The Government's New War on Drugs: Threatening the Right to Dance
![handle is hein.journals/nejccc29 and id is 105 raw text is: The Government's New War on Drugs:
Threatening the Right to Dance!
I. INTRODUCTION
The U.S. has taken a new approach to its war on drugs - it has declared a
war on raves, all-night electronic music dance parties, where club drugs
are accused of being essential' and deeply embedded in the culture.2
Targeting the managers and promoters of raves specifically, the government
claims that sales of items such as pacifiers, chemical light sticks, and
flashing light rings at these establishments prove that club promoters and
managers conspire to knowingly and intentionally make their events availa-
ble for the use of unlawful controlled substances.' The government reasons
that since these items are commonly used to enhance and support the phys-
iological 'high' caused by the ingestion of 'club drugs,' making them
available for sale at raves is sufficient to show that club organizers are
knowingly and intentionally using electronic music dance parties to pro-
mote the use of illegal drugs.4
Applying it for the first time in the context of dance parties, the federal
authorities are using U.S.C. § 856(a)(2), also known as the Federal Crack
House Statute,5 to arrest and criminally prosecute rave promoters and
6
managers. The statute, which was originally established in 1986, primarily
to shut down crack houses,7 makes it unlawful to
manage or control any building, room, or enclosure, either as an owner,
lessee, agent, employee, or mortgagee, and knowingly and intentionally
rent, lease, or make available for use, with or without compensation, the
1. Information Bulletin: Raves, NATIONAL DRUG INTELLIGENCE CENTER, U.S. DEP'T OF
JUSTICE, No. 2001-LO424-004, April 2001, at 1, available at http://www.usdoj.gov/ndic/
pubs/656/656p.pdf.
2. The Rave Act of 2002, S. 2633, 107th Cong. § 2 (2002), available at http://
www.thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?C 107:2:./temp/-c lO7v5XtjH::.
3. Factual Basis, United States v. Barbeque of New Orleans, Inc., d/b/a State Palace
Theater (E.D. La. 2001) (No. 01-153), available at http://www.emdef.org/pdf/
NOLAFactualBasis.pdf [hereinafter Factual Basis].
4. Id.
5. Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Defendant's James Estopinal
and Brian Brunet's Motion to Dismiss the Indictment at 6, United States v. Robert J. Brunet,
Brian J. Brunet, and James D. Estopinal (E.D. La. 2001) (No. 01-010), available at http://
www.emdef.org/pdf/brunet.pdf [hereinafter Brunet, Memorandum on the Motion to
Dismiss].
6. See Informational Bulletin: Raves, supra note 1, at 5.
7. See Janelle Brown, Sell a Glowstick, Go to Prison, June 20, 2001, at http://
archive.salon.com/ent/music/feature/2001/06/20/rave-feature.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/nejccc29&div=8&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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The Government's New War on Drugs: Threatening the Right to Dance
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