Pubdate: Tue, 19 Nov 2002
Source: USA Today (US)
Copyright: 2002 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc
Contact:  http://www.usatoday.com/news/nfront.htm
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/466
Authors: Mary Ishimoto Morris
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n2098/a03.html

RAVES ARE 'WONDERFUL'

As a non-drug-taking, middle-age raver who became enchanted with the rave 
scene in l995, I appreciate the comprehensive, fair coverage by USA TODAY 
("Cities crack down on raves," Cover Story, News, Wednesday). Raves are a 
wonderful entertainment art form with a simple formula: DJ's play music, 
and people dance. Ravers have inherited the spirit of people who have 
danced around bonfires to drumbeats since ancient times. By boosting my 
serotonin levels naturally through dancing, raving has relieved my chronic 
clinical depression. There are drugs at raves, just as there are drugs at 
rock, hip-hop and other music events -- and at sports events, in public 
schools, on college campuses and even on military bases. But I think it's 
unfair for legislators and law enforcement officers to attack the rave 
scene as if it is the only place where the drug problem exists. Besides, 
the rave culture already has permeated the mainstream. culture. It is 
ludicrous to try to make us believe there is something inherently bad about 
it when our music is used to sell popular merchandise and is heard in video 
games, in movies, on TV, on radio and at cheerleading competitions. I 
believe it is my constitutional right to join fellow ravers to dance 
together in a safe environment. I urge Congress not to pass the blatantly 
unconstitutional Reducing Americans' Vulnerability to Ecstasy (RAVE) Act, 
which ultimately seeks to shut down raves.

Mary Ishimoto Morris

Laurel, Md.
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