Senate Declares War On Raves

[xtcvitality]

No nightclub owner, promoter, or event coordinator is safe. Bill could halt musical events such as raves

The Senate is poised to pass legislation that would give federal prosecutors new powers to shut down raves or other musical events and punish innocent business men and women for hosting or promoting them. The bill, known as the

Reducing American's Vulnerability to Ecstasy Act (RAVE Act), was just introduced in the Senate on June 18th and has already passed the Senate Judiciary Committee. It is moving VERY rapidly and could be passed by the Senate as early as

next week. Worse still, the Senate leadership considers this draconian drug war bill to be so uncontroversial that they are trying to pass it under "unanimous consent" rules, which will mean no debate and no real vote. It is absolutely

vital that your Senators here from you today. They need to know that this bill is a danger to civil liberties and is unacceptable.

ACTIONS TO TAKE:

--Call your Senators and tell them to stop S. 2633, the Reducing American's Vulnerability to Ecstasy Act from becoming law. Tell them that innocent business owners shouldn't be punished for the crimes of their customers. Tell

them this bill has dangerous anti-civil liberties provisions that they need to be aware of, and this bill deserves serious debate.

You can contact your Senators through the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121. To find out who your Senators are go to: http://www.senate.gov/senators/senator_by_state.cfm

--Please forward this action alert to your friends and family. The Senate needs to know that voters find this bill unacceptable.

MORE ON THE BILL

S. 2633, sponsored by Senators Durbin (D-IL), Hatch (R-UT), Grassley (R-IA) and Leahy (D-VT), would greatly expand the so-called "crack house statute" and potentially subject innocent business men and women to enormous fines if customers sold or used drugs on their premises or at their events - even if they were not involved in the offenses in any way. If the bill becomes law, property owners, promoters, and event coordinators could be fined hundreds of thousands of dollars if they hold raves or other events on their property. This bill is a part of

a Justice Department strategy to halt all musical events they don't like, such as raves. For more information on this bill, go to http://thomas.loc.gov/ and under "bill number" search for S2633.

(from the Drug Policy Alliance)

Please people, don't just sit on your ass and say "Oh that sucks...I hope it doesn't pass" CALL YOUR SENATOR, EMAIL YOUR SENATOR, do EVERYTHING you can possibly think of to try and stop this violation of all of our civil rights!

[cintron]

Just to clarify - this bill has absolutely NOTHING to do with the music we listen to. The issue here is the drugs, and setting up legal guidelines as to what to do with them.

Right now, ecstasy carries a stiffer penalty to posess than heroin does, as well as lacking any legal framework for the prosecution of offenses regarding posession and distribution.

in other words, i'd like to see GUIDELINES instead of allowing Officer Joe Local to determine for himself what to do with someone caught with pills.

Here is the complete law as reported in the senate.

(there is one other version as introduced to senate, but i'm not going to post that one - almost the same thing)

**************************************************

RAVE Act (Reported in Senate)

S 2633 RS

Calendar No. 453

107th CONGRESS

2d Session

S. 2633

To prohibit an individual from 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.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

June 18, 2002

Mr. BIDEN (for himself, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. HATCH, Mr. LEAHY, and Mr. DURBIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

June 27, 2002

Reported by Mr. LEAHY, without amendment

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A BILL

To prohibit an individual from 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.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Reducing Americans' Vulnerability to Ecstasy Act of 2002' or the `RAVE Act'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds the following:

(1) Each year tens of thousands of young people are initiated into the drug culture at `rave' parties or events (all-night, alcohol-free dance parties typically featuring loud, pounding dance music).

(2) Some raves are held in dance clubs with only a handful of people in attendance. Other raves are held at temporary venues such as warehouses, open fields, or empty buildings, with tens of thousands of people present.

(3) The trafficking and use of `club drugs', including 3, 4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (Ecstasy or MDMA), Ketamine hydrochloride (Ketamine), Flunitrazepam (Rohypnol), and Gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB), is deeply embedded in the rave culture.

(4) Many rave promoters go to great lengths to try to portray their events as alcohol-free parties that are safe places for young adults to go to dance with friends, and some even go so far as to hire off-duty, uniformed police officers to patrol outside of the venue to give parents the impression that the event is safe.

(5) Despite such efforts to convince parents that raves are safe, promotional flyers with slang terms for Ecstasy or pictures of Ecstasy pills send the opposite message to teenagers, and in effect promote Ecstasy along with the rave. According to the National Drug Intelligence Center, raves have become little more than a way to exploit American youth.

(6) Because rave promoters know that Ecstasy causes the body temperature in a user to rise and as a result causes the user to become very thirsty, many rave promoters facilitate and profit from flagrant drug use at rave parties or events by selling over-priced bottles of water and charging entrance fees to `chill-rooms' where users can cool down.

(7) To enhance the effects of the drugs that patrons have ingested, rave promoters sell--

(A) neon glow sticks;

( massage oils;

© menthol nasal inhalers; and

(D) pacifiers that are used to combat the involuntary teeth clenching associated with Ecstasy.

(8) Ecstasy is the most popular of the club drugs associated with raves. Thousands of teenagers are treated for overdoses and Ecstasy-related health problems in emergency rooms each year. The Drug Abuse Warning Network reports that Ecstasy mentions in emergency visits grew 1,040 percent between 1994 and 1999.

(9) Ecstasy damages neurons in the brain which contain serotonin, the chemical responsible for mood, sleeping and eating habits, thinking processes, aggressive behavior, sexual function, and sensitivity to pain. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, this can lead to long-term brain damage that is still evident 6 to 7 years after Ecstasy use.

(10) An Ecstasy overdose is characterized by an increased heart rate, hypertension, renal failure, visual hallucinations, and overheating of the body (some Ecstasy deaths have occurred after the core body temperature of the user goes as high as 110 degrees, causing all major organ systems to shutdown and muscles to breakdown), and may cause heart attacks, strokes, and seizures.

SEC. 3. OFFENSES.

(a) IN GENERAL- Section 416(a) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 856(a)) is amended--

(1) in paragraph (1), by striking `open or maintain any place' and inserting `open, lease, rent, use, or maintain any place, whether permanently or temporarily,'; and

(2) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the following:

`(2) manage or control any place, whether permanently or temporarily, either as an owner, lessee, agent, employee, occupant, or mortgagee, and knowingly and intentionally rent, lease, profit from, or make available for use, with or without compensation, the place for the purpose of unlawfully manufacturing, storing, distributing, or using a controlled substance.'.

( TECHNICAL AMENDMENT- The heading to section 416 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 856) is amended to read as follows:

`SEC. 416. MAINTAINING DRUG-INVOLVED PREMISES.'.

© CONFORMING AMENDMENT- The table of contents to title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse and Prevention Act of 1970 is amended by striking the item relating to section 416 and inserting the following:

`Sec. 416. Maintaining drug-involved premises.'.

SEC. 4. CIVIL PENALTY AND EQUITABLE RELIEF FOR MAINTAINING DRUG-INVOLVED PREMISES.

Section 416 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 856) is amended by adding at the end the following:

`(d)(1) Any person who violates subsection (a) shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than the greater of--

`(A) $250,000; or

`( 2 times the gross receipts, either known or estimated, that were derived from each violation that is attributable to the person.

`(2) If a civil penalty is calculated under paragraph (1)(, and there is more than 1 defendant, the court may apportion the penalty between multiple violators, but each violator shall be jointly and severally liable for the civil penalty under this subsection.

`(e) Any person who violates subsection (a) shall be subject to declaratory and injunctive remedies as set forth in section 403(f).'.

SEC. 5. DECLARATORY AND INJUNCTIVE REMEDIES.

Section 403(f)(1) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 843(f)(1)) is amended by striking `this section or section 402' and inserting `this section, section 402, or 416'.

SEC. 6. SENTENCING COMMISSION GUIDELINES.

The United States Sentencing Commission shall--

(1) review the Federal sentencing guidelines with respect to offenses involving gamma hydroxybutyric acid (GHB);

(2) consider amending the Federal sentencing guidelines to provide for increased penalties such that those penalties reflect the seriousness of offenses involving GHB and the need to deter them; and

(3) take any other action the Commission considers necessary to carry out this section.

SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR A DEMAND REDUCTION COORDINATOR.

There is authorized to be appropriated $5,900,000 to the Drug Enforcement Administration of the Department of Justice for the hiring of a special agent in each State to serve as a Demand Reduction Coordinator.

SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR DRUG EDUCATION.

There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as necessary to the Drug Enforcement Administration of the Department of Justice to educate youth, parents, and other interested adults about the drugs associated with raves.

Calendar No. 453

107th CONGRESS

2d Session

S. 2633

A BILL

To prohibit an individual from 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.

[xtcvitality]

See...the problem with this bill is that it DOES target the music we listen to. It is directly stated in the bill that Electronic dance music events and electronic dance music clubs are dangerous places to be. The bill is vague enough, just the like drug analogue act, that it can be bent to their will whenever they please. This DOES effect the rave community and it does directly target raves and electronic music clubs hence the name of the bill RAVE Act. This is not only targeting drugs people. The bill states that it only targets drugs, but it does MUCH more than that...Picture this scenario....Mr. Senator's Daughter goes to a club in NYC...lets say...exit....she goes and has a great time, but OD's at the end of the night. Prior to this law, there would not be much that the Senator could do in the public eye except discipline his child. POST RAVE Act, Exit gets fined hundreds of thousands of dollars and most likely gets shut down. If this law is passed, legitimate business people will be getting fined for the crimes of their customers. If people become frightened to throw raves or open afterhours night clubs, they will be wiped out of existence...and what happens to the music then? I doubt any of you will going to see Danny T or Danny H when theres no more night clubs open.

[tastyt]

Originally posted by xtcvitality

See...the problem with this bill is that it DOES target the music we listen to. It is directly stated in the bill that Electronic dance music events and electronic dance music clubs are dangerous places to be. The bill is vague enough, just the like drug analogue act, that it can be bent to their will whenever they please. This DOES effect the rave community and it does directly target raves and electronic music clubs hence the name of the bill RAVE Act. This is not only targeting drugs people. The bill states that it only targets drugs, but it does MUCH more than that...Picture this scenario....Mr. Senator's Daughter goes to a club in NYC...lets say...exit....she goes and has a great time, but OD's at the end of the night. Prior to this law, there would not be much that the Senator could do in the public eye except discipline his child. POST RAVE Act, Exit gets fined hundreds of thousands of dollars and most likely gets shut down. If this law is passed, legitimate business people will be getting fined for the crimes of their customers. If people become frightened to throw raves or open afterhours night clubs, they will be wiped out of existence...and what happens to the music then? I doubt any of you will going to see Danny T or Danny H when theres no more night clubs open.

Exactly... a promoter I used to party with in New Orleans got thrown in jail because of this law, he was facing 20 yrs and/or some exorbitant fine... I'm not sure what happened to him, I think he may have copped a plea... that's such bullshit, when people who aren't even doing anything illegal are forced to pay the price.

[cintron]

I'm just fed up with the american touchy-feely politically correct "upper class" minivan driving soccer-mom public.

You know, the same people to whom it's alright to let their kids go to see Britney Spears and dress in a slutty outfit, trying to have sex at age 14, or think that metallica is a rock band that's fun to go see because it's well-established and therefore isn't a threat.

People are always scared of everything new, and institutionalized paranoia in this country is greater than ever. It'd be a shame to see this law passed and venues get shut down because of it. On the other hand, you had to figure they were going to try and do something about the "drug problem". Obviously we're all a bunch of communist aids-carrying homosexual pill-popping anarchists.

oh well. i'm a sober partier so i can say [quite selfishly] it's too bad for the people who need their fix to have a good time.

[joeg]

Eric, like I said to you on aim... whether you do drugs or not.. shifter any power to the government when it comes to clubs/parties is a bad thing for us... from the sober to the completely cracked...

you can't get rid of drugs, but you can get rid of parties... and thats how it fucks everyone...

[dgmodel]

~~~>Outlaw Raves!!!

[cintron]

Originally posted by joeg

Eric, like I said to you on aim... whether you do drugs or not.. shifter any power to the government when it comes to clubs/parties is a bad thing for us... from the sober to the completely cracked...

you can't get rid of drugs, but you can get rid of parties... and thats how it fucks everyone...

You can NEVER get rid of parties, man. Nev-er.

Somewhere there's always a beat going on. You can shut down one party in one city and some other parties elsewhere but you can't kill a movement

So whether they pass the bill isn't going to make much of a difference. Will it make our lives a little harder (funny how laws do that) and make the organizer's lives harder? yes.

Will it stop everything cold? no.