Study: RAVE Act Hurts, Doesn’t Help, Club Drug Users
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iStock/Thinkstock(NEWARK, Del.) — The 2003 RAVE Act is a monumental flop when it comes to discouraging the use of club drugs like Ecstasy and Molly.
That’s the conclusion of Tammy L. Anderson, a sociology professor at the University of Delaware. She says the law, which stands for Reducing Americans’ Vulnerability to Ecstasy, has only discouraged club owners and promoters from taking steps to prevent people from becoming ill from club drugs.
Prior to the RAVE Act, free bottled water was provided to help hydrate drug users, while security often roamed dance floors to find anyone who might appear in distress. Outside clubs, independent groups often tested drugs to let people know whether they contained dangerous ingredients.
Yet, because the RAVE Act makes club owners and promoters targets for prosecution, they no longer provide services that benefit the health of their customers, who are going to use club drugs regardless of the law.
What’s more, some clubs won’t even call for medical assistance, feeling that will get them in trouble with the law, according to Anderson.
She calls the RAVE Act just another failure in the War on Drugs, adding, “It never worked in the past, and it’s not working now.”
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