i don't like calling "my" senators either, but this bill could have serious impications not just for "raves", but for house parties, benefit parties, etc., anywhere where electronic music is played! so please help out - it could be voted on today!
More YOU Can Do to Stop the RAVE Bill: Call Senators
Boxer + Feinstein and ask them to put a HOLD on the
bills and to vote against any "unanimous consent
request." even if you've called/written already!
more below:
(A Drug Policy Alliance and Dance Safe Joint Action)
As you may know, a bill to give federal prosecutors
the ability to shut down musical events they don't
like is rapidly moving through the Senate, and could
be voted on as early as this week. We have flooded the
Senate with almost 20,000 faxes and thousands of phone
calls. We need Californians to call Senators Boxer and
Feinstein and ask them to put a hold on this bill -
even if you have already contacted them.
IT IS URGENT THAT YOU ACT RIGHT AWAY. If the anti-rave
Senate bill is enacted, property owners may become too
afraid to rent or lease their property to groups
holding hemp festivals or putting on all-night dance
parties, effectively stifling free-speech and banning
raves and other musical events!!
ACTIONS TO TAKE
** Call Senator Boxer's DC office. Tell her that you
are
very concerned about the civil liberties and free
speech implications of S. 2633 (the RAVE Act). Urge
her to put a "hold" on the bill and to vote against
any "unanimous consent request". Boxer's DC office is
202-224-3553. After you call her DC office, call her
California office that is closest to you and say the
same thing.
Fresno - 559-497-5109;
Los Angeles - 213-894-5000;
Sacramento - 916-448-2787;
San Bernardino - 909-888-8525;
San Diego - 619-239-3884;
San Francisco - 415-403-0100
** Call Senator Feinstein's DC office. Tell her that
you
are very concerned about the civil liberties and free
speech implications of S. 2633 (the RAVE Act). Urge
her to put a hold on the bill and vote against any
"unanimous consent request". Feinstein's DC office is
202-224-3841. After you call her DC office, call her
California office that is closest to you and say the
same thing.
Fresno - 559-485-7430;
Los Angeles - 310-914-7300;
San Diego - 619-231-9712;
San Francisco - 415-393-0707
** Forward this alert to your friends, family, and
co-workers.
MORE INFORMATION
The Senate is considering legislation that would give
federal prosecutors new powers to shut down raves or
other musical events they don't like and punish
businessmen and women for hosting or promoting them.
The bill (S, 2633), also known as the Reducing
American's Vulnerability to Ecstasy Act (RAVE Act), is
moving very rapidly and could be considered by the
full Senate as early as this week. (A similar bill is
also pending in the House.)
S. 2633, sponsored by Senators Durbin (D-IL), Hatch
(R-UT), Grassley (R-IA) and Leahy (D-VT), expands the
so-
called "crack house statute" to allow the federal
government to fine or imprison businessmen and women
if
customers sell or use drugs on their premises or at
their
events. Property owners, promoters, and event
coordinators
could be fined hundreds of thousands of dollars or
face up
to twenty years in federal prison if they hold raves
or
other events on their property. If the bill becomes
law,
property owners may be too afraid to rent or lease
their
property to groups holding hemp festivals or putting
on
all-night dance parties, effectively stifling
free-speech
and banning raves and other musical events.
The new law would also make it a federal crime to
temporarily use a place for the purpose of using any
illegal drug. Thus, anyone who used drugs in their own
home or threw an event (such as a party or barbecue)
in
which one or more of their guests used drugs could
potentially face a $250,000 fine and years in federal
prison. The bill also effectively makes it a federal
crime to rent property to medical marijuana patients
and
their caregivers, giving the federal government a new
weapon in its war on AIDS and cancer patients that use
marijuana to relieve their suffering.
Health advocates worry that the bill will endanger our
nation's youth. If enacted, licensed and law-abiding
business owners may stop hosting raves or other events
that federal authorities don't like, out of fear of
massive fines and prison sentences. Thus, the law
would
drive raves and other musical events further
underground and away from public health and safety
regulations. It would also discourage business owners
from enacting smart harm-reduction measures to protect
their customers. By insinuating that selling bottled
water and offering "cool off" rooms is proof that
owners
and promoters know drug use is occurring at their
events,
this bill may make business owners too afraid to
implement such harm-reduction measures, and the safety
of
our kids will suffer.
The RAVE Act punishes businessmen and women for the
crimes of their customers and is unprecedented in U.S.
history. The federal government can't even keep drugs
out
of prisons, yet it seeks to punish business owners for
failing to keep people from carrying drugs onto their
premises. If this bill passes, federal authorities
will
have the ability to scare business owners away from
using
or renting their property for all-night dance events,
as
well as any other "politically incorrect" event.
For more information on this bill, go to
http://thomas.loc.gov/ and under "bill number" search
for S2633.
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