The first "rave" that I attended was Phoenix Rising at the Dessau Music Hall. I did find it mildly alarming that so many people were either openly looking for drugs or really fucked up on something. I also noticed a few middle age women dressed in country garb sitting behind large tin tubs full of ice and beer ready to sell. About half way through the night, I noticed that the tubs were still nearly full and again towards 2am, they are still almost completely full. This was back in either '97 or '98. It was an important statement for my perception of what raves were. I saw a large body of people that gathered together and either had little interest in one of the most destructive and addictive drugs around or found consciousness expanding drugs far greater than alcohol.
Now we are all older and more "mature". Alcohol has found it's way into many of our lives. Some of us are alcoholics and others are casual drinkers, but in any case it is the legally and socially accepted form of inebriation that has found it's way vicariously into the so called "raves" of today. These older and more "mature" people who are prospective customers at these "events" expect to be able to drink now that they have outgrown illicit "drugs", so a no alcohol policy no longer works unless you plan on throwing a renegade party, a christian techno massive, or you don't mind loosing money.
So here you have it. One more reason why "raves" are dead. Well, they may not be entirely dead, but it's definetly not what it used to be. The median age for electronic music events is no longer <21 and the majority of us aging farts seem to prefer booze over mind altering drugs, so the bottom line is that it's not what it used to be. So until the next social revolution comes along, we will hold onto the torn and tattered rag of a flag emblazened with flying above "events" that are crawling with violence, hate, cliks, and the type of disrespect you see from spoiled frat boys who just drank from a keg of lone star.