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Press Release: Prop. 5 Ad -- Only One Measure Will Cut CA State Costs ($2.5 Billion)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 27, 2008 CONTACT: Margaret Dooley-Sammuli at (213) 291-4190 or Tommy McDonald at (510) 229-5215 Prop 5 TV Ad Focuses on $2.5 Billion "Bottom Line" Only Measure to Cut State Costs, says LAO LOS ANGELES - Amid the state budget crisis and financial market meltdown, voters are anxious about ballot measures that will cost the state money. There's only one measure on the November ballot that will actually cut state costs, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO). That's Proposition 5, the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act (NORA), which would increase treatment access for youth and nonviolent offenders, and reduce prison overcrowding. Cost-cutting is the theme of "Bottom Line", a new TV spot released today and airing statewide. The ad highlights the ballot language prepared by the LAO: that Prop. 5 will result in "capital outlay savings potentially exceeding $2.5 billion." The LAO's analysis has impressed other groups concerned with the state's fiscal health: Adrian Moore, of the Reason Foundation, said "Proposition 5 is taxpayers' only hope of getting prison spending under control, and the only choice on the ballot for voters concerned with our state's fiscal solvency." Richard Holober, of the Consumer Federation of California, said, "Prop. 5 is a good deal for California taxpayers. It's the only measure on the ballot that will reduce state spending. In these economic times, California can't afford not to pass Prop. 5." According to the LAO, Prop. 5 will reduce the state prison population by at least 18,000 and the number of people on parole by 22,000. Overall, the LAO calculates that Prop. 5 will generate "savings potentially exceeding $1 billion annually on corrections operations." Annual costs for Prop. 5 rehabilitation programs could eventually grow to $1 billion, says the LAO - making Prop. 5 cost-neutral on an annual basis. By reducing the number of nonviolent offenders behind bars and on parole, Prop. 5 will slow California's skyrocketing prison growth - which is currently increasing at three times the rate of the general adult population. According to the LAO, this would reduce future spending on prison construction by at least $2.5 billion. Margaret Dooley-Sammuli, deputy campaign manager with Yes on 5, said "Prop. 5 is a smarter way to spend existing resources so that we put the brakes on out-of-control prison growth while investing in proven, effective recidivism-reduction programs." UCLA researchers have found that treatment diversion saves $2.50 for every $1 invested, and yields $4 for every $1 among those who complete treatment. So, advocates believe, long-term savings from Prop. 5 could well exceed the $2.5 billion projected by the LAO, as more individuals achieve long-term abstinence from drugs and alcohol and become productive members of the community. The TV spot is online here: http://www.prop5yes.com/campaign-ads-videos The New York Times Editorial is online here: http://www.prop5yes.com/the-california-prison-disaster DPA Fact Sheet: CALIFORNIA'S BLOATED PRISON GROWTH * Since 2000, prison costs have grown 50% to over $10 billion - about 10% of the state budget. It now costs $46,000 to incarcerate one person for one year in CA. * Since the late 1980s, the prison population increased by 75% to over 170,000 - nearly three times faster than the general adult population. Meanwhile, the number of incarcerated nonviolent offenders skyrocketed from 20,000 to 70,000. * In the 1990s, California built 21 new prisons and just one university. The state now spends about the same amount annually on prisons and higher education. * From 1980 to 2000, the number of drug offenders behind bars jumped from 1,778 to 45,455. Since 2000, the number of people incarcerated for drug possession has fallen by over 6,000 - thanks to Proposition 36 treatment-not-incarceration. * About 20% of prisoners are incarcerated for a drug offense, but over 80% of inmates have a substance abuse problem. The prison system has capacity to provide treatment to only about 5%. * Every month 10,000 inmates are released; most have not received treatment or rehabilitation behind bars. California's recidivism rate is twice the national average at 70%. Each month 7,000 parolees are returned to prison. * Since 1980, membership in the prison guard union increased 500% from 5,000 to 31,000 - and average annual earnings grew from $14,400 in 1980 to nearly $90,000 in 2008 ($73,720 in base pay plus $16,000 in overtime). IF PROP. 5 DOESN'T PASS. * The response to California's prison crisis will be determined by a federal court. On November 17, 2008, a three-judge panel will consider putting the entire prison system under federal receivership. (The Legislative Analyst's Office calculates that Prop. 5 would reduce the prison population and parole populations by at least 40,000 in just a few years.) * California prison spending is projected to reach $15 billion by 2011. (The legislative analyst calculates that Prop. 5 would reduce prison spending by $1 billion per year and cut prison construction costs by at least $2.5 billion.) * Spending on drug and alcohol treatment in the community will continue to shrink; spending was cut by 10% in the 2009-10 state budget. (Prop. 5 would allocate increased and reliable spending on community-based alcohol and drug treatment programs proven to cut incarceration costs.)

Press Release: New Yes on 5 TV Ads Focus on Youth Drug Treatment

[Courtesy of DPA] For Immediate Release: October 24, 2008 Contact: Margaret Dooley-Sammuli at (213) 291-4190 or Tommy McDonald at (510) 229-5215 Prop. 5 Supporters Release New TV Ads, Focus on Youth Drug Treatment Under Prop. 5 LOS ANGELES – Supporters of Proposition 5, the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act, today unveiled two new TV spots intended to begin running statewide next week. Both Yes on 5 spots highlight the measure’s drug treatment programs for young people. If passed, Prop. 5 would provide $65 million per year to counties to make drug treatment available to at-risk youth under the age of 18. Virtually no publicly funded treatment is available now for young people. The first Yes on 5 spot, titled “Warden,” features Jeanne Woodford, former warden of San Quentin State Prison and former Director of the California Department of Corrections. Against a backdrop of images of San Quentin, she speaks of her 25 years working at the prison, where she began as a prison guard. “Let me tell you,” Woodford says, “too many of the men I dealt with started out as kids with drug problems. But California doesn’t have treatment for kids.” She goes on to say that the youth treatment provisions of Prop. 5 are one of its main draws for her. “I can’t tell you how good I feel,” Woodford says, “when I think of all those kids who will never wind up in prison.” The second Yes on 5 spot offers a dramatic story of a young person who has slipped into addiction and criminal activity as a result of a drug problem. In “Rewind,” we take a look back at what happened: “When he was 14,” the narrator says, “he had a drug problem. But there was no drug treatment available. Now, we have to spend forty-six thousand dollars a year to keep him in prison.” Prop. 5 is “a better way” because it offers drug treatment to young people, the narrator says. The spot then ends by showing the two possible outcomes – in one frame, the youth is shown in a mug shot, headed for jail. In the other, he is wearing a cap and gown, graduating from college. Margaret Dooley-Sammuli, deputy campaign manager for Yes on 5, said, “Prop. 5 would fill a huge gap in drug treatment services in California. It is shocking how little we do now for young people with drug problems. These ads highlight for voters one of the most important aspects of Prop. 5, something almost everyone can identify with.” These ads, and others, are in final testing stages. The youth ads can be viewed online today: http://www.prop5yes.com/campaign-ads-videos ###

LEAP: "We have a major fight ahead of us..."

Dear friends,

LEAP fully supports Proposition 5 on the November 4th California ballot.  Please read the following message from Ethan Nadelmann, Executive Director of the Drug Policy Alliance, and vote for Proposition 5 if you live in California (if you are outside California, please support DPA in any manner you choose):

“I’ve never invested as much in anything as I have in Proposition 5, our ballot initiative in California.  If we win on Election Day, this will be the biggest reform of prisons and sentencing in U.S. history – and the biggest reform of drug policy – since the repeal of alcohol Prohibition seventy-five years ago. 

But we both know you can’t make a change this big without stirring up intense opposition from vested interests.  Last week the powerful prison guards union contributed $1 million to the opposition campaign.  That’s on top of hundreds of thousands of dollars from Indian tribes/casinos with close links to law enforcement as well as $100,000 from the California Beer and Beverage Distributors.

And I just found out that today the Bush administration’s drug czar is in Sacramento to announce his opposition to Proposition 5.

If we win, the new law will effectively transfer $1 billion annually from prison and parole to treatment and rehabilitation – and save taxpayers $2.5 billion because new prisons will not need to be built.  The result will be fewer drug and other nonviolent offenders behind bars, and also reductions in crime and recidivism.  The initiative even includes a sensible provision to reduce the penalty for possession of small amounts of marijuana to the equivalent of a traffic ticket.

This initiative, unlike most, was drafted with keen attention to decades of empirical research on what works best in reducing incarceration, crime and recidivism and enabling people with drug problems to get their lives together.

I am not instinctively a fan of the ballot initiative process.  But it seems to me that the process is ideally used when the legislature and/or the governor are unable or unwilling to enact worthy legislation, which is favored by a substantial majority of the public, and which advances the interests of those people who are most disempowered in the legislative process. That is clearly the case here. 

There has never been a return on investment in major reform of drug policy, prisons and sentencing like this.  Raising the millions of dollars needed to draft this initiative, get it on the ballot, and hopefully win it has been no easy task – and I am still trying to raise the final million with two weeks to go until Election Day. 

So we have a lot riding on this initiative – not just for DPA but also for the hundreds of thousands of people who will either sit in prison or get a second chance, depending on whether or not Prop 5 wins on Election Day.

Our opponents think they can defeat Prop 5 by resorting to the same old scare tactics that filled the prisons in the first place.  But we know we’ll win if voters focus on the bottom line, which is that Prop 5 will reduce prison overcrowding, reduce crime and recidivism, directly help huge numbers of people, and save taxpayers billions of dollars.

Please tell everyone you know in California to vote for Prop 5.  Forward this email if you like.  And if you think you can help in any other way, please let me know soon.  We MUST win Prop 5.

Many, many thanks.

Very truly yours,

Ethan

P.S. The campaign’s website is www.prop5yes.com.”

Watch our new medical marijuana TV ads

Dear friends:

MPP's Michigan campaign committee hit the airwaves with two hard-hitting new TV ads, urging voters to pass the medical marijuana initiative there on November 4.

One ad features Michigan resident Deb Brink, who used medical marijuana to ease the side effects of chemotherapy during cancer treatment. The other spotlights Dr. George Wagoner, who lost his wife of 51 years, Beverly, to ovarian cancer last year. He explains how marijuana helped ease her suffering when drug after drug failed.

If a majority of Michigan voters pass MPP's initiative on November 4, Michigan law will change to allow patients to use, possess, and grow their own marijuana for medical purposes with their doctors' approval.

Michigan might be just days away from becoming the 13th state to protect medical marijuana patients from arrest and prison — and the first in the Midwest — but our opponents are pushing back hard, and we need the financial help of supporters like you to win. Would you please donate to MPP's campaign committee today, so that we have the funds it will take to win on Election Day?

We are counting on people like you to lend your voice for what's right in these final days. Thank you in advance for any help you can give.

Sincerely,
Kampia signature (e-mail sized)

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.

Prop. 5 May Be Last Chance to Reform Prisons

[Courtesy of Yes on Proposition 5] The ills of California's prison system have been diagnosed in one expert report after another, but the prescriptions for change have been ignored. Now, with Proposition 5, voters have the opportunity to enact a range of reforms recommended by experts that would reduce overcrowding and improve rehabilitation. "The prison lobby has dictated criminal justice policies for decades. Look at the results: prisons are stuffed to twice their capacity and the recidivism rate is twice the national average," said Dan Macallair, executive director of the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice. "Prop. 5 takes a different approach to reduce recidivism – one recommended by criminal justice policy experts from around the country." Voters will decide on Prop. 5 just two weeks before a trial begins in a lawsuit that could result in an outright takeover of California's prison system by a panel of three federal judges. But, as with every prior effort to reform California's prison system, law enforcement groups and the prison guards' union are fighting tooth and nail to prevent reform. The prison guards recently poured $1 million into the No on 5 campaign. "After 25 years in San Quentin, I know how broken our corrections system is. Prop. 5 is the breath of fresh air this system needs," said Jeanne Woodford, former director of the California Department of Corrections under Gov. Schwarzenegger. "I am surprised to see a law enforcement organization that is responsible for public safety opposing an initiative that will not only reduce cost but will also dramatically improve public safety." "We have let law enforcement drive our response to addiction for long enough – and we are all, quite literally, paying the price," said Margaret Dooley-Sammuli, deputy campaign manager of Yes on 5. "Now it's finally time to listen to policy experts. By reducing addiction, we'll prevent crime and cut costs to the state." Prop. 5 is endorsed the League of Women Voters of California, the California Nurses Association, California Federation of Teachers and the California Society of Addiction Medicine, the California State Conference of the NAACP and the National Council of la Raza, among many others. The nonpartisan legislative analyst calculates Prop. 5 will reduce incarceration costs by $1 billion annually and save taxpayers $2.5 billion in reduced prison-construction costs. This doesn't include savings related to reduced crime, fewer social services costs (e.g. emergency room visits, welfare), and increased individual productivity. For more information, visit www.prop5yes.com.

Press Release: Drug Czar Backs CA Prison Guards, Opposes Unified Treatment Community

For Immediate Release: October 21, 2008 Contact: Margaret Dooley-Sammuli at (213) 291-4190 or Tommy McDonald at (510) 229-5215 Drug Czar Backs California Prison Guards, Opposes Unified Treatment Community SACRAMENTO – President George W. Bush’s drug czar today announced his opposition to Proposition 5, the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act (NORA), which will expand access to drug treatment for young people and nonviolent offenders – and make rehabilitation a priority of the state corrections system once again. “The drug czar is going against the whole of California’s treatment and prevention community to line up with law enforcement. We have tried incarceration as a primary response to addictive illness for decades and failed utterly,” said Dr. Judy Martin, president of the California Society of Addiction Medicine. “The treatment field enthusiastically supports Prop. 5 because it marks a historic shift away from the drug czar’s failed approach and towards a proven one - treatment.” “The drug czar’s rhetorical support for treatment is obviously just a fig leaf for the same old law enforcement approach. This hardline drug czar from a lame-duck administration is now opposing California’s entire treatment community,” said Margaret Dooley-Sammuli, deputy campaign manager of Yes on 5. “Back in 2000, the previous drug czar opposed Prop. 36 and that didn’t matter to voters. It’s hard to imagine President Bush’s drug czar having any more influence.” Supporters of Prop. 5 include the League of Women Voters of California, the California Nurses Association, the California Federation of Teachers, the Consumer Federation of California – among many others. Opponents are overwhelmingly law enforcement organizations, with $1 million in with funding from the California prison guards union. The Legislative Analyst’s Office calculates that Prop. 5 will lower incarceration costs by $1 billion each year and will cut another $2.5 billion in state costs for prison construction. This doesn’t include savings related to reduced crime, lower social costs (e.g. emergency room visits, child protective services, welfare), and increased individual productivity. ********** The campaign will make available treatment advocates in support of Prop. 5. For those contacts, please contact Tommy McDonald at (510) 229-5215. For more on Prop. 5, visit www.Prop5Yes.org. ###

Marijuana Policy Project: Watch new marijuana TV ads

Dear friends:

Today, the campaign to pass a marijuana decriminalization initiative in Massachusetts began airing two new TV ads.

In the ads, retired police officers urge voters to pass the initiative next month.

In one ad, Sergeant Howard Donahue, a 33-year veteran of the Boston Police Department, says, “Take it from a cop who walked the beat. Please vote yes on Question 2.”

In the other ad, Lieutenant Tom Nolan, a Boston police officer for 27 years, says, “I entered law enforcement to catch bad guys, not to deny someone an education for life just because they made a mistake.” (This is a reference to current law in Massachusetts, where simply getting arrested — not even convicted — for possessing a small amount of marijuana generates a permanent record in a database that employers, landlords, and schools can search and use to preclude offenders from getting jobs, housing, and school loans.)

 

Would you please help the Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy keep these ads on the air between now and Election Day? Airing TV ads in major markets like Boston is always expensive — but even more so during a presidential campaign. With only 14 days remaining until Election Day, the campaign urgently needs supporters like you to chip in to push the initiative to victory.

Thank you so much for anything you can do to help.

Sincerely,
Kampia signature (e-mail sized)
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.

P.S. You can opt out of receiving fundraising mentions in the e-mail alerts I send you in 2008 by visiting www.mpp.org/2008optoutpreference at your convenience.

One year ago today...

Dear friend:

One year ago today, Robin Prosser took her own life.

For more than 20 years, Robin, a former concert pianist and systems analyst, suffered from an autoimmune disease similar to lupus. Her muscles stiffened, impeding her ability to move, and she suffered from chronic pain, heart trouble, nausea, and migraines. She was allergic to many prescription drugs, and others simply didn't work. Only medical marijuana brought her relief, but the DEA seized her medicine. Unable to cope with the chronic pain any longer, she committed suicide on October 18, 2007.

You can watch MPP's tribute to Robin here:

Won't you please help others like Robin? On November 4, voters in Michigan will have the chance to pass a law protecting medical marijuana patients like Robin from arrest and prison. You can help ensure this measure passes, by helping to fund the campaign here.

Please stand with us and send a loud message to the federal government: No more.

Thank you,
Kampia signature (e-mail sized)

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

P.S. MPP would like to thank Patients & Families United for providing footage and film for the tribute video, as well as for its outstanding advocacy work on behalf of Montana's medical marijuana patients.

P.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. (And as always, you can opt out of receiving fundraising mentions in the e-mail alerts I send you in 2008 by visiting www.mpp.org/2008optoutpreference at your convenience.)

Drug czar attacks!

Dear friends:

Once again, the White House drug czar is using taxpayer money to lie and interfere in an MPP state ballot initiative campaign. Earlier this week, drug czar John Walters and deputy drug czar Scott Burns appeared in Michigan to campaign against MPP's medical marijuana initiative there.

Walters pulled out his usual despicable lies. His claims in Michigan this week included:

  • Medical marijuana laws lead to “people who are dependent on this drug using the medical excuse to acquire the drug, to use the drug, to remain dependent, to get more teenagers and pre-teenagers to use.” (In fact, teen marijuana use has consistently declined in states with medical marijuana laws.)
  • Marijuana has no legitimate medical use. (In fact, the American Nurses Association, American Public Health Association, American Academy of HIV Medicine, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Lymphoma Foundation of America, American Academy of HIV Medicine, and dozens of other medical organizations recognize marijuana's medical value.)

While the drug czar spends taxpayer money to lie to voters, MPP's campaign committee is running out of funds to fight back and badly needs your help. Would you please consider donating $10 or more today?

This isn't the first time that the drug czar's office has campaigned against a state initiative. In fact, the drug czar makes a habit of targeting MPP. He campaigned against the medical marijuana laws that MPP successfully passed in Rhode Island in January of 2006 and in Montana and Vermont in 2004. And he has a history of swarming the airwaves with misleading and fear-mongering TV ads during the last two weeks of MPP's campaigns, so we expect the lies to escalate.

But we're fighting back. Just this week, MPP filed a complaint against the drug czar's office in the form of a Data Quality Act petition. The federal Data Quality Act requires federal agencies, like the drug czar's office, to ensure the quality, objectivity, and integrity of information it distributes. In other words, it mandates that the drug czar's information about marijuana rely on sound science — not twisted propaganda.

MPP's filing is the first of its kind. No organization has ever formally requested that the drug czar redact his lies. If we win, drug czar propaganda about marijuana will have to be corrected.

But there are only 19 days left until Election Day. MPP's campaign committee needs your help now. Won't you be part of making Michigan the 13th medical marijuana state — and the first in the Midwest?

Thank you in advance for anything you can give to help.

Sincerely,
Kampia signature (e-mail sized)

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.

Press Release: Medical Marijuana Initiatives on the Ballot November 4th, 2008 Voters in 15 towns to decide Medical Marijuana Public Policy Questions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 15, 2008 CONTACT: Scott Mortimer at 978-463-3788, Maddy Webster at 617-776-8344, or Bill Downing at 781-944-2266 Boston — Drug Policy Forum of Massachusetts announces that, for the 5th consecutive election cycle, Massachusetts citizens will vote on marijuana reform Public Policy Questions. Since 2000, voters in over 125 towns representing one-third of the Commonwealth have voted overwhelmingly in favor of marijuana reform (see attachment PPQtotal.doc or http://www.dpfma.org for detailed election results). For the 2008 election, activists from DPFMA and MassCann/NORML have placed four Public Policy Questions in State Representative districts concerning the medicinal use of marijuana. Voters in 15 towns will be able to decide the following ballot question: “Shall the State Representative from this district be instructed to vote in favor of legislation that would allow seriously ill patients, with their doctor’s written recommendation, to possess and grow small amounts of marijuana for their personal medical use?” 1st Middlesex Representative Robert S. Hargraves Question 4 – Towns of Ayer, Dunstable, Groton, Pepperell, and Townsend. 13th Norfolk Representative Lida E. Harkins Question 4 – Medfield, Needham, and precincts 1 and 2 of Dover. (The PPQ will appear as Question 5 in Needham) 21st Middlesex Representative Charles A. Murphy Question 4– Bedford, Burlington, precinct 3 of Wilmington. 6th Plymouth Representative Daniel K. Webster Question 4– Hanson, Pembroke, precincts 2,3,4,5 of Duxbury, precinct 2 of Halifax. In January 2008 the American College of Physicians released a landmark position paper endorsing full legal protection for medical marijuana patients. (report available at http://www.acponline.org/acp_news/medmarinews.htm) The ACP represents 124,000 member doctors and is the second largest physician group in the US. Since 2000 Massachusetts voters have passed 41 marijuana reform PPQs by a wide margin, 68% yes for medical marijuana and 62% for decriminalization. This year all Massachusetts voters will also vote on Question 2, a binding referendum that will make simple possession a civil offense with $100 fine. DPFMA has been working with the state legislature to pass H.2247, “An Act to Regulate the Medical Use of Marijuana by Patients Approved by Physicians and Certified by the Department of Public Health” sponsored by Rep. Frank Smizik. Currently twelve states including Vermont, Rhode Island, and Maine have passed similar legislation to protect medical marijuana patients from arrest and imprisonment. ###
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