Time Mag: Narcs Want To Treat Raves Like Crack PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE DrugSense FOCUS Alert # 205 Thursday April 5, 2001 In their newest quest to criminalize youth, some federal narcs are attempting to apply "crackhouse laws" that were written in the 1980s to indict people who organize raves. As Time Magazine reports this week, the narcs don't care if the dance party organizers are trying to sell drugs or not, they just want someone to punish. As usual, there is no consideration on the part of the drug warriors that if they do effectively outlaw raves, the parties will be pushed underground where there is even less chance of reasonable regulation. Please write a letter to Time Magazine to say that this newest "get tough" tactic will be just as counterproductive as all the other "crackdowns" hyped in the name of a drug-free America. NOTE: A one inch LTE published in TIME Magazine has an equivalent advertising value of more that $25,000!! See Target Analysis Below. At Least One Letter a Month. That's All We Ask! PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER OR TELL US WHAT YOU DID (Letter, Phone, fax etc.) Please post a copy your letter or report your action to the sent letter list () if you are subscribed, or by E-mailing a copy directly to Your letter will then be forwarded to the list with so others can learn from your efforts and be motivated to follow suit This is VERY IMPORTANT as it is one way we have of gauging our impact and effectiveness. Contact Info Source: Source: Time Magazine (US) Contact: ARTICLE URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01.n587.a02.html Newshawk: DrugSense http://www.drugsense.org/ Pubdate: Mon, 09 Apr 2001 Source: Time Magazine (US) Section: Society, Pg 62 Copyright: 2001 Time Inc Contact: Website: http://www.time.com/time/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/451 Author: John Cloud, New Orleans ECSTASY CRACKDOWN Will The Feds Use A 1980s Anti-Crack Law To Destroy The Rave Movement? Nearly three years after her daughter's death, Phyllis Kirkland still visits her grave every day. She drives over from the Monroeville, Ala., dentist's office where she works. She weeps. Jillian was only 17--"a beautiful 17," her mom chokes--when she died from a drug overdose after a sweaty night of dancing at the State Palace Theatre, a nightclub about a four-hour drive away, in New Orleans. Jillian's August 1998 death crushed her mom, but it may also change how the U.S. government fights its war on drugs like ecstasy. Jillian's overdose--the coroner can't say precisely from what--and the sad 16 days she clung to life at Charity Hospital enraged doctors there. Federal agents began investigating, and in January a grand jury indicted three of the men who ran the club under a novel application of a 1986 law called the Crack House Statute. It prohibits maintaining a property "for the purpose of...distributing or using a controlled substance." Congress wrote the law to go after sleazebag landlords who let dealers and addicts hide the crack trade in slums. This is the first time prosecutors have used it against a nightclub, and drug enforcers and club owners across the U.S. are watching the case. What's new about this drug-war strategy is that it does not require the government to show that the defendants--brothers Robert and Brian Brunet, who managed the State Palace, and Donnie Estopinal, who promoted its raves--were actually selling drugs. And so far, the government has offered no evidence that they were, though investigators have been digging for well over a year. Rather, U.S. Attorney Eddie Jordan plans to argue that the defendants looked the other way as druggies turned the State Palace into a kind of crack house for club drugs. Cops say it was a place where partiers could easily score hits of ecstasy and acid without getting hassled by club staff, and where the staff encouraged the pharmacological festivities by selling rave-culture gear such as glow sticks and pacifiers. These are silly fashion accessories for many ravers, but they can be drug-related too: glow sticks stimulate dilated pupils; pacifiers relieve the teeth grinding associated with ecstasy. The Brunets and Estopinal say they did everything they could to keep their parties sober. They and their A.C.L.U. lawyers also argue that those who provide music should not be blamed for its devotees' crimes. But the case raises an important question: Given that the use of ecstasy continues to soar, is there any way to stop club drugs without stopping the raves? Could music be to blame for what happened to Jillian Kirkland? Before he ever heard of Kirkland, before he became a nationally known promoter and way before an attorney showed him photos of the prison he might call home if he loses his case, Estopinal was a frat boy at Louisiana State University. In the early '90s, according to friends--the defendants wouldn't talk on the record--Estopinal, now 31, was waiting tables, trying to decide whether he really wanted to be an accountant. Co-workers started taking him dancing. Dance music was enjoying a revival, having shaken off disco excesses and borrowed harder beats from underground. Estopinal fell in love with the dance renaissance and began having parties at a stinky fish-processing warehouse. By 1995, cops were closing him down for illicit booze sales and noise, but he knew he could draw thousands of fans of the new music. He turned to the State Palace to help legitimize his work. NOTE: The balance of this article has been snipped for brevity. It can be read in full at: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01.n587.a02.html SAMPLE LETTER To the editor of Time Magazine: So federal narcs want to prosecute organizers of raves where drugs are used, even if organizers provide reasonable security measures. This is absurd but not surprising. Drug prohibition itself causes many problems related to illegal drugs, including dangerous adulterants and general disrespect for official warnings regarding risks. Drug law enforcers want to point fingers elsewhere, but a new crackdown is only going to provide a disincentive for organizers to call an ambulance when somebody really needs one. Stephen Young contact info IMPORTANT: Always include your address and telephone number Please note: If you choose to use this letter as a model please modify it at least somewhat so that the paper does not receive numerous copies of the same letter and so that the original author receives credit for his/her work. TARGET ANALYSIS Time Magazine Circulation 4,250,000 Time only has seven published letters in the MAP archive. They tend to be extremely short, between 23 and 83 words, with an average of 65 words. On the other hand, if you can generate a short powerful reply to this article you could potentially influence a huge audience. A one inch LTE published in TIME Magazine has an equivalent advertising value of more that $25,000!! http://www.mapinc.org/mapcgi/ltedex.pl?SOURCE=Time+Magazine ADDITIONAL INFO to help you in your letter writing efforts 3 Tips for Letter Writers http://www.mapinc.org/3tips.htm Letter Writers Style Guide http://www.mapinc.org/style.htm TO SUBSCRIBE, DONATE, VOLUNTEER TO HELP, OR UPDATE YOUR EMAIL SEE http://www.drugsense.org/hurry.htm TO UNSUBSCRIBE SEE http://www.drugsense.org/unsub.htm Prepared by Stephen Young - http://www.maximizingharm.com Focus Alert Specialist

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