cannabisnews.com: Party Poopers





Party Poopers
Posted by CN Staff on July 24, 2002 at 18:15:33 PT
By Jacob Sullum
Source: Reason Magazine
You thought it was bad when you heard that you could lose your house if your son planted a few marijuana seeds in the corner of your yard. That was nothing. Under a bill making its way through the Senate, you could go to prison for letting him hold a party where someone passes around a joint. The Reducing Americans’ Vulnerability to Ecstasy (RAVE) Act of 2002 would broaden a federal law aimed at crackhouses so it can be used more easily against raves. 
The bill would make it a federal crime, punishable by a fine of up to $500,000 and a prison term of up to 20 years, to “manage or control any place” and “knowingly and intentionally...make it available for use, with or without compensation, for the purpose of unlawfully...using a controlled substance.”The RAVE Act—which was approved without amendment by the Senate Judiciary Committee on June 27, nine days after it was introduced—is worded so broadly that its chilling effect could extend far beyond raves. “‘Knowingly’ and ‘for the purpose of’ are too undefined to provide adequate protection to innocent businessmen and women,” argues the Drug Policy Alliance. “Property owners may be too afraid to rent or lease their property to groups holding hemp festivals, all-night dance parties, rock concerts, or any other event rightly or wrongly perceived as attracting drug users.”The deterrent would be enhanced by the bill’s provision for civil fines of $250,000 or more. That option would enable the government to bankrupt property owners without having to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.  The bill, sponsored by Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.), also would have the perverse effect of discouraging event sponsors from taking precautions that could be viewed as evidence that they knew attendees would be using drugs, such as providing bottled water and chill-out rooms for ravers to protect against overheating and dehydration. “This bill may make business owners too afraid to implement such harm-reduction measures,” says the Drug Policy Alliance, “and the safety of our kids would suffer.”Likewise, by driving raves further underground, the legislation would make it less likely that drug users who need medical attention will get it in time. Stung by critics who say Ecstasy and other “club drugs” are not as dangerous as they’ve made them out to be, politicians seem determined to remedy the situation. Jacob Sullum is a Reason senior editor.Source: Reason Magazine (US)Author: Jacob SullumPublished: July 24, 2002Copyright: 2002 The Reason FoundationContact: letters reason.comWebsite: http://www.reason.com/ Related Articles & Web Sites:Drug Policy Alliancehttp://www.drugpolicy.org/Rave Bill: S.2633http://freedomtoexhale.com/rave.htm Ravers Against The Machine http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13453.shtmlLawmakers Addicted To The Quick Fixhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13444.shtml 
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Comment #3 posted by krutch on July 25, 2002 at 07:31:00 PT:
The Bill is Insane
All this will do is drive people into the street to party. With all of the the problems the federal government has to deal with these days why are they wasting time with this nonsense. How many people have actually died at dance parties? I am certain it is much fewer then the number who die driving home from bars drunk. Hey congress, leave the kids who are partying alone and deal with terrorists and corporate criminals.Oh, here is a message to all of the parents out there. If one of your little darlings dies at a party don't blame the organizer. It is your own fault for failing to educate your child. No party organizer ever rammed drugs down anyone's throat.The part that kills me the most about this law is that a kid could show up at a party and die, and the organizer could get blamed because they provided water. After all, only people on Ecstasy need water.It is time to kick these fools out of office. The most worthless people in the country are in Congress. The White House and the Supreme Court are right behind them in the worthless race. 
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Comment #2 posted by Sam Adams on July 24, 2002 at 20:01:22 PT
Nice, doc!
that's a really nice piece you wrote on the other website. I saw the movie as well, it was definitely an extrapolation of the WOD - did you notice how all the people being raided & examined by the spiders, etc, were basically all inner-city poor people and minorities?I also thought it was interesting how the government doctor claimed he was giving the pre-cog girl drugs to adjust her and keep her sane, but actually he was using the drugs to imprison her. Perhaps commentary on the Ritalin age?It's no surprise the old men's club is going after Dancecrime. Remember "Footloose"? That was a story about the U.S. Bible Belt. Just look at the point man: Ashcroft doesn't smoke, drink, have caffeine or dance. That's twisted. 
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Comment #1 posted by xxdr_zombiexx on July 24, 2002 at 18:57:19 PT
Dancecrime
Everytime I hear of the RAVE act and all the stupid things that its fundamentally based upon, all I can think of is 1984 - There was Thoughtcrime and Sexcrime... Now we have Dancecrime.Sexcrime, Drugcrime, Rock-n-Rollcrime 
Open Your Eyes
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