Action Alert

Dear Friends,

To draw attention to the need for ending marijuana prohibition, SSDP teamed up with Firedoglake for our Just Say Now campaign. The campaign has been gaining international media coverage but just yesterday, Facebook banned our ads that support marijuana legalization.

The social networking site says we can no longer advertise our campaign for marijuana legalization using our Just Say Now logo, because it has a pot leaf.

We need to fight back against Facebook's political censorship. Can you sign our petition protesting Facebook's unfair policy against legalization ads? We'll send the petition to Facebook and tell the media about the site's censorship of this popular political issue.

Click here to add your name.

Share the image to the right and make it your Facebook profile picture.

Facebook's decision is actually a flip-flop: the Just Say Now ads appeared more than 38 million times before Facebook issued a new policy banning them.

Our ads show marijuana leaves as part of a political campaign to change public policy. It's like telling a political candidate for office that it's unacceptable to show the candidate's face in advertising.

Sign our petition to Facebook and protest censorship of marijuana legalization.

Thank you for supporting marijuana legalization and SSDP's work. Please consider making a donationtoday.

Best,

Jonathan Perri

SSDP Associate Director

Donate to SSDP Today

About this Petition:

As he prepares his new administration, Obama has the opportunity to appoint a "Drug Czar" who will shift drug policy toward a public health model and away from a criminal model. Please sign this petition and let our new president know that a change in drug policy is needed!

The Desired Outcome of this Petition:

Obama appoints a "Drug Czar" who will treat drug abuse as a health issue rather than a criminal issue and will move away from a "War on Drugs" paradigm.

To sign, follow this link: http://apps.facebook.com/causes/petitions/show/15?m=85799a5f

Find the latest marijuana policy news on the JustSayNow page. You can also follow JustSayNow on Twitter and  Facebook.

Last week, Mexico’s President Calderon called on President Obama to join the debate on legalizing marijuana. The US drug policy has lined the pockets of the drug cartels with billions of dollars, and they are threatening to destabilize not only Mexico but countries across Latin America.

In many regions, the drug gangs are seeking to replace the government, imposing their own taxes in towns they dominate.

Three former Latin American presidents — Cesar Gaviria of Colombia, Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico and Fernando Cardoso of Brazil — wrote an oped in the Wall Street Journal, urging the legalization of marijuana as a way to undermine a major source of income for cartels.

Recently, the U.S. Joint Forces Command warned that the Mexican government could experience “a rapid and sudden collapse” due to drug cartel violence.  And the outgoing head of the CIA, Gen. Michael Hayden, warned that drug cartels “threaten … the well-being of the Mexican people and the Mexican state.”

The problem is so bad that following President Calderon’s statement, two Mexican cardinals have endorsed his call to open a debate on the merits of  legalization.

There have been 28,000 people killed since 2006 in the war with the drug cartels,  including 1200 in July –  the deadliest month yet.  The recent shooting in Arizona that triggered the debate between right and left over immigration was the result of marijuana smuggling, not people trying to get over the border to find jobs.  It’s insane that the conversation instantly devolved into a right-left battle over immigration.  The Arizona law does nothing to address the underlying problem.

Yesterday the Guardian had a piece on the push to end prohibition, including the Just Say Now campaign we launched last week.  Further,  the Guardian editorial board called on David Cameron and Nick Clegg to “launch a national debate on whether we should try legalisation,” and to “tear up the current policy. It has failed.”  “That debate must be opened in Britain and the recent change of government provides a rare opportunity,” they say.

But as Peter Guither notes, although there is strong interest in the issue among both progressive and conservative voters, leadership on both sides of the aisle have been unwilling to address it.  Most are terrified of walking into a meat grinder of social taboos left over from the culture wars, and they won’t brave it until the public demands it.

That’s why we launched the Just Say Now campaign.  Over 30,000 people have already signed the petition to President Obama, saying it’s time to end the war on marijuana.  America’s prison population has quadrupled since 1984 when Nancy Reagan’s war on drugs began, and the private prison system exploded.

Last fall, Eric Holder issued a directive that the DEA should respect state medical marijuana laws.  But as  Jacob Sullum notes, that directive had a lot of wiggle room and as a result the DEA’s raids on medical marijuana suppliers continue.

Please show your support and sign the petition asking President Obama to end the war on marijuana.

Dear friends,

Our criminal justice system is a disgrace. While the United States makes up only 5% of the world's population, we hold more than 25% of the world's prisoners. Prisons are overcrowded, courts are clogged, police resources are squandered and at the root of it all, is the war on drugs.

Thankfully, we have a chance to make Congress take a serious look at reform.

On Wednesday, June 23rd, SSDP is taking part in the National Call In Day for Criminal Justice Reform and we need your help to urge the passage of the National Criminal Justice Commission Act, S. 714. This legislation would create a bipartisan commission to review criminal justice policies and make recommendations for reform. Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) and 15 bipartisan cosponsors introduced the bill last year.

Now, the Senate Judiciary Committee has reviewed and favorably passed the bill and it is awaiting passage out of the U.S. Senate. Please take a minute to call the following Senators and ask them to prioritize and support Senate passage of this important legislation:

• Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), 202-224-5556
• Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), 202-224-3135
• Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D-IL), 202-224-9447

Phone Script:

"Hello, my name is _______________. I am a registered voter in ____________, and I am calling to express both my support and concern regarding the National Criminal Justice Commission Act, Senate Bill 714. I am supportive of the measure because transparency on the bipartisan commission will increase public safety and government accountability, and because the incredible rates of incarceration over the past 20 years are unsustainable socially and economically. I am concerned because if this act is not passed, we will once again be endorsing a criminal justice system that is fundamentally flawed."

More information can be found at http://www.ssdp.org/cjreform (please tweet, buzz and share this link!).

The drug war has devastated America's criminal justice system. If this commission is approved, it will surely include recommendations to reform our nation's drug policies. So please, call Congress today!

Sincerely, 

Jonathan Perri

Associate Director

Students for Sensible Drug Policy 

P.S. Do you want SSDP to continue pressuring Congress to ensure more sensible drug policies? If so, please become a monthly donor

of $20 or more:

http://www.ssdp.org/donate