Home | Community | Message Board

Mycohaus
This site includes paid links. Please support our sponsors.


Welcome to the Shroomery Message Board! You are experiencing a small sample of what the site has to offer. Please login or register to post messages and view our exclusive members-only content. You'll gain access to additional forums, file attachments, board customizations, encrypted private messages, and much more!

Shop: Bridgetown Botanicals CBD Concentrates   Kraken Kratom Kratom Capsules for Sale, Red Vein Kratom   PhytoExtractum Kratom Powder for Sale

Jump to first unread post Pages: 1
OfflinePlok
Life is fractal
Male

Registered: 09/08/04
Posts: 1,152
Loc: Los Angeles
Last seen: 2 months, 7 days
Scary Article
    #5768035 - 06/19/06 01:31 PM (17 years, 7 months ago)

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n817/a11.html?132382

THE WAR ON RAVES

Rave Promoters Busted In Wave Of Drug Crackdowns At Dance Clubs Around The U.S.

ROBERT BRUNET IS NOT THE KIND OF GUY you'd imagine being accused of running a drug den. His family had been in the New Orleans "theater business for three generations, and Brunet - a married thirty-six-year-old with three young daughters - had staged dozens of successful raves at the local State Palace Theatre. His security guards ejected or arrested anyone caught taking drugs, and he kept two ambulances parked outside the venue, in case one of any of the 3,000 ravers in attendance got sick or hurt. The whole operation, he figured, was running smoothly. That is, until last August 26th, when agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration raided the State Palace looking for evidence that the theater was being used as a haven for Ecstasy.

In January, Brunet, his brother Brian and promoter James "Donnie" Estopinal were indicted under the federal "crack-house statute." That law, passed in 1986, was designed to jail landlords who let their properties become overrun with drugs. But now the DEA and U.S. Attorney Eddie Jordan are applying it to music promoters in an attempt to shut down raves. The DEA argues that raves, by definition, support the use of drugs like Ecstasy, Special K, Rohypnol and GHB. To the astonishment of many, Jordan and the DEA also argue that the availability of such "drug paraphernalia" as pacifiers, glow sticks and even bottled water is evidence that promoters condone drug use.

If the charges against the Brunets and Estopinal stick, they face sentences of twenty years to life in prison. And the DEA vows that if the prosecution is successful, it will attempt to jail rave promoters around the country.

The DEAs crackdown on raves is another byproduct of the war on drugs - specifically, the DEA believes it can curb the use of Ecstasy among teens by targeting rave culture. Sen. Joseph Biden ( D-DeL ), who authored the crack-house legislation, is a proponent of the law's new use. In March, he endorsed using the law to put rave promoters in jail and also encouraged local authorities to pass laws to stop raves. In Chicago, Orlando and Seattle, authorities have already done that. And rave promoters in Los Angeles and Denver report that local authorities have made it increasingly difficult to stage events.

In Chicago - where underground parties gave birth to house music in the Eighties - club owners and managers, event producers and even performers can be fined as much as $10,000 for participating in an unlicensed rave. Mayor Richard Daley has also announced that he plans to apply the city's "drug- and ganghouse ordinance," a local version of the crack-house statute, to imprison promoters and club owners. Orlando's Orange County recently instituted a sixty-day "Dance Hall Moratorium" prohibiting new dance clubs from opening. County officials are working on a2A.Nt. nightlife curfew as well as felony background checks on late-night-club owners. Seattle's 11 teen dance ordinance" requires kids under eighteen to be accompanied to raves by a parent.

Convinced that all this legislative action constitutes a threat to the First Amendment, the American Civil Liberties Union has come to Estopinal's and the Brunets' aid in the New Orleans case. "The government is trying to get at what it sees as a social ill Ecstasy - by going after an expressive speech, which is the music," says the ACLU's Graham Boyd, chief drug-policy litigator. Boyd, who is acting as Estopinal's lawyer, considers this a free-speech case: "Performance of music to an audience is speech. And from z Live Crew to Marilyn Manson, when the government tries to censor music, they lose."

Estopinal and the Brunets were originally going to plead guilty, convinced that they could never win the case against them. But once Boyd and the ACLU got involved, the three changed their pleas, causing the U.S. attorney's office to dismiss the indictments and reopen its investigation to find more evidence. Jordan is expected to seek new indictments shortly.

Legal experts predict that Jordan will have a tough time applying the "crack-house statute" to the State Palace Theatre because he will have to convince a jury that the raves were held with the intention of promoting drug use. But as Ecstasy use climbs at a faster rate than that of any other drug, raves have become an obvious target of investigation. The Drug Abuse Warning Network, which monitors drug-related emergency-room visits and mortality statistics, noted that Ecstasy-related visits rose from 1,143 in 1994 to 2,850 in 1999, the last full year for which data is available. And in 2000, the DEA seized more than 3 million tablets of Ecstasy - a 200 percent increase from the previous year. "Parents send their kids to what they think are non-alcoholic dance parties," says DEA spokesman Tony Ryan. "And they're leaving in body bags. When we can show that these people had knowledge and sponsored the event, then they're liable."

Rave promoters argue that sponsoring an event is not the equivalent of encouraging drug use. Like the Brunets and Estopinal, many promoters and venue managers take strong measures to ensure that their parties are safe, using security guards and, in some cases, employing undercover cops to patrol the venues and boot out anyone selling or using drugs.

Denver promoter Jason Bills has staged major events without incident since 1993, investing six-figure budgets in productions that feature everyone from underground house kingpin Armand Van Helden to DJ Jazzy Jeff. In March, Bills' Together Productions booked a rave at Denver's National Western Complex, which had already gotten the licenses and permits necessary to hold the rave. The week of the event, Bills got a call from the city attorney's office, advising him that there was a "new permit" required to throw a rave. "It was called a dance-assembly permit," Bills recalls. "I went into their office, and the people there hadn't even heard of it. I think they just wanted to give us more hoops to jump through."

Bills continues, "I think it's ridiculous to assume that the sole reason I'm doing an event at the Denver Coliseum is so that people can do drugs. We do parties in convention centers and places where professional sports teams are playing, and we'd like to be held to the same standards as any other concert promoter."

"There's a perception that raves aren't music-driven at all," says Pasquale Rotella, whose Los Angeles production company, Insomniac, attracts more than 30,000 people to events featuring talent such as Moby, Fatboy Slim and Underworld. "People say, `You're there for the music? Yeah, right!' But our events cost a million dollars these days. We coordinate everything with the local authorities. Now it seems like they don't even want to work with you." Rotella says that a major concert venue where he has held two raves a year since 1995 recently bristled at the idea of adding a third event. "Five months ago they would have been completely excited about it," he says. "Now they're like, `We don't know.'"

The problem, promoters say, is the growing bias against any event that bears the name "rave." Cris Campbell, an attorney who works with Together and several other Denver promotion companies, says that city officials have approached the promoters he represents, telling them, "If you host electronic shows, we will find a way to shut you down." And Bills and Rotella both report that when they apply for event permits, the first thing city officials ask is, "Is this a rave?" When they answer yes, they're either told that they can't hold the event or are given a long list of requirements: no alcohol, no one under eighteen, limited hours. "Sixteen-year-olds can go see 'N Sync at the Pepsi Center," Bills says. "So why can't they come to my show and see Armand Van Helden?"

The ACLU's Boyd points out that the problems these promoters encounter evince the unconstitutionality of the rave crackdown. "They're using the heavy hand of government to intimidate people's speech," he says. Campbell agrees. He's organizing a group called Save Our Scene to raise money for a lawsuit that would challenge the constitutionality of the Denver anti-rave ordinances. Campbell argues that the ordinances not only violate the First Amendment but also amount to what he calls the "selective prosecution" prohibited by the Fourteenth Amendment. He's organizing a grass-roots campaign to lobby county officials, "to get them to understand who we are, what we do, how we do it - and to invite them to work with us to make these events happen in the safest possible manner."

For now, cultivating relationships with local authorities could be the best way for promoters and club owners to stay out of trouble while still putting on a safe event. Last year in Detroit, DJ Carl Craig organized the Detroit Electronic Music Festival, with full support from city officials. In the course of a weekend, the festival attracted more than a million people, and, outside of incidental arrests, there were no substantial problems. Now, Craig says, the city has welcomed the festival back with open arms for at least the next two years. And New York promoter Matt E. Silver, who booked the rave events for ig's Woodstock, points to Germany's Love Parade as an example of how American rave organizers might win government favor. "The Love Parade was born out of protest against all the anti-rave laws in Berlin," he says. "It has turned into a major economic boon for the city, and they're bringing in millions in tax revenue in one weekend."

Given the government's current strategy, an American Love Parade seems unlikely anytime soon. But promoters agree that regardless of how hard authorities stomp on the scene, the music won't stop. "Whether they convict us or not," says Robert Brunet, "they can't squash an artistic form. It will find an outlet, one way or another."

The DEA argues that the availability of such "drug paraphernalia" as glow sticks and bottled water is evidence that promoters condone drug use.


--------------------
Just say NO to the War on Drugs.


Extras: Filter Print Post Top
OfflineClammyJoe
Azurescen Head
Male

Folding@home Statistics
Registered: 11/03/05
Posts: 3,691
Loc: PNW
Last seen: 11 years, 1 month
Re: Scary Article [Re: Plok]
    #5768042 - 06/19/06 01:32 PM (17 years, 7 months ago)

Uhhh, no offence, but... about fucking time. Ravers are the lowest forms of life on earth.


Extras: Filter Print Post Top
OfflineCakeface
Stranger

Registered: 06/19/06
Posts: 164
Last seen: 17 years, 7 months
Re: Scary Article [Re: ClammyJoe]
    #5768077 - 06/19/06 01:42 PM (17 years, 7 months ago)

Quote:

TheMadConductor said:
Uhhh, no offence, but... about fucking time. Ravers are the lowest forms of life on earth.




congratulations to pedophiles on their promotion :rolleyes:


Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Offlinedomite
Puppet
Male User Gallery
Registered: 04/12/03
Posts: 2,978
Loc: Who's askin'?
Last seen: 10 years, 5 months
Re: Scary Article [Re: ClammyJoe]
    #5768085 - 06/19/06 01:45 PM (17 years, 7 months ago)

That's totally beside the point.


Extras: Filter Print Post Top
InvisiblePapaverS
Madmin Emeritus?

Registered: 06/01/02
Posts: 26,880
Loc: Radio Free Tibet!
Re: Scary Article [Re: Plok]
    #5768118 - 06/19/06 01:55 PM (17 years, 7 months ago)

Wait, let's hear that gain for emphasis:

"The DEA also argue that the availability of such "drug paraphernalia" as pacifiers, glow sticks and even bottled water is evidence that promoters condone drug use."

Our tax dollars at work. I guess they'll be raiding my local Safeway® store next... :smirk:


--------------------


Extras: Filter Print Post Top
OfflineClammyJoe
Azurescen Head
Male

Folding@home Statistics
Registered: 11/03/05
Posts: 3,691
Loc: PNW
Last seen: 11 years, 1 month
Re: Scary Article [Re: Cakeface]
    #5768121 - 06/19/06 01:56 PM (17 years, 7 months ago)

Hey man!~ LETS DANCE.


Extras: Filter Print Post Top
OfflineClammyJoe
Azurescen Head
Male

Folding@home Statistics
Registered: 11/03/05
Posts: 3,691
Loc: PNW
Last seen: 11 years, 1 month
Re: Scary Article [Re: ClammyJoe]
    #5768127 - 06/19/06 01:57 PM (17 years, 7 months ago)

Yeah, its a violation of privacy, and totally unconstitutional, but lets be honest, I'm sure we didn't lose any great minds in the shut of the Rave-o-matic-Danceatron-500


Extras: Filter Print Post Top
OfflineHeadTripVertigo
at least I'm housebroken
Male User Gallery

Folding@home Statistics
Registered: 05/07/06
Posts: 10,788
Last seen: 5 years, 10 months
Re: Scary Article [Re: ClammyJoe]
    #5768131 - 06/19/06 02:00 PM (17 years, 7 months ago)

k guys, don't drink bottled water, ever again. you'll get busted for paraphenalia.


--------------------
TACOS LIKE A MOTHERFUCKER


Extras: Filter Print Post Top
OfflineClammyJoe
Azurescen Head
Male

Folding@home Statistics
Registered: 11/03/05
Posts: 3,691
Loc: PNW
Last seen: 11 years, 1 month
Re: Scary Article [Re: HeadTripVertigo]
    #5768138 - 06/19/06 02:01 PM (17 years, 7 months ago)

Anyone who pays the price can sell cigs, but if you sell a pacifier you're a bad person.


Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Offlinedrbob
Just anotherbear
Registered: 06/05/06
Posts: 13
Last seen: 13 years, 9 months
Re: Scary Article [Re: Plok]
    #5768718 - 06/19/06 04:33 PM (17 years, 7 months ago)

Quote:

Plok said:
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n817/a11.html?132382

THE WAR ON RAVES

Rave Promoters Busted In Wave Of Drug Crackdowns At Dance Clubs Around The U.S.





I thought that sounded kind of familiar ... this actually happened over five years ago. The charges were dropped against the promoter and one of the theatre owner's companies accepted a $100,000 fine and some conditions, including not selling glowsticks. I think the ACLU got the glowstick ban overturned.

The 'crack house' legislation used in this case was honed to be used against raves in the Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Act of 2003. We in the UK were way ahead of you on this one with laws since 1994 targetting gatherings of over 100 people to listen to amplified music "wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats". I'd stick to breakbeats if you want to be legal.


Extras: Filter Print Post Top
InvisiblePenguarky Tunguin
f n o r d
Male User Gallery
Registered: 08/08/04
Posts: 17,192
Re: Scary Article [Re: Plok]
    #5768764 - 06/19/06 04:46 PM (17 years, 7 months ago)

Scariest thing about the article is the length.  Jesus.  :whatever:


--------------------
Every mistake, intentional or otherwise, in the above post, is the fault of the reader.


Extras: Filter Print Post Top
InvisiblePrisoner#1
Even Dumber ThanAdvertized!
 User Gallery

Registered: 01/22/03
Posts: 193,665
Loc: Pvt. Pubfag NutSuck
Re: Scary Article [Re: Papaver]
    #5768946 - 06/19/06 05:33 PM (17 years, 7 months ago)

Quote:

Papaver said:
"The DEA also argue that the availability of such "drug paraphernalia" as pacifiers, glow sticks and even bottled water is evidence that promoters condone drug use."





Jebus, time to get the baby into rehab


Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Invisiblekake
The answer to1984 is 1776.
Male User Gallery

Folding@home Statistics
Registered: 05/06/99
Posts: 2,782
Loc: The 66th harmonic
Re: Scary Article [Re: Prisoner#1]
    #5769016 - 06/19/06 05:57 PM (17 years, 7 months ago)

:rotfl:

You could argue that for some people, trees and clouds are drug-promoting paraphenelia.  A tree blowing in the wind can definitely do for me what I think glow sticks do for many.  It's just easier to get a glowstick into a club than a tree.

Let the government try to take MY drug-promoting paraphenelia away!

Wait...maybe that's why they're letting companies continue to ruin the environment...they're secretly trying to eliminate all sources of aesthetic beauty so we won't take drugs!


--------------------
The answer to 1984 is 1776.


Extras: Filter Print Post Top
OfflineCepheus
Balance
Male User Gallery

Folding@home Statistics
Registered: 04/19/06
Posts: 8,266
Loc: the space between reality...
Last seen: 1 year, 1 month
Re: Scary Article [Re: Prisoner#1]
    #5769033 - 06/19/06 06:01 PM (17 years, 7 months ago)

I attended an illegal outdoor rave 3 weeks ago.

800+ people, live psytrance for 24ish hours and people, no shit, set up stalls selling drugs.. there was a nos stall, bud stall, amphetamine stall, psychedelic stall.. no attempt to be sly.

By far the most fun I've had in ages.
And I'm not a degenerate 'raver' with fluffy boots and glowsticks.

All 'ravers' that go to clubs with pacifiers, glowsticks and eat loads of ecstasy deserve what they get.. as these people are the skurge of the electronic music scene.


:dj:


pffft hard house.  :projectile:


--------------------
"I only ever hope to reach equilibrium, in Nature's matrix, in line with the meridian" ~ Jehst

:sun: "...and I know that I have to keep breathing, as tomorrow the sun will rise, who knows what the tide will bring?" :sun:

Free Spore Ring Europe
Send any spare spore prints you might have and help the distribution :grin:

Open Source. Freedom.  GNU/Linux

Addicting is not a word.


Extras: Filter Print Post Top
InvisiblePapaverS
Madmin Emeritus?

Registered: 06/01/02
Posts: 26,880
Loc: Radio Free Tibet!
Re: Scary Article [Re: kake]
    #5769101 - 06/19/06 06:15 PM (17 years, 7 months ago)

Quote:

kake said:
[...] It's just easier to get a glowstick into a club than a tree.




Have you tried a small shrubbery, or maybe a potted plant?


--------------------


Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Invisiblekake
The answer to1984 is 1776.
Male User Gallery

Folding@home Statistics
Registered: 05/06/99
Posts: 2,782
Loc: The 66th harmonic
Re: Scary Article [Re: Papaver]
    #5769331 - 06/19/06 06:54 PM (17 years, 7 months ago)

They tried to nail me with supporting terrorism when I did that.  :shrug:


--------------------
The answer to 1984 is 1776.


Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Jump to top Pages: 1

Shop: Bridgetown Botanicals CBD Concentrates   Kraken Kratom Kratom Capsules for Sale, Red Vein Kratom   PhytoExtractum Kratom Powder for Sale


Similar ThreadsPosterViewsRepliesLast post
* Rolling Stone Pickard Article
( 1 2 3 4 all )
theocean06 49,791 78 03/03/13 08:54 AM
by Learyfan
* The "would I like Ecstasy?" test
( 1 2 3 all )
Asante 5,658 43 04/24/08 10:07 AM
by ShroomMan420
* Just bought 1,050 glowsticks for 10k lakes
( 1 2 3 all )
Noviseer 3,058 45 07/21/08 04:17 PM
by toastandjam
* Scientists to Conduct Ecstasy Trial for Counselling Moxemerald 1,524 11 11/28/05 02:54 PM
by Madtowntripper
* Scary, Scary, Scary Penguarky Tunguin 528 2 05/29/05 03:54 PM
by StrandedVoyager
* Mom found out I use Ecstasy
( 1 2 3 4 all )
Adamist 12,256 76 01/11/11 02:40 AM
by justice51315
* Dances-with-Pharms --- share your experiences with Ecstasy on Raves, Dance/Trance etc parties
( 1 2 all )
Asante 5,246 30 12/16/07 12:02 AM
by Dephect
* Glowsticking... ElementsToLife 490 5 03/18/09 04:08 PM
by Jufin

Extra information
You cannot start new topics / You cannot reply to topics
HTML is disabled / BBCode is enabled
Moderator: Entire Staff
1,176 topic views. 3 members, 46 guests and 46 web crawlers are browsing this forum.
[ Show Images Only | Sort by Score | Print Topic ]
Search this thread:

Copyright 1997-2024 Mind Media. Some rights reserved.

Generated in 0.025 seconds spending 0.008 seconds on 14 queries.