Dear Friends:

As you know, the "War on Drugs" has been a tragic policy failure, degrading public order and public health and eroding trust in the justice system and respect for the law.  Now you have a chance to participate in an intensive national effort underway to bring about a fundamental shift in our drug control policies.   

If you haven't already met, let me introduce you to the Voluntary Committee of Lawyers!  The VCL is working successfully across the nation to amplify the voice of the legal profession, calling for a serious examination of the "War on Drugs" and its harmful consequences.

During National Alcohol Prohibition in the 1920s, a respected group of New York lawyers founded the original Voluntary Committee of Lawyers, building a national network to set up the state constitutional conventions that eventually led to the repeal of Prohibition in 1933.  The modern VCL is organizing lawyers and judges around the country today to criticize our current prohibition-style drug policies and to suggest workable alternative approaches.  Through state and loc al bar associations in New York, Colorado, Alabama, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Washington and other states, the VCL is spurring important discussions in professional circles that wield considerable influence in the policymaking process.  

We are approaching a historic turning point in the drug policy debate.  In these troubling times, the fiscal strain of excessive incarceration is leading states to shift their criminal justice policies.  Violence from illegal drug markets is about to spill across the Mexican border.  Leading newspapers regularly highlight the disaster of the "War on Drugs."  The Obama Administration has also made some important signals recently.  Now is the time for the VCL to leverage its deep history and advance the mature legal dialogue about shifting to a more rational drug control policy.

Thanks to your support we can continue this important work.

We are expanding the VCL as a membership organization of lawyers, judges and other professionals, strengthening the call for an exit strategy for the "War on Drugs."  You are invited to join our growing network by becoming a member of the VCL today.  Click here.

To learn more about the VCL and its membership and activities, please join us on Law Day, Friday, May 1st, at the Culture Center on Manhattan's Upper West Side for a reception and presentation of the VCL's Joseph H. Choate, Jr. Award for Leadership to U.S. District Court Judge Robert Sweet.  Then get dinner with us afterward and continue what is sure to be an evening of engaging discussion.

We welcome you to join the VCL and help us push for sanity in our drug control policies.  Thank you very much for your support, and we look forward to working together with you!

Very truly yours,

Roger E. Goodman

 

Dear Friends:
 
You are invited to a special Law Day reception in New York City on Friday, May 1st, sponsored by the Voluntary Committee of Lawyers.  I really hope you can join us for this special event.  Please see the announcement below.
 
Come and learn more about the VCL's exciting initiatives across the country to foster important discussion and debate about our arcane and failed War on Drugs.  As we approach a national "tipping point" in drug policy reform, the VCL's work is ever more important as we move the professional community to wield its influence to get drug policy reform on the legislative agenda.
 
Please join us in the late afternoon on May 1st.  Please also take the time to visit the VCL's website, at www.VCL.org. See you on May 1st!
 
Roger
 

 

 

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   
APRIL 21, 2009

TV Ad Campaign Boosts Medical Marijuana Bill
With Senate Vote Nearing, Spots With Real Patients to Air in Chicago, Peoria, and Decatur/Springfield/Champaign

CONTACT: Bruce Mirken, MPP director of communications ............... 415-585-6404 or 202-215-4205

SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS -- With a Senate floor vote on medical marijuana legislation expected by the end of the month, supporters are taking to the airwaves with a pair of TV spots in which real Illinois medical marijuana patients tell their stories. The spots, introduced at a Statehouse press conference today, have begun airing in the Chicago, Peoria, and Decatur/Springfield/Champaign media markets.

     The ads, featuring Lucie Macfarlane of Joliet and Lisa Lange Van Camp of Lindenhurst, can be viewed at www.mpp.org/ads.

     "I used to be on so many narcotics that I had lost my desire to live," said Macfarlane, who suffers from neurofibromatosis, a painful disease that causes tumors to grow on nerve tissue. "Marijuana literally helped save my life by allowing me to cut back on the highly addictive painkillers that I had been prescribed for over a decade. I'm now totally off Oxycontin and am only taking Norco and marijuana for my pain. I'm grateful for the opportunity to share my story with other Illinoisans, some of whom may be in need of this law more than I am."

     "Nobody should ever have to live in fear of arrest for treating their illness," said Lisa Lange Van Camp, a Lindenhurst resident who lives with severe osteoarthritis, complicated by a rare condition, Dercum's disease. To date, Lisa has had both knees replaced, had one spinal fusion and currently needs five more spinal levels fused. "I should have the right to make my own treatment decisions regarding medical cannabis, based on my physician's recommendation, and to do so with dignity.  I hope our lawmakers hear this message loud and clear and pass the medical marijuana bill without delay."

     "Seriously ill patients like Lisa and Lucie should not have to fear being arrested for using a medicine that can, and has, helped them," said Sen. William Haine (D-Alton), a four-term former state's attorney and sponsor of the medical marijuana bill. "It is our hope that my colleagues in the Senate will recognize that there are many patients out there who could benefit from this legislation and pass this sensible, compassionate bill now. We have changed the bill significantly to meet the concerns of law enforcement. It's time for the state of Illinois to meet the concerns of her citizens who are suffering and might be helped by the restricted use of marijuana."

     Rep. Lou Lang (D-Skokie), sponsor of the House version of the medical marijuana bill, said he hopes the new ads remind people how important the legislation is for real, suffering Illinois citizens.

     "These ads are a forceful reminder about what this bill is really about -- providing for the health and comfort of seriously ill patients who seek relief from a proven safe, effective treatment," Lang said.

     With more than 27,000 members and 100,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit http://MarijuanaPolicy.org.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   
APRIL 20, 2009

Medical Marijuana Advocates to Announce TV Ad Campaign at Statehouse Press Conference Tuesday
Spots to Feature Patients Benefiting from Medical Marijuana

CONTACT: Bruce Mirken, MPP director of communications ............... 415-585-6404 or 202-215-4205

SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS -- Supporters of the medical marijuana bill that will soon be voted on by the Illinois Senate will unveil a new TV ad campaign in support of the bill at a Statehouse press conference Tuesday. The new spots, featuring two patients who have benefited from medical marijuana, will be shown at the news conference, and DVD copies will be made available to the media.

     WHAT: Press conference to announce new TV ad campaign in support of medical marijuana legislation.

     WHO: Sen. William Haine (D-Alton), sponsor of the Senate medical marijuana bill; Lucie Mcfarlane, Joliet resident whose use of medical marijuana for the pain caused by neurofibromatosis has allowed her to greatly reduce her reliance on highly addictive narcotic painkillers; Lisa Lange Van Camp of Lindenhurst, who uses medical marijuana to treat severe osteoarthritis complicated by Dercum's disease.

     WHEN: Tuesday, April 21, 2009, 10:15 a.m.

     WHERE: Illinois State Capitol, Press Room, West Second Mezzanine, Springfield.

     With more than 27,000 members and 100,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit http://MarijuanaPolicy.org.

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