone. its just like when someone kills himself listening to marilin manson and they try to blame marilin for it / come on guys wake up the guy would have died somewhere else too!]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c274001</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c274001</guid>
<category>Toronto, City</category>
<pubDate>Mon, 07 Apr 2008 11:29:31 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>peks</title>
<description><![CDATA[
i am glad they're pressing hard on that place, the scum bags that hang out there. sure they are not hurting anyone but those same scum bags can be found at other places too]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c273898</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c273898</guid>
<category>Toronto, City</category>
<pubDate>Sun, 06 Apr 2008 18:06:19 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>LJ</title>
<description><![CDATA[
why can't the Police just find the RIGHT person they want and leave other people and the CZ alone too!!]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c272843</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c272843</guid>
<category>Toronto, City</category>
<pubDate>Mon, 31 Mar 2008 14:17:35 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>roru</title>
<description><![CDATA[
I doubt anyone is still reading this, but I just wanted to point out this story in today's Globe...

http://www.reportonbusiness.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080331.wrrabbit31/BNStory/Business/home

Looks like one of the victims of the raid was a hedge fund broker.  Read the article and two things become clear...

1) A lot of the commentators in this thread (and the first one) are under the assumption that anyone who goes to the Comfort Zone is a loser with no life.  This guy made 2 millions dollars last year, so obviously it's possible to enjoy dancing at 5am on a Sunday and still be productive throughout the week and get things done.

2) Cops deserve the "pigs" appellation.  This guy was charged for trafficking, but it's obvious that was not his intent.  An undercover cop approached him and asked him to get her some cocaine.  So he goes and buys it off someone else, then gives it to her.  When she tries to give him some money, he refuses.  She insists, puts the money in his hand and bam! he's busted.  Those are some real sleazeball tactics Metro's Finest are employing.  It's not like this guy was hanging out in schoolyards selling crack to little kids - he was asked to get some coke by a fellow partier, and he generously offered it to her as a gift.  ]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c272839</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c272839</guid>
<category>Toronto, City</category>
<pubDate>Mon, 31 Mar 2008 14:01:31 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>GG</title>
<description><![CDATA[
Consistently, the Zone crowd responses are classic! Party on kids! lol]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c272828</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c272828</guid>
<category>Toronto, City</category>
<pubDate>Mon, 31 Mar 2008 13:09:44 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>Feldwebel Wolfenstool</title>
<description><![CDATA[
When cops quote a price for drugs confiscated, it's like, $25 for a gram of POT.  They constantly over-inflate the value, to inflate their hollow brains.]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c272706</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c272706</guid>
<category>Toronto, City</category>
<pubDate>Sun, 30 Mar 2008 21:21:28 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>Feldwebel Wolfenstool</title>
<description><![CDATA[
Odd how the cops are so intent on busting people for soft drugs, like TO SAVE THEM?   HAHAHAHA...and they let the drunks die in the gutters and that's A-OK?]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c272705</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c272705</guid>
<category>Toronto, City</category>
<pubDate>Sun, 30 Mar 2008 21:19:03 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>apetimberlake</title>
<description><![CDATA[
fucking  flippt.out.raver  post was the funniest thing i ever read]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c272271</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c272271</guid>
<category>Toronto, City</category>
<pubDate>Fri, 28 Mar 2008 09:50:17 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>exuser</title>
<description><![CDATA[
You will respect my author-a-tay!  LOL Cartman.]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c272208</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/city/2008/03/comfort_zone_busted_in_early_morning_raid_again/#c272208</guid>
<category>Toronto, City</category>
<pubDate>Thu, 27 Mar 2008 21:45:42 PDT</pubDate>
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