- The Senate is poised to pass legislation that would
give federal prosecutors new powers to shut down hemp festivals, marijuana
rallies and other events and punish business owners and activists for
hosting or promoting them. The proposed law would also potentially subject
people to enormous federal sentences if some of their guests smoked marijuana
at their party or barbecue. It would also effectively make it a federal
crime to rent property to medical marijuana patients and their caregivers.
The bill, known as the Reducing American's Vulnerability to Ecstasy Act
(RAVE Act), was just introduced in the Senate on June 18th and has already
passed the Senate Judiciary Committee. It is moving very rapidly. While
it purports to be aimed at ecstasy and other club drugs, it gives the federal
government enormous power to fine and imprison supporters of marijuana
legalization, even if they've never smoked marijuana.
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- S. 2633, sponsored by Senators Durbin (D-IL), Hatch
(R-UT), Grassley (R-IA) and Leahy (D-VT), expands the so-called "crack
house statute" to allow the federal government to fine or imprison
businessmen and women if customers sell or use drugs on their premises
or at their events. Property owners, promoters, and event coordinators
could be fined hundreds of thousands of dollars or face up to twenty years
in federal prison if they hold raves or other events on their property.
If the bill becomes law, property owners may be too afraid to rent or lease
their property to groups holding hemp festivals or putting on all-night
dance parties, effectively stifling free speech and banning raves and
other musical events.
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- The new law would also make it a federal crime to temporarily
use a place for the purpose of using any illegal drug. Thus, anyone who
used drugs in their own home or threw an event (such as a party or barbecue)
in which one or more of their guests used drugs could potentially face
a $250,000 fine and years in federal prison. The bill also effectively
makes it a federal crime to rent property to medical marijuana patients
and their caregivers, giving the federal government a new weapon in its
war on AIDS and cancer patients who use marijuana to relieve their suffering.
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- If enacted, licensed and law-abiding business owners
may stop hosting raves or other events that federal authorities don't
like, out of fear of massive fines and prison sentences. Thus, the law
would drive raves and other musical events further underground and away
from public health and safety regulations. It would also discourage business
owners from enacting smart harm-reduction measures to protect their customers.
By insinuating that selling bottled water and offering "cool off"
rooms is proof that owners and promoters know drug use is occurring at
their events, this bill may make business owners too afraid to implement
such harm-reduction measures, and the safety of our kids will suffer.
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- To have a fax sent with your name to the Congress and
the Senate: http://ga1.org/campaign/rave
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