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Dear friends, Today, the case in appeal against the conviction of the Cannabis Social Club Trekt Uw Plant and 5 of its members because of possessing 1 cannabis plant per person has taken a strange direction today. The Prosecutors Office has requested the Court of Appeal to acquit us because of the fact that too much time has passed since the date of the facts (12 december 2006). According to the prosecutor we can only be accused of growing cannabis for personal use, which is not considered a crime but an offense, which can only be punished by so-called police convictions (fines or community work) and because this offense has been committed more than 1,5 years ago he requests to acquit us. This seems to be a childish trick in order not to have to deal with the principle matter: the Prosecutors Office itself had requested in January 2008 to postpone the case until June, possibly in order to be able to request acquittance and in this way dismiss the case. But in fact it means that the possession of 1 plant by adult citizens is tolerated also by the highest echelons of the legal system. On June 26th we will have the final sentence, but due to the fact that the court of appeal has not even heard our defense lawyer (who made his extensive preparation - referring to the legality principle included in the European Convention on Human Rights - for nothing) it is quite sure that we will be acquitted. The next step is to find out what this means concretely for our club. But today is a happy day :-) best wishes Joep / Philippe / Kris www.trektuwplant.be -- EUROPEAN COALITION FOR JUST AND EFFECTIVE DRUG POLICIES Lange Lozanastraat 14 - 2018 Antwerpen - Belgium Tel. + 32 (0)3 293 0886 - Mob. + 32 (0)495 122644 E-mail: [email protected]

Dear friends:

If you take only one action to help reform our nation's marijuana laws this year, it should be this one.

Please take one minute to ask your U.S. House member to vote for the Hinchey-Rohrabacher amendment, which would stop the federal government from arresting patients who are using medical marijuana legally under state law.

The full U.S. House of Representatives will vote on the amendment in just a few weeks — and there will probably be earlier committee action on medical marijuana legislation any day now — so it's crucial that your U.S. representative hear from constituents like you.

MPP's online action system makes it easy. Just fill in your name and address and we'll do the rest.

Take action here.

Twelve states have passed laws protecting medical marijuana patients from arrest and jail. However, the federal government continues to ignore those state laws. For instance, just last month, DEA agents conducted a series of raids on California medical marijuana dispensaries that were operating legally under state law.

It's outrageous that the federal government is overturning the will of the people in these 12 states.

It's outrageous that the federal government is kicking in the doors and breaking the windows of medical marijuana dispensaries, stealing cash and marijuana from the proprietors of these establishments, and racing off in their black SUVs before TV news cameras arrive to document these governmental assaults.

I know you feel strongly that this is wrong. Would you please use your voice to deliver that message to Congress?

If we stand together, we will persuade Congress to change federal law.

Sincerely,

Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.

P.S. As I've mentioned in previous alerts, a major philanthropist has committed to match the first $3.0 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in 2008. This means that your donation today will be doubled.

Rhode Island: The Payoffs of Voting, Education Andres Idarraga has been accepted to Yale Law School - ten years after the Rhode Island Adult Correctional Institution accepted him into its system for a cocaine conviction. Idarraga, who graduated this year from Brown University, has since become a prominent advocate for restoring the right to vote to thousands of persons disenfranchised in Rhode Island because of a felony conviction. As a result of his and others' efforts, Rhode Island law was reformed in 2006 and now allows individuals with felony convictions to vote immediately after being released from prison. Now, Idarraga will further hone his legal talents at Yale. "I ... realized that the odds against an ex-offender can be very high, particularly if he or she is reaching for the stars," said Yale graduate and Corrections Director A.T. Wall, who personally drove Idarraga to New Haven for an interview with the law school's dean. "There was no doubt in my mind that Andres had the ability, the intellect and the drive to succeed in law school." Mississippi: Giving Reenfranchisement a "More Serious Look" Mississippi should reconsider its current disenfranchisement policies and reenfranchisement procedures, according to an opinion editorial written by the publisher of the Greenwood Commonwealth. Though Tim Kalich states that overall voter participation of all state residents should be the main concern, he writes that for the 150,000 formerly incarcerated individuals who want to vote, the process should be made less time- consuming and cumbersome. "While most of these former felons don't care, a segment does feel that it is being punished in perpetuity by being barred from the voting booth," he stated. National: "Unfairly Punished Twice" Numerous elections in the nation could have had different outcomes if citizens with felony convictions had the opportunity to vote, according to an opinion editorial written by Sonata Lee. Published in the Huffington Post, Lee's op-ed questions the policy of disenfranchisement and the dramatic variation of disenfranchisement laws across the nation. She further states that formerly incarcerated individuals are "punished twice." "America is a country that prides itself on being a democracy yet we allow millions of our citizens -- those who could benefit the most from being active in our political process -- to be disenfranchised," she stated. "Overly punitive legislation and a devastating war on drugs have resulted in the disenfranchisement of 5.3 million people who are unable to vote in this country because of a felony conviction." - - - - - - Help The Sentencing Project continue to bring you news and updates on disenfranchisement! Make a contribution today. Contact Information -- e-mail: [email protected], web: http://www.sentencingproject.org

The Unvarnished Truth About the Drug War From the Drug Truth Network: (To downlad these 29:00 files, click on links below. To simply listen, go to www.drugtruth.net and select the arrow below the shows description.) Cultural Baggage for 06/11/08 Ray Hill one of the founders of Pacifica's KPFT compares the war on gays to the war on drugs + Terry Nelson of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition & Drug War Facts with Doug McVay MP3 LINK: http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/?q=audio/download/1924/FDBCB_061108.mp3 TRANSCRIPT: (To be posted by Friday) Century of Lies for 06/10/08 Patients from around North America discuss their use of medical marijuana for numerous maladies and how it cuts down on their use of more dangerous and deadly pharmaceutical medicines. MP3 Link: http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/?q=audio/download/1923/COL_061008.mp3 TRANSCRIPT: (Tramscript on Saturday) Chief Clarence Bradford: "We can't possibly hire enough officers to effectively deal with the drug problem in Houston, Harris County...". - Cultural Baggage 050708 PLEASE NOTE: We now have transcripts, potcasts, searchability, CMS, XML, sorts by guest name and by organization. Next - Century of Lies on Tues, Cutural Baggage on Wed, listen online at www.kpft.org: - Cultural Baggage 12:30 PM ET, 11:30 AM CT, 10:30 AM MT & 9:30 AM PT: TBD - Century of Lies 12:30 PM ET, 11:30 AM CT, 10:30 AM MT & 9:30 AM PT: TBD Hundreds of our programs are available online at www.drugtruth.net, www.audioport.org and at www.radio4all.net. We provide the "unvarnished truth about the drug war" to scores of broadcast affiliates in the US and Canada. Programs produced at Pacifica Radio Station KPFT in Houston. www.kpft.org Check out our latest videos via www.youtube.com/fdbecker: More than 55 Drug Policy Videos online) Please become part of the solution, visit our website: www.endprohibition.org for links to the best of reform. "Prohibition is evil." - Reverend Dean Becker, Drug Truth Network Producer Dean Becker 713-849-6869 www.drugtruth.net

Thank you to everyone that posted comments on news articles and included a link to our website. The response has been great. Please keep up the good work.

We’ve seen a huge increase in both hits on the website and people who have signed up for our weekly newsletter. Everyone interested in improving drug policy can put “Google Alerts” to good use. Just visit: http://www.google.com/alerts and type in the information requested. We suggest the search terms (drug) and (marijuana). When you get an alert check out the story, a lot of them allow comments. Voice your opinion by posting comments every chance you get. This is an effective and free way to get the word out about the need for drug policy reform. Nate Miller, a Legislative Analyst for Marijuana Policy Project suggested using Google Alerts for this purpose. Nate’s been helping us be more effective at implementing drug policy reform. He stressed that public opinion is powerful when it comes to getting politicians to take action and politicians pay great attention to both articles and comments. We chose to include a few facts that a lot of people don’t know and invite readers to visit our website. Here’s a copy of one of our posts, please include a link to our website when you post comments:

PROHIBITION never works it just CAUSES CRIME & VIOLENCE. Illegal drugs are way easier for kids to get than legal ones. The USA spends $69 billion a year on the drug war, builds 900 new prison beds and hires 150 more correction officers every two weeks, arrests someone on a drug charge every 17 seconds, jails more people than any nation and has killed over 100,000 citizens because of the drug war. In 1914 when ALL DRUGS WERE LEGAL 1.3% of our population was addicted to drugs, today 1.3% of our population is STILL ADDICTED TO DRUGS. The only way to control drugs is to REGULATE THEM AND END THE PROFITS AVAILABLE TO CRIMINALS just like ending alcohol prohibition did. There’s only been one drug success story in history, tobacco, THE MOST DEADLY and one of the MOST ADDICTIVE drugs. Almost half the users quit because of REGULATION, ACCURATE INFORMATION AND MEDICAL TREATMENT. No one went to jail and no one got killed. JOIN EMAIL LIST, WATCH VIDEOS:

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Tell your friends about the "Enough is Enough" petition to stop the reckless overuse of SWAT tactics and save the lives of civilians and police alike. This petition is sponsored by: StoptheDrugWar.org Click here for details.

[Courtesy of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition] This issue… Make the LEAP LEAP on Capital Hill State by State International Overtures What People are saying about LEAP Make the LEAP Our staff knows that the reason volunteers aren’t paid is because their service is priceless. Volunteers want to know the value of their efforts, and it is easy to see the fruits of your labor when you give LEAP your time and talents. Already this year, 39 volunteers have worked with our modest staff to put speakers in front of over 400 audiences. In San Francisco, a LEAP member called the College of Marin, spoke to a pair of professors and convinced them that a LEAP speaker would be great for their classes. A presentation by James Anthony was so well received that the same professors called us back to set up a college-wide event for the fall. Now that’s activism! San Francisco is also the site of the July 4 Freedom Road 5K Race, a benefit for LEAP conceived and organized entirely by one of our volunteers, Bill Dake. In a perfect example of how valuable active volunteers can be, Bill’s race in Golden Gate Park last July 4 was so well-organized and well-attended that it brought in $940 for LEAP. In its second year, the race is sure to be even bigger and better! If you would like more information on participating in the race or pledging a donation, please email [email protected] Our speakers make up the bulk of our volunteer base, some giving hundreds of hours each year. These highly motivated volunteers give testimony before legislative bodies, meet with VIPs and express themselves in ink through our OpEd program and LEAP blog. Cost of a standard presentation: $100.00. Value of a quality speaker on a nationally syndicated radio show? Priceless. If you haven’t signed up for the LEAP volunteer list yet, we have lots of ways you can help. Send an e-mail to [email protected] and ask to be added to the list. Featured volunteer action: Contact your local, state and federal politicians via mail or email (letter via USPS is the gold standard). Better yet, call their offices and arrange a 15 minute meeting. At the federal level one can easily talk to an aide at the district office. Not sure what to say? Contact Howard J. Wooldridge at: [email protected] He is an experienced spokesman for reform and our Education Specialist in Washington, DC. LEAP on Capital Hill Co-founder Howard Wooldridge began our DC Education Campaign in 2006. Since then he’s visited every Congressional office, and attended numerous committee hearings and events in the area. Howard recently attended a fundraiser for a friendly organization. At the event, he spoke to a Senator and several members of Congress, giving them each the LEAP message. Cost of attending the event: $35.00 dollars. Value of face time with Congressmen and Senators? Priceless. LEAP State by State Texas volunteers have made the LEAP and are keeping our speakers busy. Russ Jones has been active across the center of the state. He’s reached out to a diverse cross-section of groups from the Travis Lions Club in Austin to the Brazos Family Medicine Residency Program. New York is on fire, as our speakers, citizen volunteers and staff joined reformers to take on the Rockefeller Drugs Laws. The Rockefeller Drug Laws passed in 1973, mandate harsh sentences for sales of relatively minor amounts of drugs. New York is also seeing co-founder Peter Christ back in action in his home state after completing a recent tour of Ohio. Jim Gierach made time to speak to another attentive audience in Ohio. Over 150 people were present at the Cincinnati Rotary Club meeting. Following his presentation in Cincinnati, Jim Gierach traveled to Waterloo, Iowa for several events and a number of VIP meetings. These one-on-one VIP meetings are playing an increasingly important role in our strategy for leaving behind the seeds of reform. The Baltimore Maryland Leadership Council hosted Executive Director Jack Cole for his third debate before their members. This influential group has previously pitted Jack against heavy weights like Thomas Carr, Director of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) in the Washington - Maryland area, and US Assistant Attorney Andrea Smith, Coordinator for the Narcotics Task Force in Maryland. This year, Jack again debated HIDTA Director Thomas Carr. Not surprisingly 15% of the audience when asked thought we should continue the War on Drugs-the moderator estimated that 70% of the attendees agreed we should end prohibition. Tony Ryan made the news as a speaker to the National Libertarian Party Presidential Convention in Denver, Colorado. He and fellow speaker Richard Mack gave several outstanding interviews. So far this year LEAP has worked in MA, MI, MD, CA, AZ, NM, UT, FL, NC, SC, VA, CT, NH, ME, SD and WA, just to name a few. Cost of a week long tour for a LEAP speaker: $1500- $3,000. Value of LEAP coming to a town near you? Priceless.

Power of One: Monthly I attend the breakfast at a conservative facility which trains future leaders of the conservative movement. This morning the speaker was Scott Swett, the man who created the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Asked how he got involved, he said it was unexpected. Early in 2004 he was upset with John Kerry being regarded as a ‘war hero.’ ‘Someone should really expose this guy for the fraud he is.’ He thought. And then like a wave washing over him, he realized he was the ‘someone.’ Love or hate this man, he probably was the single, most powerful reason Kerry lost to Bush in 2004. Never, ever, ever doubt the power of one. Minding my own business when: After a few hours with Misty one morning this week (I have to work the weekend, so I snuck out to ride), I went to my favorite Mexican café (Chipotles) to enjoy a meal. Naturally I sat at the stool next to the cash register so everyone would read the t-shirt as they paid. A young woman tapped me on the shoulder. “Is your t-shirt serious? Cops want to legalize drugs? WHY?”….and from her tone I believed she was about ready to hit me. “Cut crime, no drug dealers & we can arrest more DUIs and child molesters.” I replied. Her face broke into a big smile, she shook my hand and thanked me for my position. Whew! No black eye to explain to my better half! BONUS: She said she works for SAMHSA (federal agency dealing with substance abuse and mental health) in their treatment division. She invited me to address her colleagues during a ‘brown bag lunch’ seminar. It is being set up. She finished our conversation saying that a few years ago, when the Drug Czar was speaking to her group, she told him the war on drugs was a horrible policy and should be ended immediately. What are we fighting for? Last month Bob in Colorado invited me into an on-going, on line discussion about war on drugs on a Coast Guard veteran’s site. After much was written, one man said, ‘why do you put so much energy into getting someone the right to snort cocaine up their nose?’ His question made me think. My answer: ‘The larger issue I am working on is to stop allowing government agents to come into your home, take you and put you in a prison because of something you are doing to yourself. The next logical step is for the government, in the name of protecting citizens, to take fat people out of the home and put them on a fat farm until they become healthy (healthy as defined by the government). This answer shut the guy up.