ANTIRAVE NEW WORLD

A bill expected to pass the U.S. Senate by unanimous consent this fall
could have a chilling effect on Florida's nightclub industry. Senate bill
S. 2633, a k a the Reducing Americans' Vulnerability to Ecstasy Act of
2002, or the RAVE Act, would broaden federal standards for prosecuting
venues under the so-called crack-house laws, which were designed to stamp
out crack cocaine dealers. It would also add stiff civil penalties.

The bill specifically targets dance-music venues, whether they are
temporary outdoor raves or established nightclubs. The RAVE Act has raised
the ire of the electronic music industry, which brings tens of thousands of
professionals and partyers to Miami every year for the Winter Music Conference.

"A lot of venues are going to be afraid to even rent to someone doing a
rave-type party," said Gary Blitz, coordinator of the Electronic Music
Defense and Education Fund. "The law equates raves with drugs. The
crack-house statute should be for crack houses, not for concerts or venues."

Supporters of the RAVE Act say it is necessary to stop pervasive and
dangerous use of drugs at raves.

"There's no question that drug use at rave clubs is widespread," said Jim
McDonough, director of the Florida Office of Drug Control. "And drugs are
fatal far too often."

In 1999, Florida conducted operation Heat Rave, in which 57 Florida clubs
were raided by police. Tens of thousands of doses of drugs were
confiscated. According to McDonough, a survey of state medical examiners
found 59 MDMA (Ecstasy) related deaths in 2000, and 147 in 2001. McDonough
said that clamping down on Ecstasy is one of his office's priorities.

"With or without this bill, any club that wantonly allows illegal drug use
on their premises will be prosecuted," McDonough said.

MINOR CHANGES

Both sides agree that the bill's specific changes to current
drug-enforcement laws are minor, as it expands the controlled substances
act to allow prosecution of temporary and outdoor venues that exist "for
the purpose of unlawfully manufacturing, storing, distributing, or using a
controlled substance."

"It tailors the federal crack-house statute," said Chip Unruh, spokesman
for Sen. Joseph Biden, the bill's sponsor. "It's not a revolutionary new law."

But the rhetoric surrounding the act has hardly been low-key. 'Each year
tens of thousands of young people are initiated into the drug culture at
'rave' parties or events (all-night, alcohol-free dance parties typically
featuring loud, pounding dance music)," states the Findings section of the
RAVE Act.

A video released by McDonough's office depicts raves as lurid places where
young, stoned girls are raped and fights are frequent.

Opponents of the bill, including the American Civil Liberties Union, decry
the Reefer Madness-style hyperbole surrounding the law. They say that by
targeting a specific form of youth culture and music, and citing such
common rave accessories as glow sticks, massage oils and pacifiers as
evidence of Ecstasy use, the bill censors free expression.

Some also predict the bill will have an impact far beyond the rave scene.
Just as laws originally created to prosecute crack houses are now being
used against raves, critics say the RAVE Act could be used against any
music event where drugs are consumed.

"It's going to destroy the concert industry," said Broward-based music
promoter Justin Moss who used to promote raves and co-organized the Beyond
2002 music and sports festival at Bicentennial Park earlier this year.
"Raves are just concerts with a different kind of music. At every concert,
there's drugs. Every concert is going to fall under this act."

McDonough denies such charges.

"Rave laws are no more antimusic than anticrack house laws are antihouse,"
he said.

MIXED VERDICTS

Existing crack-house laws have already been used against raves, to mixed
effect. While the government successfully prosecuted promoters in Little
Rock and Boise, a case in New Orleans ended in a plea bargain. A lengthy
investigation of Club La Vela in Panama City was quickly rejected by a
jury. Those uncertain results in part prompted the RAVE Act.

The bill flew through the Judiciary Committee without opposition. Aides to
Sen. Biden say they expect it to pass the Senate by unanimous consent and
move quickly through the House of Representatives.

The bill has raised mixed levels of public concern among South Florida
nightclub owners and rave promoters.

"They've been trying to get rid of raves forever," said Moss. "This isn't
going to hurt the major concert promoters who are politically connected.
But it is going to hurt the little guy like me. If a promoter's not
politically in, you're dead."

Club Level manager Gerry Kelly, who serves on Miami Beach's Nightlife Task
Force and has hosted events for Janet Reno and President Bill Clinton,
affirms that he does not feel threatened by the RAVE Act.

"We have a zero-tolerance drug policy," said Kelly. "We have a rigorous
training with our security team to spot any sort of illegal activity at the
club. If we ever found anyone with illegal drugs, they would be immediately
taken out of the club."

McDonough says those are precisely the steps clubs must take to avoid
prosecution.

"They have to set a standard that it's not a drug haven, it's a club," he
said. "There have to be checks at the door. Security has to be observant
while people are there. It's like underage people who drink in bars: The
owner has a responsibility to ensure that doesn't happen."

But supporters of the bill vary about how it will be implemented. McDonough
said drugs would have to be "wantonly" consumed at a venue. Unruh said only
promoters who blatantly encourage drug use in fliers, for example, would be
prosecuted.

"The RAVE Act just targets unscrupulous promoters who are promoting for the
purpose of drug use," Unruh said.

But according to EMDEF's Blitz, the standards for actual prosecutions in
cities such as Panama City have been much slacker -- even before the RAVE Act.

"Anybody who knows anything about that case [La Vela] knows those guys did
everything possible to try to keep drugs out of their place," Blitz said.
"To think this law is needed to address the fact these guys didn't get
convicted, that spells trouble for any club owner."

Evelyn McDonnell is the Herald's pop music critic.