Amend The Rave Act
The RAVE Act: How Federal Law Endangers Music Festival Safety
The 2003 Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Act was meant to shut down illegal drug parties. Instead, it has discouraged life-saving safety measures at legitimate music events for over two decades.
Shelley's Story: One Death Too Many
On August 31, 2013, nineteen-year-old Shelley Goldsmith died of heatstroke at an electronic dance music concert in Washington, D.C., after taking MDMA. An honors student at the University of Virginia and a Jefferson Scholar, Shelley was a young woman of extraordinary promise—an activist, a volunteer, a devoted friend who once raised over $11,000 for the American Heart Association as a high schooler.
Her death was not an overdose. It resulted from a combination of MDMA, dehydration, hours of dancing, and a hot, overcrowded environment that led to fatal hyperthermia. These are preventable conditions—but at the time, the venue lacked adequate free water, cooling areas, and drug education resources that could have saved her life.
“Too many young people are dying, and the 2003 RAVE Act is part of the problem because it is preventing the implementation of common sense safety measures at these events.”
— Dede Goldsmith, Shelley's mother and founder of the Amend the RAVE Act campaign
Shelley's mother, Dede Goldsmith, channeled her grief into advocacy. On the first anniversary of Shelley's death, she launched the Amend the RAVE Act (ATRA) campaign. In 2018, after gathering over 20,000 petition signatures and four years of working with Virginia's U.S. Senators, Dede passed the baton to DanceSafe to carry the campaign forward.
What Is the RAVE Act?
The Reducing Americans' Vulnerability to Ecstasy Act—commonly called the RAVE Act—was first introduced by Senator Joseph Biden in 2002. Renamed the Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Act, it was signed into law in 2003.
The law expanded existing “crack house” statutes to cover commercial venues, allowing federal prosecutors to charge business owners with “maintaining a drug-involved premises.” Its original purpose was to give law enforcement tools to shut down underground parties whose promoters were deliberately facilitating drug sales.
Why It Became a Problem
The law achieved its original goal: the underground rave scene of the late 1990s has largely disappeared. But as electronic dance music went mainstream, the Act's vague language created a dangerous chilling effect. Legitimate festival organizers and venue owners became afraid that providing safety measures—free water, air-conditioned rest areas, drug checking services, or peer education—could be used as evidence that they were “knowingly” allowing drug use, exposing them to federal prosecution.
The result: the very safety measures proven to prevent heatstroke, medical emergencies, and deaths were being withheld from the people who needed them most.
Heatstroke, MDMA, and the Case for Harm Reduction
Most MDMA-related fatalities at music events are not overdoses. They result from heatstroke—a cascade triggered by stimulant drugs combined with a hot environment, prolonged physical activity, and inadequate hydration. Heatstroke can happen even without drug use, but MDMA and other stimulants significantly raise the risk by increasing core body temperature and masking the body's early warning signals.
The interventions are straightforward: accessible free water, cool-down spaces, trained medical staff, peer-based drug education, and on-site drug checking so attendees know what they're actually consuming. Organizations like DanceSafe do not condone drug use. Instead, we meet people where they are with fact-based information and services that save lives.
Understanding MDMA contraindications—including pre-existing conditions that increase heatstroke susceptibility—is another critical layer of harm reduction that the RAVE Act has historically made harder to deliver at events.
Campaign Timeline: From Tragedy to Policy Change
What DanceSafe Is Doing Today
As the steward of the Amend the RAVE Act campaign, DanceSafe continues to push for clearer federal policy while delivering on-the-ground harm reduction at music events across the country.
On-site harm reduction. DanceSafe volunteers set up at festivals and concerts to provide free drug checking, peer-based education, water, earplugs, condoms, and heatstroke prevention information. If you're an event organizer, you can request our services for your event.
Drug checking supplies. As the only nonprofit manufacturer of drug checking kits in North America, we provide fentanyl test strips and reagent testing kits through our online shop—tools that help people make informed decisions about unregulated substances.
Holistic community safety. From our #WeLoveConsent program addressing sexual violence in nightlife to our fentanyl education resources, DanceSafe's mission extends to every dimension of health and safety in music communities.
Policy advocacy. The 2018 DOJ ruling opened the door, but the RAVE Act's text remains unchanged. We continue to educate lawmakers and work with regional district attorneys to ensure harm reduction services are welcomed—not feared—at events nationwide.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the RAVE Act?
The RAVE Act (formally the Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Act of 2003) is a U.S. federal law that expanded “crack house” statutes to commercial venues. It allows prosecutors to charge venue owners and event organizers with “maintaining a drug-involved premises,” creating a chilling effect that discourages safety measures at music events.
How does the RAVE Act affect music festivals?
Many festival organizers and venue owners fear that providing free water, air-conditioned rest areas, drug education, or drug checking services could be interpreted as acknowledgment of drug use—potentially exposing them to prosecution. This fear has historically prevented life-saving harm reduction at events where heatstroke and other medical emergencies are common.
Did the RAVE Act get amended?
The text of the law has not been amended. However, in 2018 the Department of Justice issued a landmark clarification stating that providing free water and distributing fact-based drug education materials are “reasonable and appropriate safety measures” that do not constitute a violation. This was the direct result of the Amend the RAVE Act campaign led by Dede Goldsmith and supported by DanceSafe.
What is harm reduction?
Harm reduction is a public health approach that seeks to minimize the negative consequences of risky behaviors without requiring abstinence. In the context of music events, it means providing services like drug checking, heatstroke prevention education, hydration stations, cool-down areas, and peer support to reduce medical emergencies and deaths.
How can I help?
You can support DanceSafe's continued advocacy by volunteering at events, purchasing drug checking supplies from our shop, sharing harm reduction information with your community, and contacting your elected representatives to support evidence-based drug policy reform.
Help Keep Music Communities Safe
DanceSafe has been promoting health and safety within nightlife communities since 1998. Support our on-the-ground harm reduction and policy advocacy.
Further Reading
Explore these DanceSafe resources to learn more:
