Reducing Americans' Vulnerability to Ecstasy Act
The
Reducing Americans' Vulnerability to Ecstacy Act, commonly known as the
RAVE Act, was a
bill proposed in the
United States Senate during the
107th Congress. A substantially similar law, the
Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Act was passed during the
108th Congress on
April 30,
2003.
The bill was sponsored by Senator
Joseph Biden, along with cosponsors
Chuck Grassley,
Orrin Hatch,
Joseph Lieberman,
Strom Thurmond,
Patrick Leahy and
Richard Durbin.
[Patrick Leahy and Richard Durbin withdrew their sponsorship of the bill in September 2002.] The bill was referred to the
Senate Committee on the Judiciary on
June 18,
2002.
June 27,
2002 it was reported out of the committee without written comment or amendment and placed on the
Senate Legislative Calendar. On
October 10,
2002, Senator Biden provided introductory remarks on the bill before the Senate. No further action was taken on the bill.
The stated purpose of the Act was: "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 purpose."
[See text of statute.]The Act would have modified section 416(a) of the
Controlled Substances Act (codified at
United States Code, to expand the section regarding "Establishment of manufacturing operations", which previously outlawed maintaining, managing or owning any place used to manufacture, distribute or use drugs to include temporary or permanent uses of the premises.
The Act also would have created a
civil penalty of $250,000 or "2 times the gross receipts, either known or estimated, that were derived from each violation that is attributable to the person.", whichever was greater.
Additionally, the Act recommended that the
United States Sentencing Commission reconsider the then-current Federal sentencing guidelines with respect to offenses involving
Gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid, commonly known as the
date rape drug.
Most of the public commentary regarding the RAVE Act centered around the
prologue section of the bill titled "Findings."
[ ] Such sections do not create new
substantive law and serve only as guidance to the
judiciary in
interpreting the law and the
executive in
enforcing the law. Among the items listed in the "Findings" section include statements regarding
rave promoters providing "chill rooms" and bottled water for large fees, where participants can go and cool down from the body temperature raising effects of
ecstasy; and selling "neon glow sticks; massage oils; menthol nasal inhalers; and pacifiers that are used to combat the involuntary teeth clenching associated with ecstasy."
Specifically, many were concerned that these expansive definitions might permit the police to
arrest and charge
concert promoters under this law so long as
glow sticks and
bottled water were present.
[ "RAVE Act: RIP Live Electronic Music", Kuro5hin.org, July 07, 2002] Congress was also accused of picking an easy, public target so as to continue support for the
War on Drugs.
Others were concerned that too much responsibility would be placed on concert promoters to police their patrons.
["Chemical Warfare: The RAVE Act", AlterNet, October 8, 2002] Also, many were concerned that their
First Amendment right to
freedom of assembly would violated were the law enacted.
[ "Anti-RAVE ACT Petition", accessed July 30, 2006]
