ANTI-RAVE HYSTERIA

Trinka Porrata's recent anti-rave presentation ("Parents, kids get scary
taste of drug scene," Jan. 9) is not the initiative of a lone crusader, but
reflects a systematic nationwide campaign by drug enforcement bureaucrats
to spread disinformation and panic.

Teens in the '60s and '70s may recall similar parent-aimed hysteria about
rock concerts, replete with preposterous claims about the dangers of
then-novel marijuana.

Keenly aware their efforts to eradicate drugs are futile, publicity-seeking
authorities have elected to make raves a surrogate target. Public
unfamiliarity with "club drugs" makes them an ideal bogeyman for the
standard propaganda technique of exploiting fear of the unknown.

Ecstasy and raves may go together like moonshine whiskey and bluegrass, but
rave promoters and venue owners are often subjected to high-profile
prosecution for little more than presenting the electronic techno music and
dazzling light shows typifying these events.

Against this backdrop, the inevitable arrests of a few kids with contraband
are trumped up into major narcotics conspiracy charges against the
entrepreneurs.

Few such allegations have been proved, but the actions effectively shut
down the events and deter others. However, the ultimate goal is achieved
when politicians, hallucinating this contrived threat is real, dance
synchronously to the propaganda organ's hypnotic music to give the
bureaucrats more power, prestige and funding.

Mett Ausley, Lake Waccamaw, N.C.