A new bill proposes a clamp down on 'unlicensed nighttime events' in the wake of several deaths in the state
Like an infection that flares back up in a completely different place, 16 years later, lawmakers are once again proposing to ban raves - in California. A bill put forward by San Francisco/San Mateo assembly woman Fiona Ma would ban unlicensed nighttime events that "include prerecorded music and last more than three and a half hours". "Raves foster an environment that threatens the health and safety of our youth," Ma said in a statement. "[This] is the first step toward eliminating these dangerous events."
"Raves are a state-wide problem and require a state-wide approach," Ma said (via the Daily Swarm). "Enough is enough." The debate over late-night parties follows the death of a 15-year-old girl in June of a suspected overdose, at a rave held at the publically-owned Los Angeles Coliseum. Two more people died at an event in Daly City, California, in May. "[These] events that have displayed a pattern of fostering youth drug use," Ma claimed, citing attendance numbers ranging from 16,000 to 185,000. "[It's] simply unmanageable."
Ma has emphasised that her legislation is aimed at raves - electronic dance parties - and not "traditional music concerts and sporting events". Imposing minimum fines of $10,000 (�6,500), "[bill] AB 74 is about cracking down on raves that harbour drug use and lead to teenage deaths". Recalling the debate over UK's Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, Ma's arguments repeatedly link raves and drug use. "According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, many young adults and teenagers attending raves and all-night dance parties are using so-called 'club drugs'," she said in her statement.
Rave promoters have slammed Ma's legislation, citing their rights to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. "If electronic music is criminalised," promoter Jason Sperling told the LA Times, "our government will succeed in alienating a generation of Californians and simply drive dance parties underground ? a less regulated, less safe, less sane situation than we have today." Promoters for dance events at the Coliseum claim that new policies have been put into place, improving concert safety. At the time of writing, more than 800 people have signed onto a Facebook petition opposing the bill.
Portia de Rossi Jolene Blalock Nichole Robinson Monet Mazur Rozonda Thomas
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