Pubdate: Sun, 30 Apr 2000
Source: Time Magazine (US)
Copyright: 2000 Time Inc
Contact:  http://www.time.com/time/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/451
Authors: Phin MacDonald, Alicia Downard, Cheri Lucas
Note: This is not a published letter per se, but the editors at Time pasted 
together exceprts from different letters and published it in the letters 
section.

CRACKDOWN ON RAVES

Should the Federal Government use an antidrug law aimed at crack houses to 
clamp down on the use of illegal drugs at raves [SOCIETY, April 9]? If the 
feds have their way, nightclub owners might be prosecuted whether or not 
they were selling drugs if party animals are caught with stuff in the 
house. Our story on the new legal tactic drew many snorts of derision. "The 
government will have about as much success in curtailing the use of ecstasy 
at raves as it did with alcohol in speakeasies during Prohibition," wrote 
Phin MacDonald of Medford, Mass. "They are only encouraging the scene to 
move back underground." Alicia Downard of Dallas thought it was "typical 
drug-war absurdity to equate ecstasy with crack.

When was the last time you read about a drug-addicted mother who spent her 
welfare check on ecstasy?" But Cheri Lucas of San Francisco thinks there is 
a problem with the use of ecstasy, and she regretted that the focus on 
drugs in clubs drew attention away from "the talented, responsible people 
who created the rave movement. Skilled artists and producers provided the 
music; promoters created great parties; performers and dancers kept the 
energy alive on the dance floor. It was the people, not ecstasy, who first 
made raves so intriguing and popular."
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