Rave On

 

“Rave On” is the title of one of Buddy Holly=s records from the 1950s, where he is singing about feeling good about being in love, dancing, and generally having a good time “rockin’ and a rollin’.”  Not so any more, for if anyone these days brings forth the word “rave” the dreaded drug warriors go into high gear and raid the place.  Why?  Well, good grief, drugs are being used, especially society=s new menace, “ecstasy.”  You know that drug, it=s the one Jessica Williams was using.  It has taken over where “reefer madness” left off as the “assassin of youth” (to quote from America=s first “drug czar” Harry Anslinger, the original head of the Bureau of Narcotics in the 1930s.)

Fast-forward to the modern era and you have so-called “rave parties,” where large groups of youths gather at various places and, like Buddy said, “rave on.”  And, predictably, the local drug warriors go ballistic and want to bust the place.  This “rave” thing - along with the drug of choice, ecstasy - has become the latest version of reefer madness.  This is what I might describe as a sort of “moral panic” where it is not so much what is being done (in this case, a group of people getting together and having fun), but who is having fun and the drug that is being used.

It sure is funny how once this gets going, there is apparently no stopping it.  The furor over these raves reminds me of a similar furor over “Satanism” in the 1980s.  I remember attending a workshop at UNLV where someone from the police department (who else?) sort of “raved on” about how Satan was invading every nook and corner of society and infecting our youths.  What ever happened to this menace?  It gradually disappeared from the radar screen, due to the simple fact that the threat never existed in the first place.  Oh sure, there were a few isolated incidents of a few kids getting all wrapped up in Satanism.  But this version of “witch hunts” went the way of all the others.

Now we have “rave parties” and the predictable “workshops” led, of course, by a member of our local police department - a member of the “drug warrior” clan (what gives them the credentials to do this escapes me).  As Las Vegas Mercury writer Mike Prevatt correctly notes, such presentations are a carbon copy of D.A.R.E. presentations, with typical exaggerations and dire warnings about the dangers of drugs, with the admonition that one need only be able to “Just Say No” and the problem will go away.  Well, we know what has happened to D.A.R.E.

What is important to note here is that this drug has been declared illegal.  However, as the history of drug legislation in this country shows, those drugs declared illegal have always been used primarily by those without much power (in the case of ecstasy, it is mostly young people).  Since this is a drug frequently associated with these parties (according to the police experts - and they should know!), then such parties ought to be invaded, if not outright banned.  Part of this problem is that the music that is played is claimed to “cause” people to use this drug.  Just like rock and roll was claimed to cause juvenile delinquency back in the 1950s and they even had Congressional hearings over this, even calling Elvis as a witness.

Of course, no one has suggested that you could logically make the same argument that bars that play country western music lead to drunkenness and alcoholism; or that regular gatherings at so-called “police bars” lead to all sorts of strange behavior and drunken orgies; or the use of hard liquor goes along with political gatherings among the nation=s elite.  But then, these “drugs” are OK, since they are used by “regular people,” including those who make and enforce the law, and those who have most of the money.  These people are the people that matter and we must not disturb them.