Forwarded from Jon @ Viper Press--thought it might interest some of you. For
more details, email me privately and I'll send you the full text including an
article from Salon and some other stuff.
lrm
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Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2003 04:34:08 -0500
From: Jon Resh <jon@viperpress.com>
Subject: RAVE Act 2003: passed...
Hey y'all:
In the midst of all of the big war news in the last month, a bill was
quietly passed by Congress last week, soon awaiting a signature by
President Bush, that could affect something we all love dearly:
Live music.
A revision of the former RAVE Act -- i.e., the "Reducing Americans'
Vulnerability to Ecstasy" Act (no, I'm not making this up) -- has
just passed through both houses, cunningly slipped onto an anti-child
pornography bill that no politician would possibly vote against.
The revised act, in purportedly broad wording and with wide
parameters, targets Ecstacy and other drugs by penalizing the
promoters and venue owners with big fines and possible jail time --
up to 20 years, it seems (see articles below) -- if one of their
customers is found in possession or usage of illegal substances, no
matter what the efforts were in preventing it at the show or event.
Hence the federal government has mandated that a show organizer is
somehow at fault if their customers are found using or in possession
of drugs. With such a risk of heavy punishment and legal red tape, it
would seem the aim is to disuade these events from happening at all
by intimidating promoters from staging them. (And, if they are
staged, the level of security must be tightened very highly.)
At this point you may say: "Big deal? I hate techno and I don't do
E." But the potential result of this bill is, conceivably, to put
every DIY and independent music show and venue at risk, possibly
limiting them. In other words: the government is now messing in OUR
domain.
Shows -- even clubs -- could be eliminated because of this threat
(which, as I understand it, was part of the demise of at least one
club in Chicago, where a localized, similar version of this law is
already in place). Consider that, if this law were enacted 15 years
ago, the Hardback Cafe (and countless other underground rock clubs)
would have been shut down just about every night of the week. It
would just take one wasted kid, cranked up on Ecstacy or (I think)
anything else illicit, to throw the owner in jail.
The Chicago law has been in place for the last year, and from my
understanding it's taken a recognizable toll on folks who organize
vanguard, street-level music events. And, what's worse, the promoters
and scenes that have been hit hardest are those with the smallest
amount of political resources (i.e., grassroots DIY electronica) and
youngest members (i.e., 18 and under).
While I haven't read the actual text of the bill itself, this whole
issue seems so horribly regressive to me, like something from a '50s
anti-marijuana crusade against "the evils of rock'n'roll." I realize,
however, that this law may not actually be used very often -- its
passage could just be a symbolic "weapon against drugs" to ensure
votes for the lawmakers in D.C. -- and that there are surely
loopholes to be found.
Nonetheless, it's just appalling that, once again, our
representatives at the highest level of government seem to feel that
they have the moral license to constrain and impede culture for, from
their standpoint, a more virtuous sense of order -- despite the
objectionable ethics (and further erosion of civil liberties) of such
a move.
It's worth noting that this legislation did not come from the
Ashcroft camp (as one would normally expect), but from veteran
Democrat Joe Biden, whose name is often pitched around as a possible
future presidential candidate (in part because of his youth, believe
it or not).
Below is some more information. To write a letter to the Justice
Department against it, go here:
http://actioncenter.drugpolicy.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=1581
Okay, sorry for the grandstanding; hopefully none of this will
actually come to pass. Just thought y'all might want to know.
Thanks,
Jon
jonresh@viperpress.com