Operation: Get the Ravers

By A.C. Thompson

AS CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS debate the merits of invading Iraq, they're quietly stepping up another war at home, with a pending bill to jail – this is not a joke – ravers.

Authored by Delaware Democrat Joe Biden, the Reducing Americans' Vulnerability to Ecstasy Act – a.k.a. the RAVE Act – would give federal prosecutors new powers to go after rave promoters who fail to keep partyers from using or selling drugs at dance parties. Promoters or club owners charged under the act will face severe civil and criminal penalties, including fines of $500,000 and possible sentences of up to 20 years in prison.

"We're not cracking down on a certain type of music or a certain scene," maintains Chip Unruh, a spokesperson for Biden. "This isn't about dance music or dance parties; this targets people who promote events for the purpose of distributing illicit drugs."

If nothing else, the controversy proves Biden is adept at finding fresh enemies. The bill broadens a 1980s-era anti-crack house statute Biden cosponsored and helped bring into existence. While the anti-crack house law targets fixed locations – drug dens and shooting galleries – the RAVE bill aims for drug use in temporary spaces, like outdoor raves and one-night parties in rented warehouses.

New decade, new pariah.

"Federal prosecutors have been trying to use the [crack house law] to go after raves and nightclubs, and they've been pretty unsuccessful," says Bill Piper, associate director of national policy at the Drug Policy Alliance. "So this is an attempt to give them more of a tool to target nightclub owners and promoters."

The real substance, however, isn't in the revamped legalese. It's in the money: $5.9 million to hire new Drug Enforcement Administration agents, including a special "Demand Reduction Coordinator" for each state. Coming soon to a nightclub near you: assault rifle-equipped DEA guys in black fatigues and combat boots.

Tim Santamour is the executive director of DanceSafe, an Oakland-based group that hands out four-by-six-inch fact sheets about drugs at techno gatherings. Santamour fears the RAVE Act will hamper his work. "It's going to make it more difficult for us to get into clubs and raves that are thrown by national promoters, because they're not going to want to seem like they're condoning drug use by having us there."

With Biden's legislation on the Senate's consent calendar – meaning it could be approved, without a floor debate, at any moment – dance music aficionados are mounting a kill-the-bill campaign, last week deluging Capitol Hill with 20,000 faxes. As far as California goes, techno heads have given up on long-standing drug-war hawk Dianne Feinstein and are hoping fellow Californian Barbara Boxer will derail the bill. "We'd like to see her propose responsible legislation as she's done in the past," Santamour says.

At this point the bill doesn't seem to be a high priority for Boxer: she hasn't spoken to the media about it, and she hasn't briefed her press secretary, David Sandretti, on her position.

In the House an even more draconian piece of legislation with an even more ridiculous title is pending. The Clean, Learn, Education, Abolish, Neutralize, and Undermine Production of Methamphetamines (CLEAN-UP) Act, contains a bunch of anticrank provisions. But the bill, the work of northern California Republican Doug Ose (Third District), also includes language allowing the feds to take down any rave organizer or event promoter who knows "or reasonably ought to know" that people are getting high– on anything – at their gig.

"We think promoters should be accountable," Ose spokesperson Yier Shi tells me. "The ultimate goal is to reduce drug use, and we think this will make promoters aware of their liabilities."

Think of the possibilities – they extend far beyond the dance-music scene. You could shut down the Oscars (for those coke-snorting actors in the bathroom). You could jail Ozzy Osbourne (for all the meth-loving metalheads at his concerts). You could bust just about every professional sports franchise (somebody has felt compelled to smoke weed at just about every football or baseball game I've been to).

So what about the Giants? Are the team's execs going to get hauled into court because of that guy toking up in the cheap seats? "I don't think law enforcement is going to prosecute the San Francisco Giants to the fullest degree, even though they may fall under the legislation," Shi says. "We're leaving it up to law enforcement to interpret that."