Inside, a DJ is pumping upbeat electronic music, laced with heavy bass beats, over stacks of amplifiers. In front of him, nearly 200 people are dancing. Some are wearing brightly colored beads; others are waving glow sticks. Some have pacifiers in their mouths, while others are wearing painter's masks.
Tonight's event is called "Nuclear Fallout."
At the front of the dance hall, people stick their heads right against the speakers, while some are receiving massages. In some cases, two or three people are massaging the same person.
Other ravers are using glow sticks and white gloves in a freestyle form of dancing.
Even though it's 3 a.m., the rave is just getting into full swing. It will end about 7:30 a.m.
In its simplest terms, a rave is an all-night dance party. Those who support them say raves are places to get high on dancing and to express individualism and creativity.
But to police and some politicians, raves aren't that simple. They have labeled them as drug havens.
"(Raves) are an open market for drug sales," said Sirena M. Wissler, Salt Lake County deputy district attorney.
Even those who attend raves do not deny that drugs are part of this underground dance scene.
A few months before the Ogden rave, many members of the same group attended another dance party. This one was held outside on the Salt Lake County-Utah County border. It was called "Freefall."
At this rave, 600 to 800 people danced in front of a large screen with lasers projected onto it.
A young man who drove to the rave alone barely took three steps inside when he was approached by someone selling acid.
"Not now," he told him. "Tell me where I can find you later."
Nearby another young man crouched down with a glow stick in his mouth, a wad of money in one hand and a bag of ecstasy in the other.
Soon he was approached by another person who had several different types of ecstasy pills to sell.
The young man could not walk 10 feet in any direction without seeing someone buying ecstasy. But he was not there to buy drugs. He was simply there to blend in and observe.
In a few weeks, he will seek out those dealers to see if they have more drugs. If they do, he will handcuff them and take them to jail. The young man is an undercover drug agent.
At the heart of this drug controversy is methylenedioxymethamphetamine or MDMA, more commonly known as "ecstasy" or simply E or X.
Ecstasy users say the drug gives them a sense of euphoria and reduces their inhibitions.
Police said the most common misconception about ecstasy is that it's harmless.
But medical experts say ecstasy increases the user's heart rate, blood pressure and can raise the body temperature to 107 degrees. It is a derivative of methamphetamine. One undercover Salt Lake County sheriff's drug agent called it "meth with attitude."
The typical rave costs $5,000 to $8,000 to host, and can be found almost every weekend along the Wasatch Front, police said. Promoters have the potential to make $20,000 in one night. Nationally, some raves take in $100,000 per night.
Along the Wasatch Front, a rave can draw an average of 800 people, with the top raves attracting about 2,000.
Secrecy shrouds the underground rave scene.
The location of the rave is not announced until several hours before the party. Ravers said the secrecy adds to the excitement of the evening and is a way to keep dancing after nightclubs close at 2 a.m.
Police argue the secrecy is intended to keep them away from what is actually a tightknit group of drug users wary of outsiders — although ravers can give the appearance of fun-loving kids who shun drugs.
The motto of ravers is PLUR, or Peace, Love, Unity and Respect. People from every race, social background and age are invited to attend.
The largest group of ravers falls into the 15 to 23 age group. Many are high school or college students. Some are business professionals, while others are unemployed. Some are married and go to raves as a couple.
Each rave promotes itself as a place for no alcohol, no violence and no drugs.
Police said parents commonly let their kids attend raves believing them a safe environment. Police admit violence at raves is extremely rare, and alcohol is practically non-existent.
But drugs are a different story.
Police use words like "exploded," "skyrocketing" and "the next epidemic" to describe the rise in ecstasy use. They put much of the blame on raves.
Police said the pounding music, the lights and the massages commonly found at raves are facilitating the drug use. Because ecstasy arouses a person's senses, police said, raves strive to give ecstasy users a high by overloading the senses with sight, sound, touch and even smell.
After the rave is over, police said, a small handful of people typically go to a house to continue the massaging which eventually turns into an orgy.
But some ravers laugh off such descriptions. "I guess the big misconception is what we are there for," said an anonymous raver who agreed to be interviewed via amessage board on a local rave Web site. "Some do go for drugs, others for social interaction but most importantly for the music."
Many undercover drug agents said they actually enjoy the music and think raves have the potential to be a fun place for young adults. But not as long as drugs continue to be involved.
One former promoter, who asked to remain anonymous, said he left the rave scene because more and more people were showing up for the drugs, not the music.
"Joey," a raver, speculated there's a perception that drug use is more prevalent at raves because most of the drug users there are very open about their habits.
That open attitude is reflected in the comments of a raver known as "i am v" who said raves are a place "where I can go be in a safe environment while experimenting with drugs."
Police don't deny drug dealers have had a sense of security in the past while at raves. But now they hope to change that attitude.
In June, a Holladay man was charged after police found more than 600 ecstasy pills in his home and $14,000 in cash. The man told police he could distribute the drugs in one weekend. The street value of each pill averages $20 to $25.
In August, the Neighborhood Drug Unit wrapped up a two-month undercover sting at Bricks Club, 579 W. 200 South, arresting five people for selling ecstasy.
The Salt Lake District Attorney's Office has also become involved with the rave scene, taking a zero-tolerance policy against club drugs, such as ecstasy.
Wissler, who prosecutes most of the ecstasy cases for the county, said she has been instructed by Salt Lake District Attorney David Yocom not to plea bargain any cases involving ecstasy.
She said if you are convicted, you will serve the maximum sentence and get a felony on your record. A conviction for possessing ecstasy holds a prison sentence of up to five years. Possessing ecstasy with intent to distribute will land you in prison for one to 15 years.
"This is big-time stuff," Wissler said. She said ecstasy dealers are being marked because it is the first drug that specifically targets young people.
But Wissler said those who believe ecstasy is a kiddie drug are wrong. "This is grown-up court," Wissler said.
The rave scene and the associated drug use have also become an issue in this year's election campaign. Candidates in the Salt Lake County mayor race have called for a crackdown on the growing ecstasy problem.
Many ravers have recognized the growing problem and believe something needs to be done about it.
"Nicole" suggested police and rave promoters should work together.
Sgt. Warren Carr of the Salt Lake County Neighborhood Narcotics Unit agreed that if ravers truly want to separate themselves from the drug label associated with them, they shouldn't complain about the police.
"If they are truly there for dancing and music, our activity should not hinder what they're doing," Carr said.
E-mail: preavy@desnews.com