I write in response to the April 11 letter by Darlene Kimsey regarding the "RAVE Act" ("RAVE act legislation needs second look"). There are errors in her letter that I must point out. First, the intent of this legislation is not to do "away with rave parties." In fact, the RAVE Act has nothing to do with dancing, music or any other form of expression. Rather, the bill targets people who promote events for the purpose of distributing or using illicit drugs. [continues 181 words]
On April 11, the war on drugs took another dangerous turn with a new piece of legislation. The RAVE Act, supposedly a masterstroke against drug users in this country, instead became a piece of vaguely defined police state rhetoric. To sum it up quickly, the RAVE Act is designed to allow the government to punish business owners if they "knowingly" allowed drug use to happen on their property. Even though it looks fine and legal, the RAVE Act is anything but. [continues 537 words]
I was in Portland not too long ago when, while driving on I-5, an Amber Alert came across the radio waves. I had no idea what it meant at the time, and assumed it had something to do with the war or a terrorist threat. But I was wrong, it had nothing to do with the war; it was a child-kidnapping alert. When I read about the Amber Alert bill (Senate bill 151) in Congress even more recently, I was happy to hear about it. I am all for legislation that helps protect children from being kidnapped. I'm all for it, that is, as long as it doesn't take away any of my own rights, and seeing as how I have no plans to start nabbing kiddies, I don't see how such legislation could infringe on my rights. I'm sure that Rumsfield, Chaney, their lackey President Bush and a few congressional slimeballs like Senator Joe Biden (D-Del.) would be perfectly happy to hear me say that. [continues 530 words]
His controversial proposal to crack down on all-night dance parties where illegal drugs are used or sold is on the brink of becoming law, but Sen. Joe Biden insists he's not out to stop the music. At issue is a bill -- once known as the "RAVE Act" -- that has drawn fire from civil liberties groups and grass-roots activists as an unfair attack on the events, popular with teenagers and young adults, where Ecstasy is a common ingredient. The Delaware Democrat's proposal went nowhere last year in either the House or Senate. But this year he renamed it the "Illicit Drug Non-Proliferation Act" and slipped it into a larger crime bill during a House-Senate conference. The bill cleared Congress last week, and President Bush has said he will sign it. [continues 447 words]
WASHINGTON - His controversial proposal to crack down on all-night dance parties where illegal drugs are used or sold is on the brink of becoming law, but Sen. Joseph Biden insists he's not out to stop the music. At issue is a bill -- once known as the "RAVE Act" -- that has drawn fire from civil liberties groups and grass-roots activists as an unfair attack on the events, popular with teenagers and young adults, where the drug "ecstasy" is a common ingredient. [continues 433 words]
Last week, under cover of wartime and paranoia about the safety of America's children, the Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Act of 2003, known in an earlier form as the RAVE Act, became law as a non sequitur tacked on to the PROTECT Act ("Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to End the Exploitation of Children Today"). It was a sneaky deal: After having failed to make it out of the U.S. Senate last fall, when it stood alone, the bill -- which applies the existing crack-house law to temporary venues and allows for civil penalties against club owners and promoters -- cleared Congress with no hearings and little debate. "It was very sudden," says William McColl, director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance, "but not entirely unexpected. It's the kind of thing that happens in Washington these days." [continues 317 words]
They Say It Could Bring Crackdowns On Many Events Buried deep within the 118-page Amber Alert bill is a provision that has brought fear to the music and entertainment industry. The bill, designed to heighten public awareness of missing children, also includes a provision that would make it easier to prosecute club owners and promoters who sponsor events where there is drug use. The provision would prohibit an individual from knowingly "making available for use, or profiting from any place for the purpose of manufacturing, distributing, or using any controlled substance, and for other purposes." [continues 689 words]
On Feb. 12, a bill, H.R. 718, called the Rave Act, was introduced into Congress. While this bill has good intentions, it poses some problems for the everyday citizen. This bill was introduced to make the United States a little safer for our youth by doing away with the rave parties. We have no problems with this, but unfortunately the problems with laws are they are left to interpretation. Let us give you an example: If you rent a building to have your child's birthday party and one of the parents decides to step outside and use drugs without your knowledge, you could be fined up to $250,000 simply because you rented the building. [continues 85 words]
On Feb. 12, a bill was introduced into Congress called the Rave Act HR718. While this bill has good intentions, it poses some problems for the everyday citizen. This bill was introduced to make the United States a little safer for our youth by doing away with rave parties. We have no problems with this, but unfortunately, the problem with laws is that they are left to interpretation. Let us give you an example: If you rent a building to have your child's birthday party and one of the parents decides to step outside and use drugs without your knowledge, you could be fined up to $250,000 simply because you rented the building. [continues 84 words]
The mere mention of Democratic Sen. Joe Biden's name should send partygoers everywhere into paroxysms of sputtering rage for hours. He's the decrepit brain behind the putrid RAVE Act, which bizarrely tried to equate a crack house with a rave and threatened anyone who sponsored a rave where drugs were used with up to 20 years in prison. Ravers everywhere thought Biden got the hint last year when the RAVE (that's an acronym for "Reducing Americans' Vulnerability to Ecstasy") Act basically died the graphic, explosive death of a hamster in a microwave. His pet legislation violated people's rights to party and Americans let him know that they didn't appreciate his efforts. [continues 549 words]
It's baaaack. The proposed, and extremely draconian, Reducing Americans' Vulnerability to Ecstasy (RAVE) Act has reemerged this Congressional session -- although it no longer bears that catchy little moniker. The bill was filed last session by Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., and proposed extending the nets of the infamous Biden-sponsored Eighties "crack house laws" by broadening their definition to include any businessperson, club owner, or promoter on whose property or at whose events illicit drugs are used or sold. The legislation was clearly aimed at squashing the rave scene, but drug reformers and civil libertarians quickly cried foul at the law's broad language, which could apply to any use of property, no matter how "temporary," potentially including citizens who use drugs in their own homes. Representatives from the ACLU, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, and other reformers took their ire to Capitol Hill last fall when they staged a rave dance-rally in the halls of Congress. Shortly thereafter, the bill began to hemorrhage sponsors and then quietly disappeared. [continues 538 words]
McColl On A Mission Bill McColl, Director Of National Affairs For Drug Policy Alliance, Says Gays Should Be Concerned About The Government's 'War On Drugs' William McColl knew something wasn't right. The director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance, McColl says he first became interested in the drug and alcohol field 10 years ago during a legal internship in which he helped form the Baltimore City Drug Treatment Court. Then, while attending law school at the University of Maryland, he worked in the field again with the Legal Action Center in Washington. He realized that drug policy was an issue he was passionate about, and set out to make his voice heard. [continues 826 words]
Proposed Legislation Would Penalize Wrong People An anti-drug bill known as the Reducing Americans' Vulnerability to Ecstasy Act was introduced to the Senate last summer, with the intention of eradicating the illegal use of MDMA from clubs, raves and electronic music venues across the country. Yet instead of going after the drug users and the dealers, the legislation targets event promoters, venue managers and landowners. A week after its June 18 introduction, the bill passed the Senate Judiciary Committee without a public hearing or a recorded vote. As providence would have it, the RAVE Act was not passed before the adjournment of the 107th Congress and therefore died as a bill in late 2002. [continues 388 words]
OxyContin, A Powerful Prescription Painkiller Popular In Other Parts Of The Country, Has Moved Into Memphis. It's a typical Saturday night for 22-year-old Jason Reyick,* a cook at a Midtown restaurant. He went to work around 5 p.m., walked home at midnight, then set about finding some drugs. Sometimes this task involves a trip to the liquor store, sometimes a phone call to his trusty pot dealer. But tonight a friend with a baggie full of little yellow pills shows up. Tonight, there's just a payment of $20 for a 40-milligram tablet of OxyContin, a powerful prescription painkiller that's recently entered the illegal drug market and rapidly gained popularity. [continues 2393 words]
Beware of Tom Daschle. When John Ashcroft was nominated for attorney general, his political enemies spent a lot of time mocking him for belonging to a denomination that does not allow its members to engage in dancing. Since taking office, Mr. Ashcroft has done absolutely nothing to infringe upon the rights of people who like to dance. Tom Daschle, however, is now pushing legislation that could send dance promoters to federal prison for up to 20 years. Daschle's anti-dancing legislation is a mean-spirited assault on youth culture, and an extreme violation of principles of federalism. [continues 1152 words]
Before both houses of Congress rests the rave act. Although, the proposed bill's intentions are honorable, banning an individual's right to assemble at a rave or events, as specified in Senate Bill 2633, is clearly a violation of the First Amendment. Many citizens may think this issue is of no concern to them. However, the key word in the rave act is the one which will allow our government the ability to choose which venues, be it for a concert at Alltel Arena, night club such as Discovery or eatery such as Juanita's, are acceptable for the public. [continues 120 words]
Rising Popularity Prompts Backlash Over Drug Use NEW ORLEANS -- They began more than a decade ago in remote fields and abandoned warehouses, out-of-the-way places where teens and young adults grooved all night to ear-splitting electronic music. Today, rave dance parties are big business, held in downtown nightclubs and theaters by promoters who charge $30 or more for admission. Ravers say the scene is still all about the music. But a rising number of critics say it's also about rampant drug use, mostly involving the illegal stimulant Ecstasy. The critics accuse party organizers of looking the other way as dealers peddle pills and stoned kids trash the neighborhoods where raves are held. [continues 1977 words]
The latest salvos in California's ongoing battle over the legality of medical marijuana have pitted California Attorney General Bill Lockyer against federal Drug Enforcement Administration head Asa Hutchinson. Over the past year the DEA has engaged in numerous raids and seizures of medical marijuana dispensaries operating legally under California law. The situation reached a fever pitch after the DEA last month raided the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana dispensary in Santa Cruz, reportedly a well known and well operated dispensary aiding numerous sickly and terminally ill patients in the area. A day later, Lockyer penned a letter to Hutchinson and U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft asking for a face-to-face meeting with the two G-men and requesting that the DEA leave California's legal marijuana cooperatives alone. [continues 883 words]
Utah's own Stormin' Orrin Hatch made the pages of the new, Keith Richards-adorned Rolling Stone, but our senior senator will be disappointed it wasn't for his musical skills. Hatch is a co-sponsor of the "Reducing Americans' Vulnerability to Ecstasy Act," otherwise know as the RAVE Act. The bill targets rave promoters by expanding the so-called "crack house statute" that makes it illegal to knowingly own or operate a building where drugs are sold. The expansion would include anyone "knowingly opening, maintaining, managing, controlling, renting, leasing, making available for use, or profiting from any place for the purpose of manufacturing, distributing, or using any controlled substance and for other purposes." [continues 571 words]
With unanimous support in the Senate from the start and the small matter of the First Amendment pitted against it, the RAVE Act seemed like it might be a sure thing. But as little as one week before a floor vote, the RAVE Act has lost the support of co-sponsor Senator Patrick Leahy (D- Vermont). Responding to public outrage over the bill expressed through protests, petitions and marches nationwide, Senator Leahy officially removed his name from the list of cosponsors on Friday, September 13. [continues 94 words]
