[acid-jazz] anti "RAVE" bill in senate, americans please read!!!

From: Rick Torres (sblrocks@pacbell.net)
Date: Wed Jul 10 2002 - 03:40:24 CEST

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    This is serious. Check this out, a bill was just introduced into the senate
    that makes "RAVES" illegal, and the promoters will be liable for $250,000 or
    twice the nights recipts per offense... a serious violation of MY personal
    civil liberties and yours , as the wording is so vague as to constitute a
    very real threat to ANY gathering or musical concert or event!
     
    The worst part is that they are trying to make this a "unanimous" vote
    effectively not even bringing the bill to an open debate or even a vote!!!!
    This is not democracy, this is a violation of all of our rights and needs to
    be stopped NOW!

     write to your senators and tell them to stop this bill from becoming a law!

    here is all the info I could get on the subject...

    (the link to the senate search page to search for the bill or your local
    senator... )
      
     http://www.senate.gov/search/index.html

    (the number of the bill to search for...) S2633

    (the actual bill...)

    Bill 1 of 2
    There is 1 other version of this bill.
    GPO's PDF version of this bill References to this bill in the
    Congressional Record Link to the Bill Summary & Status file. Full
    Display - 8,422 bytes.[Help]
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    RAVE Act (Introduced in Senate)

    S 2633 IS

    107th CONGRESS

    2d Session

    S. 2633

    To prohibit an individual from knowingly opening, maintaining, managing,
    controlling, renting, leasing, making available for use, or profiting from
    any place for the purpose of manufacturing, distributing, or using any
    controlled substance, and for other purposes.

    IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

    June 18, 2002

    Mr. BIDEN (for himself and Mr. GRASSLEY) introduced the following bill;
    which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

    A BILL

    To prohibit an individual from knowingly opening, maintaining, managing,
    controlling, renting, leasing, making available for use, or profiting from
    any place for the purpose of manufacturing, distributing, or using any
    controlled substance, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
    States of America in Congress assembled,

    SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the `Reducing Americans' Vulnerability to Ecstasy
    Act of 2002' or the `RAVE Act'.

    SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:

    (1) Each year tens of thousands of young people are initiated into the drug
    culture at `rave' parties or events (all-night, alcohol-free dance parties
    typically featuring loud, pounding dance music).

    (2) Some raves are held in dance clubs with only a handful of people in
    attendance. Other raves are held at temporary venues such as warehouses,
    open fields, or empty buildings, with tens of thousands of people present.

    (3) The trafficking and use of `club drugs', including 3,
    4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (Ecstasy or MDMA), Ketamine hydrochloride
    (Ketamine), Flunitrazepam (Rohypnol), and Gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB), is
    deeply embedded in the rave culture.

    (4) Many rave promoters go to great lengths to try to portray their events
    as alcohol-free parties that are safe places for young adults to go to dance
    with friends, and some even go so far as to hire off-duty, uniformed police
    officers to patrol outside of the venue to give parents the impression that
    the event is safe.

    (5) Despite such efforts to convince parents that raves are safe,
    promotional flyers with slang terms for Ecstasy or pictures of Ecstasy pills
    send the opposite message to teenagers, and in effect promote Ecstasy along
    with the rave. According to the National Drug Intelligence Center, raves
    have become little more than a way to exploit American youth.

    (6) Because rave promoters know that Ecstasy causes the body temperature in
    a user to rise and as a result causes the user to become very thirsty, many
    rave promoters facilitate and profit from flagrant drug use at rave parties
    or events by selling over-priced bottles of water and charging entrance fees
    to `chill-rooms' where users can cool down.

    (7) To enhance the effects of the drugs that patrons have ingested, rave
    promoters sell--

    (A) neon glow sticks;

    (B) massage oils;

    (C) menthol nasal inhalers; and

    (D) pacifiers that are used to combat the involuntary teeth clenching
    associated with Ecstasy.

    (8) Ecstasy is the most popular of the club drugs associated with raves.
    Thousands of teenagers are treated for overdoses and Ecstasy-related health
    problems in emergency rooms each year. The Drug Abuse Warning Network
    reports that Ecstasy mentions in emergency visits grew 1,040 percent between
    1994 and 1999.

    (9) Ecstasy damages neurons in the brain which contain serotonin, the
    chemical responsible for mood, sleeping and eating habits, thinking
    processes, aggressive behavior, sexual function, and sensitivity to pain.
    According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, this can lead to
    long-term brain damage that is still evident 6 to 7 years after Ecstasy use.

    (10) An Ecstasy overdose is characterized by an increased heart rate,
    hypertension, renal failure, visual hallucinations, and overheating of the
    body (some Ecstasy deaths have occurred after the core body temperature of
    the user goes as high as 110 degrees, causing all major organ systems to
    shutdown and muscles to breakdown), and may cause heart attacks, strokes,
    and seizures.

    SEC. 3. OFFENSES.

    (a) IN GENERAL- Section 416(a) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C.
    856(a)) is amended--

    (1) in paragraph (1), by striking `open or maintain any place' and inserting
    `open, lease, rent, use, or maintain any place, whether permanently or
    temporarily,'; and

    (2) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the following:

    `(2) manage or control any place, whether permanently or temporarily, either
    as an owner, lessee, agent, employee, occupant, or mortgagee, and knowingly
    and intentionally rent, lease, profit from, or make available for use, with
    or without compensation, the place for the purpose of unlawfully
    manufacturing, storing, distributing, or using a controlled substance.'.

    (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT- The heading to section 416 of the Controlled
    Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 856) is amended to read as follows:

    `SEC. 416. MAINTAINING DRUG-INVOLVED PREMISES.'.

    (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT- The table of contents to title II of the
    Comprehensive Drug Abuse and Prevention Act of 1970 is amended by striking
    the item relating to section 416 and inserting the following:

    `Sec. 416. Maintaining drug-involved premises.'.

    SEC. 4. CIVIL PENALTY AND EQUITABLE RELIEF FOR MAINTAINING DRUG-INVOLVED
    PREMISES.

    Section 416 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 856) is amended by
    adding at the end the following:

    `(d)(1) Any person who violates subsection (a) shall be subject to a civil
    penalty of not more than the greater of--

    `(A) $250,000; or

    `(B) 2 times the gross receipts, either known or estimated, that were
    derived from each violation that is attributable to the person.

    `(2) If a civil penalty is calculated under paragraph (1)(B), and there is
    more than 1 defendant, the court may apportion the penalty between multiple
    violators, but each violator shall be jointly and severally liable for the
    civil penalty under this subsection.

    `(e) Any person who violates subsection (a) shall be subject to declaratory
    and injunctive remedies as set forth in section 403(f).'.

    SEC. 5. DECLARATORY AND INJUNCTIVE REMEDIES.

    Section 403(f)(1) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 843(f)(1)) is
    amended by striking `this section or section 402' and inserting `this
    section, section 402, or 416'.

    SEC. 6. SENTENCING COMMISSION GUIDELINES.

    The United States Sentencing Commission shall--

    (1) review the Federal sentencing guidelines with respect to offenses
    involving gamma hydroxybutyric acid (GHB);

    (2) consider amending the Federal sentencing guidelines to provide for
    increased penalties such that those penalties reflect the seriousness of
    offenses involving GHB and the need to deter them; and

    (3) take any other action the Commission considers necessary to carry out
    this section.

    SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR A DEMAND REDUCTION COORDINATOR.

    There is authorized to be appropriated $5,900,000 to the Drug Enforcement
    Administration of the Department of Justice for the hiring of a special
    agent in each State to serve as a Demand Reduction Coordinator.

    SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR DRUG EDUCATION.

    There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as necessary to the Drug
    Enforcement Administration of the Department of Justice to educate youth,
    parents, and other interested adults about the drugs associated with raves.

    A FINAL WORD:
    Work like you don't need the money.
    Love like you've never been hurt.
    Dance like nobody's watching.

    Rick Torres
    OVERSOUL 7
    rick@ricktorres.com
    http://www.ricktorres.com



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