[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2633 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2633

    To prohibit an individual from knowingly opening, maintaining, 
 managing, controlling, renting, leasing, making available for use, or 
      profiting from any place for the purpose of manufacturing, 
    distributing, or using any controlled substance, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 18, 2002

Mr. Biden (for himself and Mr. Grassley) introduced the following bill; 
  which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To prohibit an individual from knowingly opening, maintaining, 
 managing, controlling, renting, leasing, making available for use, or 
      profiting from any place for the purpose of manufacturing, 
    distributing, or using any controlled substance, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Reducing Americans' Vulnerability to 
Ecstasy Act of 2002'' or the ``RAVE Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Each year tens of thousands of young people are 
        initiated into the drug culture at ``rave'' parties or events 
        (all-night, alcohol-free dance parties typically featuring 
        loud, pounding dance music).
            (2) Some raves are held in dance clubs with only a handful 
        of people in attendance. Other raves are held at temporary 
        venues such as warehouses, open fields, or empty buildings, 
        with tens of thousands of people present.
            (3) The trafficking and use of ``club drugs'', including 3, 
        4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (Ecstasy or MDMA), Ketamine 
        hydrochloride (Ketamine), Flunitrazepam (Rohypnol), and Gamma 
        hydroxybutyrate (GHB), is deeply embedded in the rave culture.
            (4) Many rave promoters go to great lengths to try to 
        portray their events as alcohol-free parties that are safe 
        places for young adults to go to dance with friends, and some 
        even go so far as to hire off-duty, uniformed police officers 
        to patrol outside of the venue to give parents the impression 
        that the event is safe.
            (5) Despite such efforts to convince parents that raves are 
        safe, promotional flyers with slang terms for Ecstasy or 
        pictures of Ecstasy pills send the opposite message to 
        teenagers, and in effect promote Ecstasy along with the rave. 
        According to the National Drug Intelligence Center, raves have 
        become little more than a way to exploit American youth.
            (6) Because rave promoters know that Ecstasy causes the 
        body temperature in a user to rise and as a result causes the 
        user to become very thirsty, many rave promoters facilitate and 
        profit from flagrant drug use at rave parties or events by 
        selling over-priced bottles of water and charging entrance fees 
        to ``chill-rooms'' where users can cool down.
            (7) To enhance the effects of the drugs that patrons have 
        ingested, rave promoters sell--
                    (A) neon glow sticks;
                    (B) massage oils;
                    (C) menthol nasal inhalers; and
                    (D) pacifiers that are used to combat the 
                involuntary teeth clenching associated with Ecstasy.
            (8) Ecstasy is the most popular of the club drugs 
        associated with raves. Thousands of teenagers are treated for 
        overdoses and Ecstasy-related health problems in emergency 
        rooms each year. The Drug Abuse Warning Network reports that 
        Ecstasy mentions in emergency visits grew 1,040 percent between 
        1994 and 1999.
            (9) Ecstasy damages neurons in the brain which contain 
        serotonin, the chemical responsible for mood, sleeping and 
        eating habits, thinking processes, aggressive behavior, sexual 
        function, and sensitivity to pain. According to the National 
        Institute on Drug Abuse, this can lead to long-term brain 
        damage that is still evident 6 to 7 years after Ecstasy use.
            (10) An Ecstasy overdose is characterized by an increased 
        heart rate, hypertension, renal failure, visual hallucinations, 
        and overheating of the body (some Ecstasy deaths have occurred 
        after the core body temperature of the user goes as high as 110 
        degrees, causing all major organ systems to shutdown and 
        muscles to breakdown), and may cause heart attacks, strokes, 
        and seizures.

SEC. 3. OFFENSES.

    (a) In General.--Section 416(a) of the Controlled Substances Act 
(21 U.S.C. 856(a)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``open or maintain any 
        place'' and inserting ``open, lease, rent, use, or maintain any 
        place, whether permanently or temporarily,''; and
            (2) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the following:
            ``(2) manage or control any place, whether permanently or 
        temporarily, either as an owner, lessee, agent, employee, 
        occupant, or mortgagee, and knowingly and intentionally rent, 
        lease, profit from, or make available for use, with or without 
        compensation, the place for the purpose of unlawfully 
        manufacturing, storing, distributing, or using a controlled 
        substance.''.
    (b) Technical Amendment.--The heading to section 416 of the 
Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 856) is amended to read as 
follows:

``SEC. 416. MAINTAINING DRUG-INVOLVED PREMISES.''.

    (c) Conforming Amendment.--The table of contents to title II of the 
Comprehensive Drug Abuse and Prevention Act of 1970 is amended by 
striking the item relating to section 416 and inserting the following:

``Sec. 416. Maintaining drug-involved premises.''.

SEC. 4. CIVIL PENALTY AND EQUITABLE RELIEF FOR MAINTAINING DRUG-
              INVOLVED PREMISES.

    Section 416 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 856) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d)(1) Any person who violates subsection (a) shall be subject to 
a civil penalty of not more than the greater of--
            ``(A) $250,000; or
            ``(B) 2 times the gross receipts, either known or 
        estimated, that were derived from each violation that is 
        attributable to the person.
    ``(2) If a civil penalty is calculated under paragraph (1)(B), and 
there is more than 1 defendant, the court may apportion the penalty 
between multiple violators, but each violator shall be jointly and 
severally liable for the civil penalty under this subsection.
    ``(e) Any person who violates subsection (a) shall be subject to 
declaratory and injunctive remedies as set forth in section 403(f).''.

SEC. 5. DECLARATORY AND INJUNCTIVE REMEDIES.

    Section 403(f)(1) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 
843(f)(1)) is amended by striking ``this section or section 402'' and 
inserting ``this section, section 402, or 416''.

SEC. 6. SENTENCING COMMISSION GUIDELINES.

    The United States Sentencing Commission shall--
            (1) review the Federal sentencing guidelines with respect 
        to offenses involving gamma hydroxybutyric acid (GHB);
            (2) consider amending the Federal sentencing guidelines to 
        provide for increased penalties such that those penalties 
        reflect the seriousness of offenses involving GHB and the need 
        to deter them; and
            (3) take any other action the Commission considers 
        necessary to carry out this section.

SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR A DEMAND REDUCTION 
              COORDINATOR.

    There is authorized to be appropriated $5,900,000 to the Drug 
Enforcement Administration of the Department of Justice for the hiring 
of a special agent in each State to serve as a Demand Reduction 
Coordinator.

SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR DRUG EDUCATION.

    There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as necessary to 
the Drug Enforcement Administration of the Department of Justice to 
educate youth, parents, and other interested adults about the drugs 
associated with raves.
                                 <all>