Not only does the RAVE act attack the rights of concert promoters, it directly assaults the property rights of individuals who rent buildings and other spaces to promoters. If you rent a theater to a promoter, and there is drug use of any kind found at the concert subsequently held, both the promoter and property owner can be held liable. And since the bill allows the government to charge the property owner civilly, prosecutors will be held to a lower burden of proof than in a criminal case. But the results will be just as bad for defendants, since the law provides a $250,000 penalty for violation.

On top of all this, the RAVE Act is a violation of the First Amendment, because it deliberately targets a particular form of musical expression for prosecution based on content. The bill presumes raves are more prone to drug use than other concerts, which is not true (or at least, it hasn't been proven by anyone.) The bill amounts to libel against the thousands of Americans who peacefully enjoy and participate in electronic music concerts without ever using drugs--a group that is clearly a majority of ravegoers. In what other context would we ever permit the government to label the majority based on the actions of a minority?

Finally, this bill will probably exacerbate the very "drug problem" that it's supposed to prevent. Because concert promoters are liable if they "knowingly" permit drug use to occur, a promoter is left with two options. He can try and eliminate all potential drug use from his concerts, which would probably mean full-body strip and cavity searches of all patrons and performers (and see how long he'd stay in business for doing that.) Or, the promoter can pretend there is no drug problem, search nobody, or even worse, refuse to take any measures which might anticipate drug use. For example, he can refuse to have medical personnel on hand or not sell bottled water (yes, the bill consider the sale of bottled water to be a telltale sign of illegal drug activity.) In either case, you either force ecstasy users further underground or you risk their lives.

CAC calls on the Senate to reject this nonsensical attack on businessmen and individual rights. You can write to Congress on this matter through CAC's Government & Media Action Center.

UPDATE
Thoughtful post from blogger Mark Kleiman on the Ecstasy phenomenon from a different perspective:

MDMA use has been soaring, as measured both by surveys and by emergency-room visits. My reading of the current evidence does not suggest that the drug's effects are nearly as bad as the drug warriors would like us to believe, and last year's Congressionally-ordered toughening of the sentencing guidelines in MDMA distribution cases seemed way out of proportion to the known risks.
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