NOW, GO ... AND RAVE NO MORE!

Thanks for commenting on the rave bust in Racine the other week
["Bust-happy Cops in Racine?", Nov. 21]. I'm a member and officer for
UW-Milwaukee's Students for Sensible Drug Policy. At our national
conference in Anaheim, Calif., everyone was talking about it. The foremost
drug-policy reformers in this country were indignantly calling for action
against this ridiculous assault on our rights. It's wonderful to hear that
the ACLU is getting so involved in the case.

The government is claiming a new enemy in its War on Drugs. Once merely a
war against the poor and minorities, it is now expanding into a war against
young people. First, they rewrote federal financial-aid requirements to
deny and delay aid to students charged with drug offenses.

Mind you this is ONLY in regard to drug offenses. Jimmy can rape Jenny and
go to college for free, but when Johnny gets caught with a joint, he's
going to lose his grants. Great. Next, the Supreme Court ruled that it's
constitutional for high schools to drug test all participants in
after-school activities. Not only is this a serious invasion of a student's
right to privacy, it will certainly discourage many students from
participating in activities that can greatly enrich their lives.

Now they're cracking down on raves, one of the major ways teens and young
adults have fun now. Like one person stated in your article, "Most ravers
aren't drug addicts, but dance addicts."

Ann Boeger Milwaukee