The Rave Act Has Been Stopped for the time being.

Recognizing that the RAVE Act was a threat to free speech, public health, and innocent business owners, the Drug Policy Alliance launched a major campaign to stop it from becoming law.

* In conjunction with Dance Safe, the Drug Policy Alliance launched a fax campaign that sent over 35,000 faxes to the Senate in opposition to the RAVE Act. Thousands of voters also called and wrote their Senators and urged them to vote against it.
* The Drug Policy Alliance worked with groups around the country - like ROAR (Ravers Organized Against the RAVE Act), Blackkat, AuraSF and Freedom to Dance - to hold organized protests against the RAVE Act in major cities, including protests in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York and a rave on the lawn of Congress in Washington, DC.
* We launched an aggressive legislative and media campaign that criticized the RAVE Act in the media and educated Members of Congress on the dangers of the bill. The campaign garnered national attention, with news articles across the country, including the Oakland Tribune and the Washington Post. Alliance staff warned voters about the RAVE Act and spurned them to action on radio stations from California to New York.

So successful was our campaign, two of the original RAVE Act co-sponsors dropped their support for the bill (including the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee). The House Subcommittee on Crime refused to even vote on the House version of the bill. Senate leadership never dared to bring the controversial Senate version up for a full Senate vote.

Here is the full text of the page in case the link goes bad:

http://www.nomoredrugwar.org/music/rave_act.htm

The Rave Act

Last updated on December 20, 2002

Ravers Against the Machine -- Washington Post (DC) 8/18/02

Proposed Law Could Have Subjected You to 20 Years in Prison

Drug Policy Alliance Stopped It This Year, But It Will Likely be Re-introduced in 2003

Thanks to thousands of our supporters, the Drug Policy Alliance was able to stop federal legislation this year that would have essentially given federal prosecutors new powers to shut down raves, dance parties, hemp festivals, marijuana rallies and other events and punish business owners and activists that hosted or promoted them. The bill, known as the Reducing American's Vulnerability to Ecstasy Act (RAVE Act), was introduced in the Senate on June 18th and passed the Senate Judiciary Committee a week later - without a debate or recorded vote.

If enacted, the RAVE Act would have essentially made it easier for federal prosecutors to punish property owners that failed to deter drug offenses on their property. Property owners could have been punished even if they were not involved with drugs themselves and even if they tried to stop drug offenses from occurring on their property. Although proponents of the bill were seeking to target raves (and DJs, nightclub owners, and rave promoters had the most to fear), the law would have applied to any business owner, including bar owners, motel owners, concert promoters, and cruise ship owners. Because of its broad language, the proposed law would have even potentially subjected people to twenty years in federal prison if one or more of their guests smoked marijuana at their party or barbecue.
Recognizing that the RAVE Act was a threat to free speech, public health, and innocent business owners, the Drug Policy Alliance launched a major campaign to stop it from becoming law.

* In conjunction with Dance Safe, the Drug Policy Alliance launched a fax campaign that sent over 35,000 faxes to the Senate in opposition to the RAVE Act. Thousands of voters also called and wrote their Senators and urged them to vote against it.
* The Drug Policy Alliance worked with groups around the country - like ROAR (Ravers Organized Against the RAVE Act), Blackkat, AuraSF and Freedom to Dance - to hold organized protests against the RAVE Act in major cities, including protests in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York and a rave on the lawn of Congress in Washington, DC.
* We launched an aggressive legislative and media campaign that criticized the RAVE Act in the media and educated Members of Congress on the dangers of the bill. The campaign garnered national attention, with news articles across the country, including the Oakland Tribune and the Washington Post. Alliance staff warned voters about the RAVE Act and spurned them to action on radio stations from California to New York.

So successful was our campaign, two of the original RAVE Act co-sponsors dropped their support for the bill (including the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee). The House Subcommittee on Crime refused to even vote on the House version of the bill. Senate leadership never dared to bring the controversial Senate version up for a full Senate vote.

The RAVE Act is dead for the year - one of many state and federal legislative victories this year. However, Sen. Joe Biden and other supporters of the RAVE Act will likely re-introduce it in 2003. The Drug Policy Alliance is preparing to wage another campaign to defeat it and needs your help.

There are a number of things you can do:

* Sign up to receive our action alerts and weekly e-newsletter if you are not receiving them already, so we can keep you updated on our RAVE Act and other campaigns.
* Give us your contact information, and let us know if you are a DJ, musician, club owner, or promoter, so we can contact you with things you can do to help our campaign.
* Join Drug Policy Alliance. The Drug Policy Alliance is your voice to politicians, the media, and your fellow citizens on important drug policy issues.