The same day that the family of a teenager who died of an ecstasy overdose after attending an L.A. rave filed suit against public officials, San Francisco state assemblywoman Fiona Ma saw her raves-safety bill pass the legislature. It just needs Gov. Jerry Brown's signature to go into law.

Once called the Anti Raves Act of 2011, Ma's bill was heavily watered down following outcry from promoters, lobbyists and the rave community. It originally sought to ban raves like Electric Daisy Carnival, which the late Sasha Rodriguez attended before dying, from taking place at publicly run venues like the L.A. Coliseum and Sports Arena.

Now, not so much:

The renamed Raves Safety Act would now require public officials to undertake a “threat assessment” of events planned for more than 10,000 people at state-run facilities.

If officials think there could be “loss of life or harm to the participants” they would have to implement an “event action plan” addressing security, safety, medical personnel and age restrictions.

Which is pretty much what happens now. Brown has until Oct. 9 to sign this.

So is Ma running away from cracking down on raves with her tail between her legs? Sure seems like it. But this bill slid easily down the throat of Sacramento, like a ecstasy tablet for a Saturday night raver.

Just sayin.'

Ma:

California needs to better monitor and control events occurring on State properties. Casualties can be prevented and I've seen what works. AB 74 is intended to prevent the loss of life and make safety a top priority at events on state property.

Sometimes they say you're tripping your face off when you're on ecstasy. Ma just saved face, but this bill doesn't really seem to do much at all.

[@dennisjromero/djromero@laweekly.com]

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