Action Alert

Dear Friends,

I'm writing to you from Law Enforcement Against Prohibition about an unprecedented opportunity to get our nation's lawmakers to finally realize that drug abuse and addiction is a public health - and not a criminal justice - issue.

As you probably know, President Barack Obama recently appointed Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske as his White House "drug czar," more formally known as director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

That means that the U.S. Senate will soon hold a hearing to question and confirm Chief Kerlikowske. Historically, the drug czar confirmation hearings are held in the Senate Judiciary Committee, the panel that handles crime and courts issues.

But, since many observers - including the president himself - have said that drug abuse is primarily a health concern, don't you think that the drug czar confirmation should be handled by the lawmakers who oversee such issues?

That's why I'm writing you today.

Please take one minute to visit http://www.CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.com/health and send a letter to your two U.S. senators, asking them to support moving the drug czar confirmation hearing to the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee, a much more appropriate forum.

We've made it really easy for you to take action. All you have to do is enter your contact information and click "send." If you have an extra minute, you can edit our pre-written letter to personalize it for added impact.

With the new Obama administration, we are cautiously optimistic that there will be a humane shift in drug policy: from the current punitive and forceful model, to a more compassionate one founded in public health.

Indeed, President Obama has repeatedly called for a new health-based approach to drug policy, including when he told Rolling Stone magazine that he believes in "shifting the paradigm, shifting the model, so that we focus more on a public-health approach."

Now, we have a brief window of time to get the message to our elected officials that we want to turn this rhetoric into reality.

Please take one minute to visit http://www.CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.com/health to do your part by taking action. Then, use the simple follow-up form to let your friends know about this opportunity, too.

Thanks so much for all that you do,
Jack Cole
Executive Director
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
http://www.CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.com

Dear ASA Supporter,

We never expected that the DEA would defy the public statements of both the U.S. President and the Attorney General in such an arrogant and brazen way.

And yet yesterday, the Drug Enforcement Administration raided a legal, permitted San Francisco medical cannabis dispensing collective against the will of the President and the Department of Justice... and we need you to respond RIGHT NOW!

In early February national media attention exploded around statements from a White House spokesperson and from U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, telling the press that DEA raids would no longer continue, and that an end to such raids, according to Holder, was “now U.S. policy.”

And DEA's response?

They thumbed their noses at the President and immediately raided a legal dispensing collective and, according to the San Francisco Police, did not even inform local cops! DEA claimed that the permit-holding dispensary was "violating state law," but went on to say that evidence was "under seal" and could not be shared with the public.

The DEA is out of line and out of control, and this raid is nothing if not vindictive. Even if there was a violation of state law:

1. Why where there no arrests?
2. Why were local cops not involved?
3. Why are United States Federal Agents interpreting and enforcing California state law without consulting California officials?
4. Why was the collective not given due process through the proper authorities, but rather ransacked with a "smash and grab" raid?

DEA has twisted the words of the U.S. Attorney General, and thought that by saying publicly "they violated state law" that they could continue raiding whenever they want. Well that doesn’t fly. We DEMAND that the DEA stop immediately, and that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder reprimand DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart for her blatant insubordination and violation of the “new American policy.”

Now it's up to you, and all it takes is two phone calls, one to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, and the other straight to the DEA.

Please call the U.S. Attorney General at (202) 353-1555 and say:

Hi, my name is _____________. First I want to thank you for your numerous public statements verifying the end of DEA raids on legal medical marijuana dispensaries in California. But on Wednesday the DEA went against your word and the word of the President of the United States by raiding a permitted dispensary in San Francisco. We respectfully demand that you issue a statement condemning and officially ending these raids until the Obama Administration has had a chance to review the new policy.

When you’re done, call the DEA at (202) 307-8000, ask for Administrator Michele Leonhart, and say:

Hi, my name is ___________. The U.S. Attorney General and the President of the United States have both made high-profile public statements, saying DEA raids on legal medical marijuana dispensaries is no longer U.S. policy. Yet your DEA raided a legal, permit-holding San Francisco dispensary yesterday, in conflict with these statements. This disgraceful and anti-democratic. Why is your agency not listening to the policy statements of our elected leaders and your boss? Is this how you'll run DEA if you are appointed in the Obama Administration? We demand that you STOP it immediately!

Sincerely,

George Pappas
Field Coordinator
Americans for Safe Access

P.S. Please forward this message to all your friends and family so that we can generate a response big enough to get officials to act!

Ask your D.C. Councilmembers to stand up to Congress!

Dear Friends:

Although 69% of Washington, D.C. voters approved a medical marijuana initiative in 1998, Congress passed the Barr Amendment, which blocked the law from being implemented. As a result, seriously ill District residents continue to be treated as criminals simply for using their doctor-recommended medicine.

We now have the opportunity to get Congress to remove this anti-medical marijuana language from the D.C. appropriations bill along with other ideological social policy riders. Please take a moment to call and urge the D.C. City Councilmembers to pass a resolution calling on Congress to stop overriding the will of D.C. voters and not include these riders in the FY2010 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bills. While calling is more effective, you can also e-mail your councilmembers if you prefer.

District councilmembers need to know that their constituents care about the fate of seriously ill District residents and D.C.'s ability to self-govern. This cannot happen without your help. Also, please forward any responses from councilmembers back to me at [email protected] so that we can identify a sponsor and get the resolution passed in a timely fashion.

All patients suffering from a condition that could benefit from medical marijuana, medical professionals, law enforcement, or clergy please contact me at [email protected] to see how you can be of special help in passing this resolution.  Other activists can pitch in too by reaching out to supportive patients, medical professionals, law enforcement, and clergy and encouraging them to contact me.

The result of Congress' interference is tragic. On September 24, 2004, 27-year-old Jonathan Magbie, a quadriplegic who used marijuana for his medical condition, died while serving a 10-day sentence in the D.C. jail after being convicted of marijuana possession and the jail failed to attend to his medical needs. Had the will of the District of Columbia and its voters been implemented, he would likely not have faced criminal penalties for relieving his symptoms, and he could still be alive today.

A resolution calling on Congress to stop this and other interference has been drafted and is awaiting a sponsor. In addition to calling on Congress to remove the Barr Amendment, it also urges Congress to remove other ideological social policy riders that limit the District's ability to self-govern and make its own policies regarding abortion, domestic partnerships, and contraceptive coverage.

Please take a moment now to call and e-mail your councilmembers. We need the Council to send the clear message to Congress that it must stop thwarting D.C. residents' ability to determine their own policies, including their decision to protect medical marijuana patients.

Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project.

Sincerely,

Noah Mamber
Legislative Analyst
Marijuana Policy Project

Dear Friend,

The strangest thing happened to me the other day. I was sitting on a park bench with my girlfriend enjoying some marijuana. While I knew she disapproved, I went ahead and smoked a joint anyway.

Next thing I knew, a flying saucer descended from the sky and we were visited by a space alien! Not wanting to seem ungracious, I offered our new friend a puff of my joint. He declined.

My girlfriend, sick of my pot smoking and enamored by the alien's courage, immediately fell in love with our new little green friend. Before I knew it, she was boarding his flying saucer to fly away together to a far away galaxy where they would live happily ever after, leaving me heartbroken with only my joint to console me…

Does this scenario sound ridiculous to you? Believe it or not, this is an actual an advertisement designed by our government to keep young people from smoking marijuana!

Since 1998 the federal government has spent over $1.5 billion on anti-drug ads targeted at youth that are nothing more than mindless propaganda, mocked by young people as this generation's version of Reefer Madness. Independent studies conducted by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Westat, and Texas State University have all found that these ads actually cause more drug use among teens who view them!

President Obama has pledged to cut wasteful government spending by eliminating programs that are ineffective, and the Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign is an ineffective as government programs get.

While the program will receive $70 million this year, the administration is already developing its spending priorities for 2010. Please join me in sending a letter to Congress, telling them to "Just Say No" to wasteful and counterproductive propaganda: http://www.ssdp.org/justsayno

Thanks to lobbying efforts by SSDP, our friends at the Marijuana Policy Project and Drug Policy Alliance, and you, the ad campaign budget has been cut by 66% since 2002.  With your help, we can eliminate the program altogether next year!

Sincerely,

Kris Krane
Executive Director
Students for Sensible Drug Policy

Friends --

Great news!  The first bill of the new Congress to eliminate mandatory minimums for all drugs was introduced by Representative Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) on March 12, 2009.  

H.R. 1466, the Major Drug Trafficking Prosecution Act of 2009, seeks to repeal mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenders and to give courts the ability to determine sentences based on all the facts, not just drug weight. It would also refocus federal resources on major drug traffickers instead of low-level offenders.  There is currently no companion bill in the Senate.

We are excited about getting this legislation passed, but we can't do it without your help. It will take time and effort to make this bill become law.  The first step is to ask your representative to become a cosponsor of H.R. 1466. If they already are cosponsors, please take a moment to thank them. FAMM's action center gives you talking points to use in your letters and also lets you know if your representative is already on board. Click here to contact your representative now.

It won't be fast and it won't be easy, but by working together, with commitment and with focus, we can knock down mandatory minimum sentencing laws and insure that the punishment fits the crime once more. 

Thanks for getting involved today!

My best -

Julie 

Julie Stewart

President

Sentences that Fit. Justice that Works.

Friend,

President Obama recently announced that his administration would no longer allow ideology to trump science in policy-making decision. Yet, the very same week, the Obama administration publicly supported worn out Drug War ideology over harm reduction practices that have been proven to save and improve the lives of drug users.

I was back in Vienna, Austria last week to witness the United Nations' final deliberation over a new political declaration and action plan that will guide global drug policy for the next ten years.

Unfortunately, despite recommendations made by 300 Non-Governmental Organizations form around the world, including SSDP, the declaration included no mention of harm reduction.

(Harm reduction is like contraceptives, but for drugs. It's a scientifically proven set of policies and practices that keep drug users alive and healthy, without relying on abstinence-only messaging.)

After final approval of the declaration, 26 nations including Great Britain, Germany, and Australia, courageously spoke up to register their support for harm reduction in the official UN record, setting off a firestorm of debate on the floor of the United Nations.

While most countries chose to remain silent on the issue, a handful chose to speak up and denounce support for harm reduction.  These included Russia, Cuba, Pakistan… and the United States!

We must send a message to President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton that the American people will no longer stand idly by as they allow 20th century Drug War ideology to trump science and evidence!

Please visit this action page to send a message to President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton, read the final approved U.N. declaration, and watch video of SSDP participating in a protest and press conference outside the United Nations.

Thank you for your support of SSDP's efforts to bring science and reason to national and global drug policies.

Sincerely,

Kris Krane
Executive Director
Students for Sensible Drug Policy

P.S. Like the work SSDP is doing to influence President Obama and the United Nations to change drug policy? If so, please let us know by making a donation today. http://www.ssdp.org/donate

Dear friends:

Although Washington, D.C., passed a ballot initiative to allow medical marijuana use in 1998, with an overwhelming 69% of the vote, Congress has thwarted the will of D.C. voters and prevented the law from taking effect.

In fact, originally — until a court intervened — Congress even tried to stop the vote from being counted! 

Would you please take a minute to ask Congress to stop overriding the will of D.C. voters, and let D.C.'s medical marijuana law go into effect? MPP's online action center makes it easy.

Even the sponsor of the original federal law, former Congressman Bob Barr (R-Ga.), has called for the repeal of the very law he authored a decade ago, saying, “Continuing to have the federal government run roughshod over the states, even if the citizens of a state decide they wish to legalize medicinal marijuana, for example, is wrong.”

In 2007, MPP worked with Congressman Barr to try to remove this provision so D.C.'s medical marijuana law could go into effect. But at the time, Democrats in Congress didn't want to force the issue with then-President Bush, who they knew would use such an opportunity to stoke the flames of the culture war. However, now that we have a president in the White House who has already signaled support for medical marijuana access, this is the best opportunity we've ever had to repeal this terrible provision.

Please take a minute right now to tell Congress to stop thwarting the will of D.C. voters.

Thank you,

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 $2.35 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in 2009. This means that your donation today will be doubled.