cannabisnews.com: Raving Lunacy 





Raving Lunacy 
Posted by FoM on June 19, 2001 at 22:05:20 PT
By Janelle Brown
Source: Salon.com
Witness the humble glowstick. This neon yellow tube of light, testament to the wonders of the nontoxic chemical reaction, is popular at Britney Spears concerts, Mardi Gras parades and summer street fairs. But because glowsticks are also commonly found at raves, where partiers wave them about during their dance-floor kinetics, they have become a curious casualty of the government's war on drugs. 
An injunction handed down against a group of New Orleans party promoters last Wednesday charges that glowsticks -- along with pacifiers, Vicks VapoRub and dust masks -- are "drug paraphernalia," and their presence on a dance floor is a sign that illegal drug activity is taking place. In response, the promoters have banned glowsticks from their clubs, along with chill rooms, where partiers might go to catch their breath (or where they might, in the eyes of the authorities, go to take their drugs) and massage tables (where God knows what nefarious activities might occur). The injunction seems to imply that if you take away the chill rooms and the glowsticks, you take away the drugs. It's bafflingly backward logic, but then again, the federal government's war on drugs hasn't always made sense. The demonization of the cheery little glowstick is the harbinger of a topsy-turvy new front in that increasingly bizarre conflict. As teens continue to gobble ecstasy, ketamine, speed and GHB at frightening rates, everything and everyone is vulnerable. While the owners of venues like nightclubs where patrons do illegal acts have always been subject to crackdowns, grim prosecutors are now targeting dance clubs with leaky old "crack house" laws from the 1980s, and threatening owners and promoters with decades in prison. In this new era, even promoters who try to stop drug use are vulnerable. Call the cops on a drug-using patron and you've marked yourself as the owner of a drug operation. Hire an ambulance as a precaution against overdoses, or let a harm-reduction group like DanceSafe distribute safety literature, and you've done the same thing. If the New Orleans case should set a national standard, not only will ravers lose their glowsticks, but the entire dance community could potentially lose its clubs, concert halls and parties -- and, in the most drastic cases, ravers could lose their lives. "The government is engaged in an outright war on nightclubs, which they hope will make it appear that they are doing something to stop the drug epidemic," says Will Patterson, who runs the Electronic Music Defense and Education Fund that raised $50,000 for the Freebass promoters' defense. "But if you take away the clubs, [drug users] just go somewhere [else]. The nightclubs are, at least, trying to combat drug use in every way they can." http://www.emdef.org/ "Lately raves are just a venue for drug purchases. They are no more than analogous to a crack house, in which you go buy the drugs and go out the back door. Although there's music being played, and the people at the raves are saying, 'I come here for the music,' drugs are predominant in these rave clubs. And it's just a mix of drugs and music, and it's become a venue for drug purchases." -- quote from a promotional video -- http://www.phatnetwork.net/emdef/the_video.mov -- distributed by the DEABy any measure, the government's war on drugs has been a failure. Despite the fact that the government spent $17.9 billion on the drug war last year -- and arrested 1,532,200 people on drug charges the year before -- the number of young adult drug users has not significantly changed since it hit a peak in 1997, according to the annual Monitoring the Future study. http://www.drugwarfacts.org/economi.htm http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/dcf/enforce.htm#arrests http://www.monitoringthefuture.org/data/00data/pr00t4.pdfFifty-four percent of all high school seniors have done drugs; and the drugs they are doing are harder. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 8.2 percent of all high school seniors did MDMA, or ecstasy, in 2000 (up from 5.6 percent the year before). Drugs like GHB (a liquid that more mildly mimics the floaty, euphoric sensation of ecstasy) and ketamine (an animal tranquilizer that, when snorted, sends the user into a hallucinatory state that nears catatonia), which once were used primarily by New Agers seeking psychedelic epiphanies, are also on the rise among partying young adults and teens. http://165.112.78.61/NIDA_Notes/NNVol16N2/Annual.htmlAnd the harder the drug, the more dangerous it can be. More than 2,850 people were admitted to hospitals for what were termed "ecstasy overdoses" in 1999, according to the Drug Abuse Warning Networkhttp://www.samhsa.gov/oas/DAWN/clubdrug.htm or DAWN. And although DAWN reports that the number of deaths from drugs like ketamine, ecstasy and GHB was relatively small between 1994 and 1998 (12 died from GHB, 47 from ketamine, 27 from ecstasy), those numbers are several years old, and the DanceSafe organization now cites at least 100 ecstasy-related deaths. The vast majority of these, however, were not overdoses but rather the result of overheating on the dance floor, or because pills sold as ecstasy were actually dangerous substances like DXM, a cough suppressant that can cause overheating if taken in large quantities, and the stimulant PMA. http://www.dancesafe.org/heatstroke.htmlThe National Institute on Drug Abuse calls these "club drugs" though users, of course, can do them just about anywhere. Accordingly, however, the government has brought its drug war to the clubs themselves. While state and local authorities have been cracking down on raves and all-night dance clubs for almost a decade across the country, the national hysteria over teens and ecstasy has brought the battle to a fever pitch. Federal authorities are now stepping in, and the new front lines are in New Orleans and Panama City Beach, Fla. http://www.clubdrugs.org/ When the New Orleans promoters were indicted in January, partiers and promoters across the country sat up and paid attention. Robert Brunet, Brian Brunet and James ("Donnie") Estopinal were partners in New Orleans' most popular all-night dance party, Freebass at the State Palace Theater dance club. Every weekend, Freebass would fly in the world's top DJs to play for thousands of ecstatic dancers -- just like dozens, if not hundreds, of other clubs and parties that take place across the United States every weekend. http://www.freebass.net/ Undercover cops from the Drug Enforcement Administration and the New Orleans Police Department had infiltrated the parties; finding that some attendees were doing drugs, the U.S. district attorney in New Orleans drew up charges against the promoters. This, in itself, was not unusual -- promoters have skirmished with authorities for years -- but the law under which the three were eventually indicted offered a frightening new twist. Federal authorities were using a musty, long-forgotten law from 1986, the "Crack House Statute," which was originally written to attack the proprietors of drug havens for crack cocaine. Although the Brunets and Estopinal had not personally sold any drugs at their parties, they were charged with "knowingly and intentionally" running a club where people did drugs. The punishment? A possible 20 years in prison, and potentially millions of dollars in fines. The ramifications were far-reaching. If the Brunets and Estopinal were found guilty of running a 21st century crack house, then every promoter who threw a club, party or similar event where attendees were doing drugs could potentially be found similarly liable. And, other than the occasional Amy Grant concert, are there any music events where you can't find attendees who are doing drugs of some sort? The indictment was a shot fired across the bow of the entire dance music industry. "The government has this crazy notion that, somehow or another, a promoter should be held criminally responsible as a drug offender because of what people in the audience may do," said Arthur A. Lemann III, the lawyer who defended Bryan Brunet. "It's a lot like arresting the usher because Pavarotti stabs the fat lady at the end of the opera." The New Orleans promoters faced a legal ordeal that could take years. It could cost them millions and still land them in jail. On Wednesday, the three promoters accepted a plea bargain; their company, Barbecue Inc. (rather than the individuals themselves), would plead guilty to one count of operating a crack house, and the corporation would pay a $100,000 fine. The promoters would not have to serve any jail time; but the settlement also included an injunction that forbade the presence of glowsticks, Vicks VapoRub, masks, pacifiers, massage tables and chill rooms at future parties. (Partiers rub the Vicks under their noses for an additional buzz; the pacifiers are to stop tripping dancers from grinding their teeth or simply as a fashion accessory; dust masks are for fashion, to enhance the effects of the Vicks -- and sometimes just to keep dance-floor dust out of their system.) Lemann calls the plea bargain a "face-saving masquerade" to hide the fact that the government didn't have a strong case; and the deal was certainly a personal victory for the promoters, who no longer face spending the rest of their lives in jail. But the fact remains that a company that throws late-night parties and sells glowsticks was found guilty of running a crack house; and that decision could still spell disaster for the nation's clubs, which could now face similar charges. (Donnie Estopinal did not accept the plea bargain; and although he has not been personally reindicted, it remains a possibility that he could still go to trail.) "It is a bad precedent," says University of Tennessee law professor Glenn Reynolds, who consulted on a legal brief for the defendants. "Even if the charges are bogus, the government proved that they can extort a plea agreement, because any rational [promoter] faced with the threat of going to jail for 25 years is going to agree to a plea bargain like this that makes it all go away. But it's extortion, not justice." Within months of the New Orleans indictment, prosecutors in Panama City Beach, Fla., indicted promoters of a popular club called Club La Vela, home to MTV's Spring Break bootyfests and the nation's largest nightclub, under crack-house laws as well. In Florida, the war against raves was already several years old: In 1997, state officials passed a bill that made it illegal for clubs or restaurants that sold liquor to stay open past 2 a.m. Two years later, the state police instituted "Operation Heat Rave," raiding 57 clubs with the intent of shutting them down if they found any evidence of drug use. Club La Vela, the most visible club in Florida, became the unfortunate locus of the authorities' ire; at one news conference, Panama City Beach Police Chief J.B. Holloway went so far as accusing the club's owners of "raising [underage patrons] to come back and buy their drugs later." Club La Vela was raided in early 2000, and police turned up a variety of drugs -- although they found no evidence that the owners themselves were selling illegal substances. On May 5, 2001, Club La Vela owners Patrick and Thorston Pfeffer were slapped with an indictment for allowing drug trafficking at their club. Like the New Orleans case, a federal grand jury indicted the nightclub owners under the crack house statute; unlike the New Orleans case, the government also seized the assets of Club La Vela and forbade the owners from leaving the state of Florida. (Club La Vela's owners, in turn, are suing the local law-enforcement agencies for defamation and depriving them of their right to public assembly.) The case is set to go to trial in July. Meanwhile, the crack-house gambit gains momentum in prosecutors' offices across the country. In Chicago, where several clubs have already been shut down after hosting raves, Mayor Richard M. Daley sought a local twist on the approach, which would mandate six months in jail for anyone who allows drug sales on his or her property. As Daley said at a press conference in March, "The people who run rave parties -- or own the rooms where they take place -- know exactly what's going on. But the city does not have sufficient powers to hold them responsible." The ordinance passed in early May. There is a strategic logic to the governments' war on glowsticks and pacifiers. For several years, federal drug authorities have been conducting a P.R. campaign that labels these toys as "drug paraphernalia" that will help identify that drugs are being taken. "What they've done is establish the beginning of a legal paper trail to substantiate their claims" and make it easier for authorities to target nightclubs, says Will Patterson of EMDEF. "Within a month of the indictment in New Orleans, a lot of major nightclubs had already stopped selling glowsticks." http://www.usdoj.gov/ndic/pubs/656/#Rave But while a few candy ravers might be upset to lose their glowsticks, there's a deadlier side to the new crackdown. A much more dangerous loss to club kids is the "chill room," which the New Orleans case also identified as an accouterment to drug use in its list of paraphernalia banned from Barbecue Inc.'s parties. A number of other seemingly innocuous club practices -- like having ambulances present, featuring booths from harm-reduction groups like DanceSafe on the premises or even pumping in excessive air conditioning -- are being targeted by authorities as well. The dance-music community is not blind to the fact that drugs are a problem at raves; and as the rave scene has grown, it's also given birth to organizations that promote responsible clubbing. The most prominent is DanceSafe, a 2-year-old Oakland-based nonprofit founded by theology grad student Emanuel Sferios, which teaches "harm reduction principles" at clubs. Hundreds of young DanceSafe volunteers, in 24 chapters around the globe, spend their weekends visiting raves and dispensing information about safe drug consumption. Besides counseling practical party tips -- reminding kids to drink water, chill out and avoid overheating -- volunteers also perform on-the-spot tests of ecstasy tablets, in order to ensure that what the ravers are consuming is actually MDMA rather than a potentially lethal concoction like DXM or PMA. The idea is similar to a needle-exchange program: The kids are going to take the pills anyway, so let's make sure that they do it safely. Thus far, DanceSafe has received support from the local police in the cities where it has chapters. As of yet, no volunteer or raver has been arrested for using the service, thanks to amnesty arrangements with local police; and according to Sferios, the program has been effective. Although the evidence is still mostly observational, he says, "When people start to expect us and our presence becomes common, the number of fake pills declines. If you do a particular party every time, or an event location every time, you'll start to see less fake pills, because the dealers with the fake pills learn they aren't going to get away with it." DanceSafe's rapidly growing visibility in the rave community has also brought a number of unexpected challenges. According to Sferios, some savvy drug dealers have learned they can fool the on-site testing kits by putting a tiny amount of MDMA into an otherwise fake pill. (The on-site pill testing kits can determine only whether a pill contains any ecstasy, not a detailed analysis of its chemical makeup.) "The vast majority of pills with MDMA are still pure," says Sferios, "But we are seeing ones now that are conscious efforts to fool the kits. It's very disturbing." Cunning drug dealers, however, are the least of DanceSafe's problems. Although DanceSafe gets plenty of support from local police, the federal government is a different matter altogether; and DanceSafe is becoming an unintentional victim of the crackdown on nightclubs. When Eddie Jordan, the New Orleans district attorney, introduced the charges against the Freebass promoters, he cited a list of evidence that the promoters had been encouraging drug use. That "evidence" included not only glowsticks, bottled water and chill rooms, but the presence of DanceSafe, which distributed literature at the New Orleans parties and which, according Jordan, was a group that promoted drug use. DanceSafe has not yet suffered any legal repercussions for its activities, but Jordan's allegations have had a chilling effect on its activities. Promoters are now afraid to let DanceSafe into their clubs, lest the group's presence -- like that of glowsticks -- be used as evidence against them. "In some cities, promoters that were letting us into their parties have stopped, because of the New Orleans case," says Sferios, noting several parties in the San Francisco Bay Area where his groups' presence was prohibited. "The federal emphasis on ecstasy has affected us by frightening promoters into taking irrational and dangerous stances on this issue. Basically, it's the ostrich syndrome, and it's inhibiting our efforts." Or, as Patterson describes the dilemma now facing promoters who want to work with DanceSafe: "The government has chosen the rave scene to wage their war against drugs, and as a promoter I don't know what decision I'd make. On one side you've got young people who want to participate in education about drugs, but by the very act of engaging in that education process they may be putting the promoter at risk of legal problems." But DanceSafe's raison d'être is not merely to teach ravers how to be safe, but to teach clubs and promoters to provide safer environments -- what Sferios calls "safe settings." Much of it is common-sense stuff: Nightclubs and parties should provide free drinking water, chill rooms where overheating dancers can cool off, air conditioning and, for the largest events, on-duty medics or readily available emergency medical services. Unfortunately, the federal crackdown on nightclubs means that clubs that do provide these kinds of safety measures are essentially calling attention to themselves as drug havens. Explains Reynolds, "What has always been regarded as responsible behavior is now going to be regarded as promoters of dangerous behavior. As a result they'll do things that are dangerous to patrons to protect themselves." Club La Vela, for example, believes that its diligence in battling drugs was ultimately used as evidence against it. Says Luke Lirot, the attorney representing Thorston Pfeffer: "Club La Vela had a zero drug-tolerance policy and would call the police anytime they caught anyone with any substance. The police were upset because of all the calls. But clubs without all those calls of service aren't ferreting out all the drug use. Instead of being critical of this practice, they should have been commended." Another major nightclub to learn this difficult lesson was Twilo, in New York's Chelsea district, which in 1998 began a long and protracted battle against city authorities accusing it of being a drug store for kiddie ravers. According to Sferios, Twilo was a perfect example of a "safe settings" nightclub -- it provided ample water, pumped cool air into its dance floor and even provided a private ambulance in case of drug overdoses or other emergencies. Unfortunately, city authorities cited that same ambulance as proof that the dance club was a drug den. Although the city's first attempt to remove Twilo's cabaret license was initially rebuffed by an appeals court as being "arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable," that decision was ultimately overturned by the state's highest court; Twilo is now closed. "Twilo was probably the safest place in Manhattan -- if something happened, within 30 seconds you would be in the hands of a licensed EMS technician and paramedic in a full service ambulance," says Mike Bindra, executive producer of Twilo. "The city used that to demonize us. "We were using the same service the New York Yankees use! Why is it a state law that an ambulance must be present at a football game, or at a Metallica concert at Madison Square Garden, but when it comes to dance culture and a nightclub you must be using it to smuggle drugs? It's like the Salem witch hunt." The list of clubs and promoters that have faced trouble with authorities goes on and on. Also in New York, the Tunnel and Limelight have been fighting similar battles with city authorities. Rave promoters in San Diego and Humboldt County, Calif., have had their permits yanked. In San Francisco, nightclub institutions like 1015 Folsom and the End Up have battled closure for years. And once the nightclubs shut down, new ones rarely open in their places: Many cities, including New York and San Francisco, have instituted moratoriums (official and unofficial) on any new cabaret licenses or late-night dance licenses. The net effect is a declining pool of legal venues for raves, parties, concerts and other dance events. Some promoters still have hope that if they can get the local authorities on their side, they will avoid federal scrutiny. "I don't think the [crack-house cases] are affecting me, or anyone else in Southern California, because the people I work with in law enforcement are stellar," says Philip Blaine, owner of KingFish entertainment in Los Angeles. "Here they have a concern for the public well-being -- they understand that kids will go out at night, and would rather have them going to a place that's planned and put together, than going under a city bridge and putting on a boombox where if they get hurt no one will find them until Monday, when their bodies are decaying." In San Francisco, too, the community is effectively fighting back. In the late 1990s, many of the city's late-night dance clubs -- including the Trocadero, Club DV8 and VSF -- lost their permits, thanks to drug and noise complaints and a zero-tolerance attitude on the part of local officials. In July 1999, a group of local party promoters organized the San Francisco Late Night Coalition, a political-action committee dedicated to keeping the city's nightlife alive. Thanks to extensive lobbying and outreach with both nightclub owners and local officials, the group has successfully saved many of the city's remaining dance venues. http://www.sflnc.org/These promoters and many others believe that the most naive hope of the federal crackdown on nightclubs is that if you remove the venue, you will remove the problem. Even if there are no more official places to dance, wave glowsticks and hang out in chill rooms, that doesn't mean that fans of electronic music won't continue to dance and do drugs. Instead, the electronic music scene will simply go underground to find places to party. Nothing motivates a music subculture more than the potential to defy authority. "If they shut down every rave and nightclub and place of public assembly in the country, nothing will happen except that the dangers of drug intake will go underground, and people who make bad choices will pay the ultimate price," says Lirot, as he battles the Club La Vela case. "Whereas in the alternate settings, smart people take precautions and deal with problems professionally and safely and in a medically secure fashion. Chasing things underground is never a good idea -- although society thinks they benefit in the short term, they will end up paying for it in the long term." Note: Sell a glowstick, go to prison. Authorities are shutting down 21st century raves using 1980s crack-house laws -- and turning pacifiers and Vicks VapoRub into the new drug paraphernalia.About the writer:Janelle Brown is a senior writer for Salon Technology. Source: Salon.com (US Web)Author: Janelle BrownPublished: June 20, 2001 Copyright: 2001 Salon.comWebsite: http://www.salon.com/Contact: salon salonmagazine.comRelated Articles:Club Owners Are Focus of Effort To Combat Drug Usehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9531.shtmlIndictment Could Bolster Investigations of Raves http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8304.shtml
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Comment #14 posted by johnnie on August 15, 2001 at 03:44:30 PT:
Glow-This!!!
You know all the great musicians of our times were DRRUUGGIIEESS....it don't matter what kind of drug they took...they're all the same...and the ones who became great without drugs...well...they never complained bout the other musicians who did drugs....I bet you more than half the government officials were at Woodstock...and to top that off...I bet you all of em know how ta roll up a joint....Yes drugs do kill people...people who don't know their own limit that is....and not only that...alcohol and cigarettes * so-called-LEGAL-DRUGS* kill more people a year than E....but the only reason why it's legal is becuz all the people in the government offices can't live without those drugs...why doesn't America take a stand and tell these kids sitting on the offices to grow up and quit those drugs themselves....they set the examples....now they can't even face themselves but gotta blame it on other people when the drugs get outta control?? GET REAL and GROW UP!!!!!
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Comment #13 posted by dddd on July 09, 2001 at 05:57:34 PT
Milla
Keep in mind,we arent all "stupid",no more than all Germans are natzis,or all people in Finland have stinky butts.....There are idiots all over the world,and unfortunately,a large amount of idiots and stupid people in the U.S.,are holding public office....Take the president for example...dddd 
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Comment #12 posted by Milla Forsström on July 09, 2001 at 05:01:03 PT:
I can´t believe I´m reading this!
I´ve always thought that Americans are the stupidest people on earth. Having read this text, I´m even more sure than before, that it must be true. And I didn´t even read the whole text!Thank God I´m European!
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Comment #11 posted by Ty Bishop on June 20, 2001 at 22:31:09 PT:
Funny Shit
This is some funny shit. I bust a gut laughing. This article was almost as funny as the story where someone stole 4080 lbs of weed from a truck."say no to glowsticks". Funny shit. Joe if you are reading this tell my g/f I said hi..           Some Pothead,            Ty Bishop
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Comment #10 posted by lookinside on June 20, 2001 at 17:24:11 PT:
thanks mayan!
got a giggle...
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Comment #9 posted by mayan on June 20, 2001 at 17:18:28 PT
EVIL
  Glowsticks are the root of all evil & they must be stopped before they corrupt the innocent children!!! It sends the wrong message to children when you wave a glowstick around in the dark. Glowsticks lead to brighter things! People will robb & murder to get money to buy glowsticks. Just say "NO" to glowsticks.message by - Partnership for a Glowstick-Free Amerika     
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Comment #8 posted by dddd on June 20, 2001 at 14:16:14 PT
memorabilia
...By golly aocp,,,,I just happen to have a few of those collectors items myself.I've never used them,,,,,,,not even for coffee.......dddd
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Comment #7 posted by aocp on June 20, 2001 at 14:11:36 PT
proud owner
dddd ...personally, i wouldn't have given a second thought toward those stirrers, but i now proudly display one as a piece of history. Too funny!
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Comment #6 posted by dddd on June 20, 2001 at 13:58:19 PT
remember
This reminds me of the late 70s,,,when McDonalds coffeestirrers,were somehow supposed to be so popular for coke spoons,that McDonalds actually re-designed them........the theory was,thatthese coffee stirrers were causing people to do a bunch of cocaine.??????????????The Outer Limits!!!!!!!d.dd.d
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Comment #5 posted by Minos on June 20, 2001 at 12:11:24 PT
Puritans
Damn them puritans, they've allied themselves to the inquisition and taken charge of the United States of America. the founding fathers might have considered the consequences of independence from great britain now. Had they known that the freedom they espoused would be used to slowly build an empire controlled by truly insane people, maybe they'd have called the whole thing off. i wonder if this continent would be better off as a bunch of european protectorates. at least Europe isn't losing its marbles as fast as the Us.
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Comment #4 posted by soundoff on June 20, 2001 at 10:35:59 PT
DAAAHHHDDDDDAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
And now let the latest round of war, meyhem, and death begin, brought to you by THE PROHIBITIONISTS and THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.P.S. Thank you for creating yet another black market, with zero quality control, which doesn't card a 12 year old, available near your high school!
FREEDOM VOTE IS LIBERTARIAN
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Comment #3 posted by Doug on June 20, 2001 at 09:46:32 PT
Maximize the Harm
This seems to be typical of the federal government's drug policies: try to make the situation as bad as possible. But I am contiually amazed at the lengths they go to uphold this policy.I have been to more than a few Grateful Dead concerts where drug use was widespread and open, and I wonder what would have happened if this type of policy was in place then. The concerts in question took place at a university owned stadium (where else would you find a big enough venue in a medium-sized town), and there would have ensued a difficult situation if the Feds had gotten into it with the University. In fact, there were complaints from the some of the townspeople, but it was pointed out that there was a great influx of business from the Deadheads that flooded into town, and that the football games that normally occupied the stadium caused (more) damage from all the drunken behavior. But it is not the locals we have to woory about, but the Feds. They do have an hidden agenda, and that is increasing their control of the polulace. As long as you keep people in fear (of Communism, drugs, whatever) then you can institute police-state-like behavior, and this is the Feds true purpose.
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Comment #2 posted by Liquid Zip on June 20, 2001 at 06:47:53 PT:
Reversing the direction of consciousness
"Sell a glowstick, go to prison. Authorities are shutting down 21st century raves using 1980s crack-house laws -- and turning pacifiers and Vicks VapoRub into the new drug paraphernalia"They gotta do something. We are going to have the E generation here soon.. The need to gather and dance will always be around, the problem is our society has elevated it's awareness to levels that are higher then what's available for stimuli. Hence the need for drugs - to gain higher awareness levels. But the problem lies in the amount of structure that is available after the trip, structure in not having leaders or role models in which to live ones life in accordance to- the global consciousness steers us towards it's own end. We are not what we understand. We are what makes us understand. And that's usually some insight derived from intuition. Intuition opens us to the innate connection we all have to wholeness. In the words of Brazilian physicist Fransisco Bosco: "Science is nothing more than the systematic working out of intuition." If this be true of physics, how much truer must it be of consciousness? Point being that purpose is intrinsic and intuition will dictate the evolution of the consciousness which will create purpose and glowsticks are just tools to get there..Morning!
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Comment #1 posted by Ethan Russo, MD on June 20, 2001 at 06:22:14 PT:
A Disgusting Case of Hypocrisy
You hear nothing about a drug that is hepatoxic, precipitates rapes and murders, and accounts for more broken families and divorces than all the illegal drugs in history put together. It is called alcohol.They tried to ban it once, and it did not work. I don't recall them arresting people for doing the Charleston, or wearing Budweiser T-shirts back in the Roaring Twenties.This guilt by association is random nonsense. It is extortion by a bunch of moralist know-nothings with no respect for the freedoms on which this country was based. Unless there is a concerted effort by every American to nurture freedom, we will have none. The hypocrites who hold the keys to the jailhouse have taken it all.
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