Connect with us

Subscribe

ATRA, DanceSafe, Harm Reduction

News

ATRA Goes To the White House

In 2014, a woman named Dede Goldsmith started a campaign in honor of her daughter, Shelley Goldsmith, who passed away at a festival. Rather than the typical response of asking for more restrictions at festivals, she saw the true problem: the “Reducing Americans’ Vulnerability To Ecstasy Act,” better known as “the RAVE Act.” Dede’s campaign, Amend The RAVE Act (ATRA), set the goal of changing the language in the RAVE Act to allow for common sense harm reduction tactics to be legally allowed at festivals. ATRA has garnered tens of thousands of signatures in an online petition and has the support from some members of congress.

Earlier this year we reported that the amendment would be sponsored by U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) in the U.S. Senate; a process that is still under way. This week we learned that this movement has garnered the attention of the White House. Dede, along with Rob Goldsmith, Tammy Anderson, PHD, and Emanuel Sferios (founder of Dance Safe), will be meeting with the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy on Friday, October 30. In a post made on social media, Dede shared this with the world:

“This is huge! I have great expectations that this will help put an end to the unintended consequences of a law that needs to be updated that is creating far too many deaths and medical emergencies at electronic music events … We’ve got this, Shelley!”

At this point we can not even begin to speculate on the out come of the meeting, but it is very exciting that this mission to save lives has reached all the way to the top level of our government and is getting the recognition it deserves. As always, we will keep you updated as information becomes available.

If you want to take action, head to our Harm Reduction Hub and sign both the Amend The RAVE Act petition and our own petition to allow amnesty for pill and powder testing services. You can also read our 2015 Seattle Voters Guide to see who supports making real positive change.

SIGN UP FOR ALERTS

Important things happen in Pacific Northwest nightlife, and DMNW will send you alerts!

Written By

Phillip was raised on so many different genres of music, it has given him a unique perspective into the ever evolving music scene. Trance music began defining his life at the young age of 14, but thoroughly enjoys any type of music equally. He sees the music as an escape from the daily doldrums of life and says music can change a persons life in an instant pulling from his own experiences. His only goal in life is to share wonderful music with people and take electronic music to a higher plain with more accountability and creating a safer environment for his friends.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Narcan Kit Narcan Kit

Normalizing Naloxone in Washington state: Resources, certifications and more

Lifestyle

Bass Coast Festival Bass Coast Festival

First-of-its-kind report provides deep dive into harm reduction, drug testing at Shambhala, Bass Coast

News

DanceSafe founder Emanuel Sferios talks groundbreaking new fentanyl test strips (DMNW Interview)

Interviews

Dancesafe's new fentanyl test strip is yellow Dancesafe's new fentanyl test strip is yellow

DanceSafe releases significantly improved fentanyl test strips

News

Advertisement
SIGN UP FOR ALERTS

Important things happen in Pacific Northwest nightlife, and DMNW will send you alerts!

Founded in 2013. © 2021 Dance Music Northwest, LLC.

Connect
SIGN UP FOR ALERTS

Important things happen in Pacific Northwest nightlife, and DMNW will send you alerts!