THE FEDS GO AFTER RAVES

Officials Use An Old Law For A New Purpose

Law enforcement officials and parents have been wrestling with ways to
control raves, trendy all-night dance parties where drugs--most notably
ecstasy, aka the "hug drug"--are often part of the scene. Now it looks as
if they may have a new--if controversial--weapon: a 1986 federal law
designed to shut down crack houses by barring companies from "maintaining"
buildings where drugs are used and distributed.

Barbecue of New Orleans Inc. last week pleaded guilty to maintaining the
State Palace Theater in downtown New Orleans, where drugs were used,
particularly ecstasy. It agreed to pay a $100,000 fine and to ban
rave-related items like pacifiers, glow sticks, and dust masks at its
Palace parties.

Federal prosecutor Al Winters says that the move will dramatically curtail
the use of ecstasy at the club by removing products that are associated
with its use. Undercover agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration
bought some 13 grams of ecstasy, between 70 and 100 pills, at Palace raves
last year. Since the federal probe began, the club has tightened security.
Guards now carefully check IDs and search customers' bags and pockets at
the door--and often again inside. They turn away anyone who is under 18
years old.

But not everyone's a fan of this first-time use of the law cracking down on
crack houses.

"These are just symbols of the rave culture," says Joe Cook, the executive
director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana. "If they can
get away with this, what's next? Tie-dyed shirts and dreadlocks?

"The government ought to stick to legitimate enforcement of laws and not
try to become culture cops."