LAWMAKERS TARGET RAVE HOSTS

WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers want to go after organizers and hosts of dance
parties called "raves" in an attempt to halt the fast-rising use of the
drug Ecstasy, which has been linked to damage to the brain, heart and
kidneys in American teenagers.

Raves are often hot spots for the use of Ecstasy and other drugs, and a
bill offered by Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, chairman of the House Judiciary
crime subcommittee, would make it easier for the government to fine or
imprison business owners who don't prevent their customers from committing
drug offenses on their property.

Officials already blame and prosecute Ecstasy manufacturers, smugglers and
users for the increased use of the party drug.

"Many raves are advertised as 'drug- and alcohol-free' to give partygoers
and parents a false sense of security," said Drug Enforcement
Administration chief Asa Hutchinson. "While many of these parties may be
alcohol-free, the open distribution of Ecstasy, predatory drugs and other
club drugs is commonplace at many of these venues."

Laws are already on the books making the production, smuggling or selling
of Ecstasy -- also known as MDMA -- illegal. But officials said additional
steps are necessary since the number of users are rising.

"Young adults who would not consider sticking a needle in their arm or
smoking a crack pipe are now popping Ecstasy at an alarming rate," said
Andrea Carport, an investigator from the Middlesex County, N.J.
prosecutor's office.

Hutchinson said 8.1 million Americans 12-years-old and older tried Ecstasy
in 2001, up from 6.5 million the year before.

Added Smith: "The most important thing we can do on the war on drugs is to
keep our young people off drugs in the first place.

However, the American Civil Liberties Union complained that it would be
unfair to hold rave promoters responsible for the action of their
partygoers and doing so would open other music venues that hold events like
Rolling Stones concerts to persecution as well.

"If Ecstasy is the problem, let's not make raves the victim," said Graham
Boyd, the ACLU's drug policy litigation project director. "Let's not make
the music the victim."

The bill number is HR 5519.