Over-protective DEA
just wanted to share with you guys a story from earlier this year.
Every year College Station has a music festival called Northgate Music Fest. Similar to south by southwest. anyways each year they've had a DJ stage for local EDM DJ's to show off their stuff. I've been lucky enough to perform the last two times but this year at the last possible second the DEA and Public Safety Dept forced the festival to close down their "rave" stage.
here's the full story from the local paper if you guys are interested. I hope it doesnt happen agian in 2005
http://www.theeagle.com/spotlight/m...32704hodges.htm
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March 27, 2004
DPS reaffirms stage's closure
By LAURA HENSLEY
Eagle Staff Writer
Sgt. Lewis Hodges of the Department of Public Safety said Friday that lives possibly were saved by the cancellation of a popular techno dance concert scheduled at Double Dave’s Pizzaworks on University Avenue during the Northgate Music Festival.
The decision to cancel the shows at the College Station festival was made after Hodges, a DPS narcotics officer, told event organizers and property owners that techno music attracts and promotes the use of illegal drugs such as Ecstasy, which often is associated with that style of music and “rave” parties.
“ As a DPS officer, knowing what we’ve been taught and knowing what we’ve seen — we’ve been to these raves before — our concern is for the kids, their safety and also to inform the business owner of their liabilities if bad things happen like injuries or death,” Hodges said. “I never threatened to raid Double Dave’s or search all the patrons. My main concern was to try and inform the property owner and the organizer about their risks. They’re liable as property owners and organizers if certain things — bad things — happen either there or as the kids are going home.”
The DJ Stage at the annual Northgate Music Festival in College Station has been a staple of the festival for four years. In the past it has featured local and regional deejays mixing beats on turntables. But this year the event caught the attention of DPS.
Heather Prestridge, event coordinator for the festival, expressed disappointed in the cancellation and said there has never been any problems with illegal drug use at the festival or at the DJ Stage.
“ Many of the deejays, on their own personal Web sites, openly advertise that they promote a healthy, drug-free rave environment. And most of them don’t even drink,” she said. “They are just out there doing their thing, having fun.”
She said the decision to shut down the stage was made to avoid problems with police.
“ We felt threatened,” Prestridge said of Hodges. “They are heavily discriminating against this type of music and the people who enjoy it.”
Hodges said he found out about the DJ Stage on Wednesday afternoon through Web sites that were advertising the stage as a rave. The term, he said, was enough to raise concerns.
Raves are large all-night parties usually attended by young people that feature techno music and dancing. The parties, which became popular in Europe and United States in the 1980s, also have become associated with “club drugs” such as methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), or Ecstasy. The drug usually is taken in pill form and is a synthetic, psychoactive drug that can cause a sharp increase in body temperature, resulting in liver, kidney and cardiovascular failure.
“ I don’t have any problem with kids getting together and kids having music and dance parties,” Hodges said. “My problem is that it is a rave. People who saw it on these Web sites see it as a place to go and take Ecstasy.
“ The only reason they have this type of music and these type of light shows is to enhance the experience they are having while they are on Ecstasy. I’m sure there are kids that come that don’t do the drug, but when kids see it advertised on the Web as a rave, they see it as a place where that type of activity is going to take place.”
Hodges said he was not able to speak with the manager of Double Dave’s or the event coordinator of the Northgate Music Festival until Thursday — the day the event was to begin.
He said DPS previously had not been aware of the DJ Stage at the festival.
“ We didn’t know about it before hand, and I wasn’t aware, myself, of what was going on at these parties,” Hodges said. “That is why we hadn’t contacted anyone out there before because we didn’t know about it.”
Hodges also said the crackdown is part of the DPS’s focus on rave events statewide.
“ DPS really has become more aware of these parties in the last year and a half,” he said. “So we’ve become proactive. Over the state we’ve shut down several parties or massive raves.”
Hodges said even though the venue of the canceled concert could hold about 100 people, and not the typical thousands of people at traditional raves, it was still a threat.
“ We are not concerned with the number of the people but the effects of the drug on people,” he said. “The drug causes the core body temperature to go up above 100 degrees, and it can cause people to have heat-related brain damage and even death. I think if we saved only one kid by canceling the show, then it’s worth it.”
Prestridge said the cancellation will effect the festival’s ability to raise money for charity. The stage was to charge admission this year, and Prestridge said she already has refunded about 10 or 15 tickets for people who had planned on attending the deejay performances.
“ As far as our charities go, every little bit helps,” she said. “[Shutting down the DJ Stage] will make an impact.”
The festival continues Saturday. Tickets are $25.
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If God is the answer, it must have been a very stupid question.
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