Originally published by DRCNet.org

April 19, 2002

Federal Meth Bill Provision Would Send Promoters to Prison for Drug Use at Events

A bill quietly working its way through Congress garbed as an anti-methamphetamine measure contains a stealth provision that could lead to prison sentences for promoters of events where illegal drug use occurs. Following recent congressional fashion, H.R. 3782 is cutely named the CLEAN-UP Methamphetamine Act of 2002, with the acronym standing for "Clean, Learn, Educate, Abolish, and Undermine Production." But there is nothing cute about the bill's Section 305, which would insert the following language into section 416 (21 USC 856) of the Controlled Substances Act:

"Whoever knowingly promotes any rave, dance, music, or other entertainment event, that takes place under circumstances where a promoter knows or reasonably should know that a controlled substance will be used or distributed in violation of federal law or the law of the place where the event is held, shall be fined under Title 18, United States Code, or imprisoned for not more than nine years, or both."

The Electronic Music Defense and Education Fund (http://www.emdef.org), a group created to defend the industry against attack from politicians unable or unwilling to differentiate between the rave culture and drug use, has raised the alarm about H.R. 3782. Saying it is "extremely concerned," EMDEF noted that "this law could be used to prosecute the promoters of any well-attended entertainment event, whether it be a rave, a concert, a major league sports game, or even a high school dance."

The organization also pointed out that the bill could have a negative impact on on-site harm reduction efforts, such as those done by DanceSafe (http://www.dancesafe.org), a group that provides pill-testing and safety information to rave-goers. "This legislation would make event promoters less likely to allow drug prevention organizations and harm reduction groups to distribute their information inside an event for fear of self-incrimination," wrote EMDEF in a prepared statement.

H.R. 3782 is sponsored by Rep. Doug Ose (R-CA) and already has 42 cosponsors, including such usual drug war suspects as Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA), Rep. Ben Gilman (D-NY), Rep. John Mica (R-FL), and Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN), the author of the Higher Education Act's infamous anti-drug provision, who is currently in a primary fight for his political life.

The bulk of the bill is devoted to tightening the screws on meth producers by increasing penalties against laboratory operators and providing grants to law enforcement for training and equipment acquisition for clean-ups.

But Section 305 doesn't even mention methamphetamine; instead it refers to "a controlled substance," meaning that even marijuana use at rock concerts -- a commonplace occurrence since the mid-1960s -- could be enough to indict and convict promoters under the bill. While the bill explicitly targets the rave culture, opportunities for prosecutions under the bill could well extend to county fairs, NBA games, high school proms, and just about any music event -- except, perhaps, performances by Attorney General Ashcroft's choral group.