Pubdate: Tue, 01 Jul 2003
Source: Reason Magazine (US)
Copyright: 2003 The Reason Foundation
Contact:  http://www.reason.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/359
Author: Sara Rimensnyder
Cited: Drug Policy Alliance ( www.drugpolicy.org )
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?231 (Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation 
Act (RAVE))

RAVE ON: HOW A BAD BILL BECOMES A LAW

THE RECENT PASSAGE of the RAVE act, which allows the government to hold 
event organizers responsible for customers' drug use, should infuriate even 
those who'd run screaming from one of these all-night, 
electronic-music-fueled dance parties.

Why? The RAVE Act, now officially known as the illicit Drug 
Anti-Proliferation Act, passed both the House and Senate in April without 
ever having gone through committee and without floor debate. Sen. Joseph R. 
Biden (D-Del.) tacked his legislation onto the Amber Alert bill, a measure 
intended to help capture kidnappers, for no reason except political 
expediency. He had learned from his experience last session, when vocal, 
organized opposition from groups like the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) 
stopped the bill in its tracks.

"One senator's pet issue made a mockery of the Democratic [sic] 
process--becoming law without any public hearing or opportunity for input 
whatsoever," DPA Executive Director Ethan Nadelmann wrote in an e-mail 
after the act had passed. "We will be working with the legislators who 
opposed this provision--such as Senators Durbin, Kennedy and Leahy and 
Representatives Conyers and Scott--for its repeal."

On the bright side, lines from the original bill suggesting that 
prosecutors should use the sale of glowsticks, massage oil, and water as 
evidence of drug use were stricken from the version that passed. So was use 
of the word rave. Though the DPA celebrated the removal of "such blatant 
discrimination," the move also could stoke concerns that the measure could 
be used to target an ever-widening assortment of events.

The impact of the new law will largely depend on how John Ashcroft's 
Justice Department decides to enforce it. If the department's aggressive 
assault on medical marijuana in California is any indication, the next few 
years could be a dangerous time to be in the business of helping people 
dance the night away.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens