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Action Alert

Emergency Industrial Hemp Action Alert

We can't let a hemp bill supported by 71% of Californians go down without a vote! Demand a Senate vote for AB 684! September 10, 2007 ­ AB 684, the Industrial Hemp Farming Act, passed the California Assembly, every relevant Senate committee and, as of the end of August, looked like it was heading straight for the governor. Now, political wrangling is keeping the bill from getting its Senate floor vote. Vote Hemp needs you to contact President pro Tempore Sen. Perata and Democratic Caucus Chair Sen. Migden immediately to ask them to let our industrial hemp bill be voted on before the Senate adjourns tomorrow. We can't let an industrial hemp bill supported by 71% of Californians go down without a vote! Please call their offices today: President pro Tempore Sen. Perata: (916) 651-4009 Democratic Caucus Chair Sen. Migden: (916) 651-4003 Or send them faxes or e-mails: http://capwiz.com/votehemp/issues/alert/?alertid=9480636&type=CU About Vote Hemp Vote Hemp is a non-profit organization dedicated to the acceptance of and a free market for industrial hemp and to changes in current law to allow U.S. farmers to once again grow industrial hemp. Industrial hemp is non-psychoactive, low-THC varieties of the Cannabis sativa plant. Web Site: http://www.votehemp.com Support Vote Hemp Vote Hemp depends on your donations to support our work. Please consider making a donation today. Donate Now: http://www.votehemp.com/contribute_email.asp Vote Hemp, Inc. Alexis Baden-Mayer Director of Government Relations email: [email protected] phone: 202-744-0853

DPA: A Tipping Point in Congress - Take Action

If you told me a year ago we were near a tipping point in Congress on rolling back one of the worst excesses of the war on drugs, I probably would have thought you were crazy. But the movement to eliminate the crack/powder cocaine sentencing disparity has grown so strong that Senators are tripping over themselves to support reform. Three different bi-partisan reform bills have already been introduced in the Senate - all by unlikely allies - and the Judiciary Committee is set to have hearings on the issue in September. Please take a minute today to fax your Senators and help build momentum against these draconian mandatory minimums.

 

Take action now.

 

Crack cocaine and powder cocaine are different forms of the same drug, and have similar effects on the brain and nervous system. Federal law, however, sets a 100 to 1 sentencing disparity between the two forms.

 

This disparity, enacted in the 1980s at the height of drug war hysteria, was based largely on the myth that crack cocaine was more dangerous than powder cocaine and that it was instantly addictive and caused violent behavior. Since then, copious amounts of scientific evidence and an analysis by the U.S. Sentencing Commission have shown that these assertions were not supported by sound data and were exaggerated or outright false.

 

Regardless of why the disparity was enacted, its impact is clear: tremendous racial disparities in the criminal justice system, wasted tax dollars, and a less safe America.

 

The solution is clear: Completely eliminate the disparity. Raise the amounts of crack cocaine it takes to trigger long sentences to equal those of powder cocaine, and reprioritize federal drug war agencies towards violent drug cartels.

DPA is launching a major grassroots campaign to boost support for reform, including holding town hall forums in key Congressional districts. We've already held one forum in Alabama in conjunction with the ACLU; and we're planning forums in California, New York, and Texas. Additionally, we've teamed up with The Sentencing Project, the ACLU, and the Open Society Policy Center to launch a public relations campaign (you can view the campaign's really cool print ads here).

 

Three U.S. Senators have already introduced reform bills - Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and Senator Joe Biden (D-DE). The Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), has pledged to have hearings on the issue in September. There is growing bi-partisan support for reform.

 

The Sessions bill (S. 1383) would reduce the crack/powder sentencing disparity to 20 to 1 by lowering penalties for crack cocaine and raising penalties for power cocaine. Since Hispanics are disproportionately prosecuted for powder cocaine offenses, the practical effect of the Sessions bill would be to reduce racial disparities for blacks, while increasing them for Hispanics. The Hatch bill (S. 1685) would reduce the disparity to 20 to 1 by lowering penalties for crack cocaine and leaving powder penalties unchanged (it is, thus, significantly better than the Sessions bill). The Biden bill (S. 1711) would completely eliminate the disparity by lowering crack penalties to equal those of powder.

Of the three bills, Senator Biden's bill is the only one to completely eliminate the disparity; and it would accomplish this without subjecting more Americans to draconian mandatory minimum sentences. His bill is the one the Senate should pass. Please take a minute to fax your Senators and urge them to co-sponsor Senator Biden's reform bill (S. 1711).

 

Take action now.

 

If you live in Delaware, please take a moment to call Senator Biden's Wilmington office and thank him for introducing a bill to eliminate the crack/powder cocaine sentencing disparity. The office number is 302-573-6345.

 

More Information:

 

While it takes just five grams of crack cocaine (about two sugar packets worth) to receive a five-year mandatory minimum sentence, it takes 500 grams of powder cocaine to receive the same sentence. 50 grams of crack cocaine triggers a ten-year sentence, but it takes 5,000 grams of powder cocaine - 5 kilos - to receive that much jail time.

 

Even though 66% of crack users are white, blacks make up more than 80% of federal defendants sentenced for crack cocaine offenses. No other federal law is more responsible for gross racial disparities in the federal criminal justice system.

 

And although the crack mandatory minimums were enacted to punish major traffickers, the vast majority of people subjected to them are low-level offenders. A recent report by the U.S. Sentencing Commission found that almost 70% of federal crack cocaine defendants had only low-level involvement in drug activity.

 

MPP: Help stop DEA obstruction of medical marijuana research

Would it surprise you to learn that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is refusing to allow medical marijuana research to move forward — despite a clear recommendation from its own administrative law judge to let such research happen?

If you’re like me, this will be just the latest outrage from the same agency that insists on terrorizing and arresting medical marijuana patients and providers who are complying with state law and their doctors’ advice.

Would you please take one minute to ask your U.S. House member to direct the DEA to permit medical marijuana research to move forward? MPP’s online action center has done all the work for you; just click a few buttons and your letter will be sent.

(Congress provides the DEA with 100% of its funding — all of it taxpayer money — so the DEA is more likely to listen to members of Congress than just about anyone else.)

In February of this year, DEA Administrative Law Judge Mary Bittner recommended that Professor Lyle Craker and the University of Massachusetts be granted a license to grow research-grade marijuana that would be used in FDA- and DEA-approved clinical studies into marijuana’s therapeutic uses, noting that it would be “in the public interest” to do so. But the DEA has ignored her recommendation and continued to block the research.

And earlier this month, during a hearing before the U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, DEA official Joseph Rannazzisi refused to commit to a timeline for ruling on the University of Massachusetts’ application ... even implying that the DEA might just wait until after a new presidential administration takes power in January 2009!

This is the height of hypocrisy. The DEA continually cites insufficient research as a reason for keeping medical marijuana illegal — while simultaneously blocking the very research that’s needed to persuade the FDA to approve marijuana as a prescription medicine.

How can the DEA hide behind the FDA in arguing against medical marijuana access, and then block any attempt to move marijuana through the FDA approval process?

Would you please take one minute to ask your U.S. House member to stop letting politics interfere with research into the medicinal value of marijuana?

Thank you,

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

Drug Sense Focus Alert: Please Refute Reefer Mania

DrugSense FOCUS Alert #351 - Sunday, 29 July 2007 On Friday, the British medical journal Lancet published a 13 page meta-analysis 'Cannabis Use and Risk of Psychosis in Later Life.' As a result the media around the world has used the study, most often with incorrect data and conclusions, to create another reefer mania scare. Backers of stern cannabis prohibition laws have seized on this news to urge the British government to increase the potential punishment of users under their laws. More reasoned voices have cautioned that escalating criminal penalties based on a perceived increased health risk would be counterproductive. See 'Experts Dismiss Case for Cannabis Reclassification' http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n901/a05.html MAP is continually archiving both international and domestic coverage of the issue as we receive clippings. These press clippings may be reviewed by using the following link, which is updated nightly. Note that MAP identifies press stories by the location of the story. Thus a number at the link are identified as "UK:" but are actually from newspapers in the United States or Canada. http://www.mapinc.org/topics/psychosis Please consider writing and sending Letters to the Editor to the newspapers of your choice. It is important that mainstream newspaper editors and opinion writers are given a more complete and balanced perspective than that being pushed by prohibitionists. If you elect to write to more than one newspaper, we suggest at least some modification of your message so that each newspaper receives a unique letter. Thanks for your effort and support. It's not what others do, it's what YOU do. ********************************************************************** The study, as published in the Lancet, was placed on line by the Guardian as a 13 page .pdf file. See: http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/documents/2007/07/27/cannabis_new.pdf The best critique of the media's reaction to the study we have seen provides an accurate assessment of the report. Thus it may provide ideas for letter writers. Please see the column 'Cannabis Data Comes to the Crunch' at http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n906/a02.html Additionally, as the Lancet study was in the preparatory stages this past May, NORML's Paul Armentano provided an astute analysis of the core propositions put forth. See: http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6798 Armentano's analysis may help letter writers more accurately explain key alternative conclusions which may be drawn from the Lancet study. ********************************************************************** Additional suggestions for writing LTEs are at our Media Activism Center: http://www.mapinc.org/resource/#guides Or contact MAP's Media Activism Facilitator for personal tips on how to write LTEs that get printed. [email protected] ********************************************************************** PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER Please post a copy of your letter or report your action to the sent letter list ([email protected] ) if you are subscribed, or by e-mailing a copy directly to [email protected] if you are not subscribed. Your letter will then be forwarded to the list so others can learn from your efforts. Subscribing to the Sent LTE list ( [email protected] ) will help you to review other sent LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or approaches as well as keeping others aware of your important writing efforts. To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form ********************************************************************** Prepared by: The MAP Media Activism Team, www.mapinc.org/resource === DrugSense provides many services at no charge, but they are not free to produce. Your contributions make DrugSense and its Media Awareness Project (MAP) happen. Please donate today. Our secure Web server at http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm accepts credit cards. Or, mail your check or money order to: . DrugSense 14252 Culver Drive #328 Irvine, CA 92604-0326. (800) 266 5759. DrugSense is a 501c(3) non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness about the expensive, ineffective, and destructive "War on Drugs." Donations are tax deductible to the extent provided by law.

Karl Rove and John Walters are Stealing Your Cash

For years President Bush has wasted taxpayer money on drug war programs that even his own analysts have concluded are ineffective. Now we know why. A recent Congressional investigation found that the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) used taxpayer money to boost support for Republican candidates in 2006. U.S. Drug Czar John Walters and his deputies traveled to almost 20 events with vulnerable Republican members of Congress in the months prior to the election. The taxpayer-financed trips were orchestrated by President Bush's political advisors and often combined with the announcement of federal grants or actions that made the Republican candidates look good in their districts. Karl Rove commended ONDCP officials for "going above and beyond the call of duty" in making "surrogate appearances" in "the god awful places we sent them." Those "god awful places" included cities like South Bend, Indiana, my hometown. At the same time Walters was spending taxpayer money campaigning on behalf of vulnerable Republicans, President Bush was increasing funding for Walters' favorite programs, the anti-marijuana ad campaign and the student drug testing program. This kind of I'll-scratch-your-back-if-you-scratch-mine arrangement is outrageous, even by Washington standards! Email Congress: http://actioncenter.drugpolicy.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=31997&MS=ONDCP-071807-aa And this corruption is just the tip of the iceberg. ONDCP has a long history of using taxpayer money to oppose drug policy reform. For instance, ONDCP bureaucrats traveled to New Mexico at least four times in 12 months -- at your expense -- to lobby state legislators to oppose the Drug Policy Alliance's medical marijuana legislation. Fortunately, the legislature passed our bill anyway and seriously ill people in New Mexico will finally have access to legal medical marijuana. We truly are in a David vs. Goliath fight here. ONDCP's annual budget is 67 times greater than ours; and while we rely upon the voluntary donations of supporters like you, the drug war extremists can dig into the taxpayers' purse any time they want. There are two things you can do to help level the playing field: 1) Email Congress (http://actioncenter.drugpolicy.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=31997&MS=ONDCP-071807-aa) and urge your representatives to pass legislation prohibiting ONDCP from using taxpayer money to lobby or influence elections. 2) Donate (https://secure3.ctsg.com/dpa/donation/index.asp?Item=8&MS=ONDCP-071807-aa) so we can rein in ONDCP and fight the politicians and special interests that benefit from the war on drugs. DPA has a strong track record on this issue. In 2003 we beat back an attempt in Congress by Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) to allow the White House to use taxpayer money to run attack ads against pro-drug policy reform candidates and ballot measures. Our campaign garnered national media attention and helped make Rep. Souder a laughingstock in Congress. Three years later we turned the tables on Souder and passed a provision prohibiting ONDCP from ever using the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign to oppose pro-reform candidates or ballot measures. Now we have an opportunity to really go after the Drug Czar. With your support we can push for hearings on this latest drug war scandal, work to ensure that ONDCP staff are punished for any laws they broke, and close the campaign finance loophole that allows ONDCP to spend taxpayer money lobbying against drug policy reform. Please take a minute today to email Congress. And if you can, please donate to this important campaign. Thank you, Bill Piper Director of National Affairs Drug Policy Alliance

Drug Policy Forum of Kansas: Medical Marijuana Action Alert

Would you please take one minute to call your member of Congress and ask him or her to vote in favor of the medical marijuana amendment that the U.S. House of Representatives will be voting on next week? Rep. Dennis Moore is the only Kansas Representative to vote last year in favor of the Hinchey amendment [pronounced HIN-chee]. If he is your Representative please let him know you appreciate his vote to prohibit the DEA from wasting taxpayer money to arrest medical marijuana patients in the 12 states where it is legal, and hope he will vote Yea again. Please call now: (202) 224-3121 Give the operator your zip code and ask to be connected to your representative’s office or call them directly: Rep. Jerry Moran 202-225-2715, fax 202-225-5124 Rep. Nancy Boyda 202-225-6601, fax 202-225-7986 Rep. Dennis Moore 202-225-2865, fax 202-225-2807 Rep. Todd Tiahrt 202-225-6216, fax 202-225-3489 When the receptionist for the congressperson — not the Capitol switchboard operator — answers, say something like: "Hi, this is [name]. I live in [city], and I'm calling to ask that my representative vote for Rep. Maurice Hinchey's [HIN-chee's] medical marijuana amendment to the Justice Department's spending bill, which I understand will be considered on the House floor next week. The amendment would prohibit the Justice Department from spending taxpayer money to arrest medical marijuana patients in the 12 states where medical marijuana is legal." Then, please follow up by using the Marijuana Policy Project’s easy online legislative system to e-mail your member of Congress. Calling and e-mailing take only one minute each. The House of Representatives has voted on this amendment the last four consecutive summers, but — since last November’s midterm elections provided the most favorable conditions for passing federal medical marijuana legislation — this year the amendment has the best chance it has ever had of passing. Would you please take one minute to call your congressperson today? Doing so could have a huge impact on the outcome of next week's medical marijuana vote. Please help us promote innovative drug policies by sending your tax-deductible donation today. Become a member -- add yourself to our mailing list by going to our web site www.dpfks.org.

ASA: Tell Congress to STOP Funding Medical Marijuana Raids

Dear ASA Supporters, My name is Toby. In 2005, my partner David Harde, a patient and caregiver, and I were raided by local authorities in an investigation. In light of the fact that case could not successfully be prosecuted given California state law, our case was turned over to the federal government. The reason I am sharing my story with you now is because the U.S. House of Representatives will soon debate the Hinchey-Rohrabacher Amendment. This amendment could have prevented the devastating story I want to share with you. A few days prior to July 4, 2006, eight federal agents arrived at our door. We were handcuffed and carted off to the Federal Court House in Sacramento. The only thing this experience has taught me is that the federal government will use fear and intimidation to tear families apart. The details of this experience are still overwhelming. We are not dangerous people, or are we a threat to anyone. It's estimated that the federal government spent nearly $200,000 on the eight agents and other resources used to conduct this “sting” operation. This is why the Hinchey-Rohrabacher Amendment is so important to both taxpayers and patients alike. Knowing that the federal government does not recognize state protection of medical marijuana patients and providers, David and I, like so many others made the difficult decision to resolve the case against him as quickly as possible. We chose to take a plea bargain. To my devastated surprise, David was sentenced to years of prison time, will have to serve a lengthy probation, pay astronomical fines. It feels like an eternity will pass before we will have our lives back. To David’s credit, his friends, relatives and local community members sent letters to the judge, appealing for a more lenient sentence. As a result, the judge issued a sentence for David well below the minimum sentencing guideline - the first time the judge had taken such action during his tenure on the federal bench. Still, 30 months is a long time to be away from those you love. Sadly, our story is only one of dozens of cases (http://www.safeaccessnow.org/section.php?id=184) that could have been prevented by the passage of the Hinchey-Rohrabacher Amendment. It is up to compassionate people like you to educate your representatives on this amendment. On behalf of David, myself and all the victims of the federal attack on medical cannabis, I ask you to contact your representative today. We are under a time constraint so I am asking you to take action now. Here are two ways to contact your representative: 1. E-mail Your Member of Congress. Visit ASA’s action page (http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3471) to send your Congressional Representative an e-mail urging him/her to support the Hinchey-Rohrabacher Amendment. 2) Call Your Member of Congress. Every single phone call counts! Call your Congressional Representative and tell them if adopted this amendment will do two things: (a) Conserve taxpayers’ money by blocking funding for DEA raids in legal medical cannabis states against state certified medical cannabis patients and caregivers. (b) Protect legal medical cannabis patients from having their homes and workspaces unnecessarily raided by the DEA. For phone numbers of your representatives, visit www.house.gov or call the congressional switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Give the operator your zip code and ask to be connected to your U.S. Representative. This experience has changed our lives, broken our hearts, mended our love and taught us to be open with our needs and know that family, friends, and community will respond with abundance and love. Please help prevent further stories like mine from happening to other patients and providers. Please do the compassionate thing and contact your representative today (http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=3471). Thank you, Toby

DrugSense FOCUS Alert #349 - Monday, 9 July 2007

On Friday, July 6, a pair of common sense Opinion items hit North American newspapers, with one being reprinted in numerous newspapers across the country. This creates an excellent opportunity for those who endorse smarter public policies for dealing with marijuana in the 21st century. Gone should be the days of Reefer Madness - the late 1930s attitudes which have remained entrenched in federal government marijuana policies for over 70 years now. Friday's Los Angeles Times featured an OPED authored by Tony Newman of the Drug Policy Alliance. He emphasized the need to either offer help and appropriate treatment options for Americans with true drug problems. And he also noted that we should not waste criminal justice or valuable treatment resources on Americans who are only casual drug users without a problem. Newman also illustrated the disparity in our society where certain people of note receive easy access for alternatives to jail - using Al Gore III, Noelle Bush and Patrick Kennedy as prime examples. Read Newman's LA Times piece here: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n802/a04.html Also on Friday, Kathleen Parker of the Washington Post Writers Group released her latest column in which she aptly notes that the younger Gore's high-profile arrest offers Americans an opportunity to get real about drug prohibition, especially about marijuana laws. MAP has over a dozen placements of Parker's column. A continually updating link to her columns may be seen here: http://www.mapinc.org/author/Kathleen+Parker Please consider sending a Letter to the Editor to the Los Angeles Times sharing your personal support for Newman's OPED. And please consider also creating a letter in response to Kathleen Parker's column and then direct it to the newspaper closest to your hometown. If you elect to write to more than one newspaper, we strongly suggest at least some modification of your message so that each newspaper receives a unique letter. MAP has archived numerous clippings on the arrest and pending prosecution of Mr. Gore III. They may be easily be viewed here: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Al+Gore Letters of 200 words or less have the best chance of print unless otherwise noted in MAP headers. Thanks for your effort and support. It's not what others do it's what YOU do ********************************************************************** Contact: The Lost Angeles Times http://www.dailynews.com/writealetter Contact links for sending letters on Parker's column are displayed in the header for each of the MAP clippings. Learn more about how you can help deliver the messages of The Drug Policy Alliance http://www.drugpolicy.org ********************************************************************** Additional suggestions for writing LTEs are at our Media Activism Center: http://www.mapinc.org/resource/#guides Or contact MAP's Media Activism Facilitator for personal tips on how to write LTEs that get printed. [email protected] ********************************************************************** PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER Please post a copy of your letter or report your action to the sent letter list ([email protected] ) if you are subscribed, or by E-mailing a copy directly to [email protected] if you are not subscribed. Your letter will then be forwarded to the list so others can learn from your efforts. Subscribing to the Sent LTE list ( [email protected] ) will help you to review other sent LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or approaches as well as keeping others aware of your important writing efforts. To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form ********************************************************************** Prepared by: The MAP Media Activism Team www.mapinc.org/resource === . DrugSense provides many services at no charge, but they are not free to produce. Your contributions make DrugSense and its Media Awareness Project (MAP) happen. Please donate today. Our secure Web server at http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm accepts credit cards. Or, mail your check or money order to: . DrugSense 14252 Culver Drive #328 Irvine, CA 92604-0326. (800) 266 5759 . DrugSense is a 501c(3) non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness about the expensive, ineffective, and destructive "War on Drugs." Donations are tax deductible to the extent provided by law.

MPP Alert: The worst and best states for marijuana users to live in

People convicted of marijuana offenses — even minor ones — may face punishments that go far beyond whatever fines or jail sentences the court imposes, according to a new study. These "collateral sanctions" can haunt offenders for their whole lives and, in some cases, be worse than those faced by violent criminals. The report, issued by the Center for Cognitive Liberty and Ethics, was funded by MPP's grants program and is the first report to analyze the extra punishments faced by marijuana offenders. Some key findings of the report include: Sanctions triggered by a marijuana conviction can include loss of access to food stamps, public housing, and student financial aid, as well as driver's license suspensions, loss of or ineligibility for professional licenses, other barriers to employment or promotion, and bars to adoption, voting, and jury service. Sanctions triggered by felony marijuana convictions can be more severe than those for a violent crime — and a felony can be as little as growing one marijuana plant or possessing over 20 grams of marijuana. Marijuana offenders are subject to the most severe collateral sanctions in Florida, Delaware, Alabama, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Virginia, and Utah. Marijuana offenders are subject to the least severe collateral sanctions in New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Missouri, and Maine. Please click here http://www.cognitiveliberty.org/rpts/col_sanctions.htm to see the ranking of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. These types of reports are important because they systematically highlight the injustices caused by marijuana prohibition. Indeed, the issue of collateral sanctions is getting attention from officials: A story on June 24 in the Star-Ledger in Newark, New Jersey described Mayor Cory Booker as incensed about laws that keep people with minor drug convictions from having a driver's license or getting many types of jobs, saying, "The drug war is causing crime. It's just chewing up young black men." The laws that create a kind of "double jeopardy" for marijuana offenders are too often a "feel-good" way for legislators to appear tough on drugs. But the results can be devastating to people's lives.

DrugSense FOCUS Alert #348 - Monday, 2 July 2007

STUDENTS CAN'T SPEAK FREELY? ************PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE************ DrugSense FOCUS Alert #348 - Monday, 2 July 2007 On Monday, June 25, the Supreme Court of the United States handed down their ruling on the case known informally known as "Bong Hits 4 Jesus." High school student Joseph Frederick was subjected to school suspension in 2002 for his display of a homemade banner while standing across the street from school property, albeit during normal school hours. While initial court rulings held in favor of the Juneau, Alaska school district, the Ninth Circuit Court reversed in favor of Frederick. In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court ruled that since the school officials might interpret Frederick's message as some form of "promoting illegal drug use", disciplining the student with school sanctioned penalties is appropriate. MAP has already archived over a hundred news clippings on this ruling from across North America. These, and additional clippings during the days ahead, may be found at: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Bong+Hits+4+Jesus (Bong Hits 4 Jesus) Please consider writing and sending a Letter to the Editor directed to the newspaper closest to your hometown. We invite additional consideration of sending appropriate letters to other newspapers which have covered this story. If you elect to write to more than one newspaper, we strongly suggest at least some modification of your message so that each newspaper receives a unique letter. Additionally, MAP has archived a large number of Opinion pieces - most being critical of the ruling - from newspaper editorial boards and columnists, including nationally known writers George Will and Debra Saunders. Most of these opinion items saw print within the past one to three days. They make excellent targets for readers to voice their own feelings about the ruling from the Supreme Court. Letters of 200 words or less have the best chance of print unless otherwise noted in MAP headers. Thanks for your effort and support. It's not what others do it's what YOU do ********************************************************************** Additional suggestions for writing LTEs are at our Media Activism Center: http://www.mapinc.org/resource/ Or contact MAP's Media Activism Facilitator for personal tips on how to write LTEs that get printed. [email protected] ********************************************************************** PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER Please post a copy of your letter or report your action to the sent letter list ( [email protected] ) if you are subscribed, or by E-mailing a copy directly to [email protected] if you are not subscribed. Your letter will then be forwarded to the list so others can learn from your efforts. Subscribing to the Sent LTE list ( [email protected] ) will help you to review other sent LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or approaches as well as keeping others aware of your important writing efforts. To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form ********************************************************************** Prepared by: The MAP Media Activism Team www.mapinc.org/resource === . DrugSense provides many services at no charge, but they are not free to produce. Your contributions make DrugSense and its Media Awareness Project (MAP) happen. Please donate today. Our secure Web server at http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm accepts credit cards. Or, mail your check or money order to: . DrugSense 14252 Culver Drive #328 Irvine, CA 92604-0326. (800) 266 5759 DrugSense is a 501c(3) non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness about the expensive, ineffective, and destructive "War on Drugs." Donations are tax deductible to the extent provided by law.
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