THE SHERIFF AND RAVES

Crack Down On Drug Users, Not Dancers

Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden threatened that event organizers
must "submit to above-ground scheduling and ticketing practices" or
face court-ordered shutdowns ("Sheriff cracks down on weekend 'rave',"
July 11). If Alderden wants a law to regulate how organizers of all
parties, concerts and dances sell tickets and do promotions, he should
go to the state legislature and get one.

If he wants to crack down on drug use, I suggest he arrest people who
are doing drugs. What he wants to do is end-run the process by
creating his own laws. He intends to enforce his newly dictated rules
against a handful of organizers because he can't tell the difference
between people who are dancing and people who are taking drugs.

Unless Alderden has taken over the legislature, it is still legal to
dance, and it is still legal to sell tickets and promote events
without going through TicketMaster. I support the sheriff's department
when it enforces the law. I cannot support a sheriff who believes he
is above the law.

PAUL REYNOLDS
Aurora