Press Release

For Immediate Release: June 27, 2007 For More Info: Tony Newman, T: (646) 335-5384 Justice Department Report Finds Largest Increase in Prison and Jail Inmate Populations Since Midyear 2000 2.24 Million Behind Bars, Giving the United States the Shameful Title of World’s Number One Incarcerator Prison Growth Persists Despite Growing Public Sentiment for Alternatives to Incarceration; One in Four Locked Up for Drug Law Violations The Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics reports today that the number of people incarcerated in U.S. prisons and jails jumped by 62,037 in the year ending June 30, 2006. That jump represents the largest increase since 2000. There are now 2.24 million people behind bars in this country. The United States continues to rank first among all nations in both total prison/jail population and per capita incarceration rates – with about 5% of the world’s population but 25% of the world’s incarcerated population. The failed drug war policies of 30-plus years are a major contributor to America’s prison population explosion. Approximately 50,000 people were incarcerated for drug law violations in 1980. The total is now roughly 500,000. (This number does not include hundreds of thousands of parolees and probationers who are incarcerated for technical violations such as “dirty urines,” nor does it include non-drug offenses committed under the influence of drugs, or to support a drug habit, or crimes of violence committed by drug sellers.) “Two powerful forces are at play today,” said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. “On the one hand, public opinion strongly supports alternatives to incarceration for non-violent, and especially low-level, drug law violators – and state legislatures around the country are beginning to follow suit. On the other hand, the prison industrial complex has become a powerful force in American society, able to make the most of the political inertia that sustains knee-jerk lock-‘em-up policies.” The Drug Policy Alliance has played a pivotal role in reforming drug sentencing laws around the country, including Proposition 36 in California, reform of the Rockefeller drug laws in New York, and equalization of crack and powder cocaine penalties in Connecticut.

For Immediate Release: June 27, 2007 On the occasion of the International Day against Drugs (June 26th), Antonio María Costa, the Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, declared that “for almost all drugs - cocaine, heroin, cannabis and amphetamines - there are signs of overall stability, whether we speak of production, trafficking or consumption.” Yet repression is rising. Stability in this case means that current drug policies place the heaviest burden among those who are already among the most marginalised in the first place: drug consumers and producers of drug-related plants, both in the North and in the South. They experience far more damage from drug policies than from the drugs themselves. Stability means an escalation of law enforcement and repression. Millions of people are in jail or on trial because they have grown, used or possessed drugs or drugs-related plants. Aggressive eradication campaigns of opium and coca have created a humanitarian crisis in resp. Afghanistan and Colombia. Meanwhile, there is no sign that the war on drugs is having any effect on the strength and effectiveness of criminal organisations dealing with drugs. Stability means a war against minorities. In Laos, the internal resettlement of indigenous ethnic communities promoted by international aid agencies, is increasing the mortality rates up to 30% more than the national average. In US, a black person has 5.5 bigger chance of incarceration than a white person, while a Hispanic has 2 times more. In the fiscal year 2005, 53% of all federal powder cocaine defendants were low-level offenders such as mules or street-dealers. Only 12.8% were high-level dealers, as stated by the US Sentencing Commission. Stability means also that opium poppy crops in Afghanistan have boomed; new trafficking routes for heroin and cocaine smuggling have been opened, among others through Africa; the use of opiates is rising in East Europe and Africa, and the use of cocaine is increasing in South America, Africa and Europe; the total potential amount of cocaine has increased from 980 metric tons I 2005 to 984 mt in 2006. UN coca crops estimations seem to be extremely low, while the US Office of National Drug Control Policy states 157,200 hectares of coca crops in Colombia for 2006, the UN presents the figure of 78,000 h. In many countries the use of one drug increases, and of another one decreases. This has been the case for many years. It is probable that levels of use, abuse and dependence have been reached that will stay fairly constant for a long time, with or without repression. The term "stabilization" could have been used many years ago, but it wasn't convenient at that time for UNODC and other authorities to do so. Now, because it is impossible for UNODC to pretend any progress in the war on drugs, the term stabilization is used to hide this failure. Drug users can not be considered just sick or criminal people: we are also citizens. Drug policies cannot be effective without the voice of those affected by them. For more than 20 years, the European Union has committed itself to start a process of dialogue with civil society on future drug policies in Europe, but as yet, it has not been able to establish an effective and professional way to construct a transparent and inclusive structure to achieve this. ENCOD has commented the history of dialogue with citizens in EU drugs policy in: http://www.encod.org/info/IMG/pdf/GPENCOD-2.pdf On the other hand, the year 2008 will be the deadline to “eliminate or significantly reduce” the drug related crops all over the world. This goal was declared by the UN General Assembly Special Session on Drugs (UNGASS) held in 1998. It is time to accept that the current regimen is a failure. It is time to stop the war on citizens which the drugs war has become. It is time to open the door to alternative and pragmatic drugs policies. A world without repression: we can do it. EUROPEAN COALITION FOR JUST AND EFFECTIVE DRUG POLICIES (ENCOD) Lange Lozanastraat 14 2018 Antwerpen Belgium Tel. 00 32 (0)3 237 7436 Mob. 00 32 (0)495 122 644 Fax. 00 32 (0)3 237 0225 E-mail:[email protected] Website: www.encod.org

For Immediate Release: June 25, 2007 For more info: Tony Newman, T: (646) 335-5384 “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” Decision Weakens Free Speech; Schools Can Censor “Pro-Drug Use Speech” But Criticism of Drug War is Protected Advocates Concerned about “Drug War Exception” to the First Amendment and Who Will Determine What is Inappropriate Speech The Supreme Court issued a mixed opinion in the case of Morse v. Frederick, allowing censorship of student speech that promotes illegal drug use while affirming the core principle that political speech questioning the wisdom of the war on drugs is constitutionally protected. The case focused on Joseph Frederick, who was suspended in 2002 from a high school in Alaska after displaying a “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” banner during a class trip to see the Olympic torch parade pass by. Justice Alito in his concurring opinion, joined by Justice Kennedy, makes clear that he only joins the majority in so far as it protects speech “that can plausibly be interpreted as commenting on any political or social issue, including speech on issues such as ‘the wisdom of the war on drugs or of legalizing marijuana for medicinal use.” “We take mild comfort that the decision clearly protects speech challenging the war on drugs. Never before has the Supreme Court stated so clearly that speech attacking the wisdom of the war on drugs is protected wherever it may occur,” said Daniel Abrahamson, director of legal affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance. “But who is going to decide what is appropriate speech? Students are on the front lines of the war on drugs, and we are deeply concerned that free speech will now be administered by those who may wish to suppress open discussion on a range of topics such as the effectiveness of the D.A.R.E. program, school drug testing policies, or random locker searches,” said Abrahamson. “Our Constitutionally protected rights to free speech shouldn’t have an arbitrary drug war exception.” As Justice Stevens recognized in his dissent: “Even in high school, a rule that permits only one point of view to be expressed is less likely to produce correct answers than the open discussion of countervailing views.” The First Amendment should not be curtailed by a “nonsense banner” containing “an oblique reference to drugs,” lamented Stevens, who was joined by Ginsburg and Souter.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 25, 2007 Contact: Terrence Stevens, T: 917 939 5349, E: [email protected] Saigon, Atlantic Records Critically Acclaimed Rap Sensation & Remy Martin Supports Non Profit Organization In Arms Reach, Inc. /Abandoned Nation For At Risk Youths Tonight in the U.S. 2.5 million children will go to bed denied access to their parents because that parent is behind bars Saving Lives for Children of Incarcerated Parents New York, NY - Remy Martin is working with Atlantic Records Rapper Saigon and nine other hip-hop artists across the country in a national celebration of hip-hop music, kicking off Black Music Month (June) and running through the summer. Saigon, under Hip Hop Since 1978 and Just Blaze Fort Knocks production identified In Arms Reach Inc. (a non-profit art, music, prison visitation and educational mentoring organization that services youth whose parents are or were formerly offenders of the criminal justice system) as the organization he would like to support. As part of the sponsorship program, with In Arms Reach as Remy’s New York charity, on June 22, 2007 Saigon and Remy Martin Brand Manager presented a check for $10,000.00 to Program Founder Terrence “T-Wheels” Stevens to help support their continued work on behalf of youth with imprisoned parents. While at “In Arms Reach,” Atlantic Records Rapper Saigon participated in an open group discussion with 15-20 constituents aged 14 to 17. Sophie Davis Pre-med students who serve as tutors and mentors for the organization were on hand. Media outreach around Saigon will focus on In Arms Reach, Inc. charity visit and driving traffic to the getinteresting.com web site. A GCI photographer was on-hand to take pictures which is available to be serviced to media. The organization is headquartered at The City College University of New York. Harlem Native & Program Founder, Terrence “T-Wheels” Stevens is wheelchair confined, virtually paralyzed from the neck down. “The brother is a mental power house rolling around on 4 wheels, and doing more good in the community than half the brothers out there with all their physical limbs, says Saigon.” “I admire T-Wheels and as my record career take off, so will this program.” Rapper Saigon and T-Wheels set out to fight a serious mission. That mission is saving the lives of youth who have loss their mothers and fathers to incarceration. Children of incarcerated parents face some of life's hardest challenges, including poverty, limited opportunities for a good education, and a future that seem to hold little to no promise. The program addresses social problems in urban communities and the break up of families caught up in this cycle. With little to no support they provide children of incarcerated parents with the love, guidance and mechanism for healing they so desperately need. In 2002, T-Wheels began picking up children in a handicapped accessible van to keep the kids off the street. He later landed weekend program space with a friend at a local community center. As the number of kids increased, he fund raised to purchase a 15 passenger van. He scheduled field trips to recording sessions in NYC at Sony Recording Studio, took children to amusement parks and youth to celebrity functions. Program space was obtained in the historic gothic quadrangle of The City College University of New York. T-Wheels is now President & Chief Executive Officer of In Arms Reach Inc., Parents Behind Bars: Children in Crisis. His unique program model empowers children by giving them mentoring, positive role models and academic assistance. The program addresses root causes of crime, low self-esteem and emotionally functionality via providing on site one-on-one and group counseling sessions. As result of his dedication, In Arms Reach, Inc. has provided 3,450 hours of tutoring services, 368 after school mentoring sessions, and over 37 free transportation trips to upstate prison facilities for children to visit and be reunited with their incarcerated parents. If you know of any children impacted by parental incarceration who can benefit from this program, or are interested in sponsoring or pledging a donation to help keep programs and services open, please contact In Arms Reach, Inc. Donors Dept. Mr. Frank Lewis at, 212.650.5894 or email: [email protected] Web site: www.mysace/inarmsreachab, www.abdonednation.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 19, 2007 CONTACT: Lorenzo Jones, T: (860) 270-9586 or Gabriel Sayegh, T: (646) 335-2264 Governor Rell Vetoes Medical Marijuana Bill, Changing Her Reasons for Opposition to Issue Yet Again Compassionate Use Bill Would Have Protected Patients With Debilitating Illnesses From Arrest, Prosecution Patients, Community Members Ask: Governor Rell, As a Cancer Survivor, How Do You Sleep At Night While Patients In Our State Continue to Be Criminalized for Seeking Relief? HARTFORD, CT—Today, Governor M. Jodi Rell vetoed HB 6715, the Compassionate Use Act. The bill would have allowed certain patients with debilitating illnesses to use marijuana for medical purposes as recommended by their physician. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 23-13 after clearing the House of Representatives by an 89-58 vote weeks earlier, both of which were wide margins. By passing HB 6715, the Legislature ended a five-year legislative battle to win medical marijuana in a state that has overwhelming public support for the issue. A 2004 University of Connecticut poll found that 83 percent of Connecticut residents support the medical use of marijuana. Dozens of community organizations, including the CT Nurses Association, support allowing patients to access medical marijuana when recommended by their physician. “I am just 32 years old and yet due to my medical condition I feel as if, at times, I am 92,” said Joshua Warren, a patient in Wilton, CT, who suffers from chronic neurological Lyme disease. “I did not ask for this condition nor would I wish any of my pain and other symptoms on anyone else. If Gov. Rell had any compassion for people like me who are suffering with horrible pain and other debilitating illnesses, she would have signed this bill.” After the bill’s passage, patients, doctors, family members and advocates mounted a massive letter and phone call campaign urging the Governor to sign the bill. The Governor was receiving hundreds of phone calls and letters every day in support of medical marijuana, including from medical, legal, and health experts from across the country. “The Governor’s veto message shows that she’s grasping for straws,” said Lorenzo Jones, executive director of A Better Way Foundation. “She said previously that she’d support the bill if it was only for terminally ill patients, because clearly other treatments are not sufficient. Now she says she’s vetoing the bill because it’s still illegal under federal law, even though over 99% of all marijuana arrests are under state law. She has been so evasive on this that it makes one wonder if she hasn’t gotten a call from Washington. Is she taking the advice from the worst administration in history over the demands of 83% of Connecticut residents?” Thousands of Connecticut residents live with crippling pain, are suffering with cancer and HIV/AIDS, or other debilitating ailments. HB 6715 would have allowed Connecticut residents with certain debilitating medical conditions to cultivate and use marijuana for medical purposes when recommended by a practicing physician. “It’s unconscionable that Rell would ignore all the science to veto this bill,” said Gabriel Sayegh, project director at the Drug Policy Alliance. “The medical efficacy of marijuana is unassailable pain and suffering and are, as a result of this veto, still considered criminals?” Currently, there are 12 states with medical marijuana laws. New Mexico passed its medical marijuana bill in March. Last month, the Rhode Island legislature voted to make their state law permanent, and last week Vermont’s legislature voted to expand their medical marijuana law. Other medical marijuana bills are currently under consideration in New Jersey, New York and Alabama. Dawn Fuller Ball, President of A Better Way Foundation said, “In Governor Rell’s veto letter, she admits that the current legal pharmacology alternatives to medical marijuana are insufficient and that the State law enacted in 1981 is unworkable, yet the Governor continues to choose politics over patients.” Background Info: Governor Rell is Saying NO to Medical Marijuana When Connecticut Says YES: - CT's voters voted YES (83% approval rating in polls from UCONN polls to media polls) - Five Separate Legislative Committees voted YES - The House of Representatives voted YES (89-58) - The Senate voted YES (23-13) - This is a Republican sponsored bill (By some of most respected Republicans in the House and Senate) - The Black and Latino Caucus supports this bill (The President and Treasurer met with Rell's staff) - Faith Based Institutions voted YES (National and local pastors and Bishops have contacted Governor Rell) - Doctors, nurses, patients, and caregivers testified, wrote letters and called the Governor’s office on behalf of medical marijuana. ###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, June 18, 2007 CONTACT: Adam Eidinger, T: 202-744-2671 or E: [email protected], or Tom Murphy, T: 207-542-4998, E: [email protected] North Dakota Farmers File Lawsuit Against DEA to Grow Industrial Hemp Plaintiffs Seek Federal Recognition of State-Issued Hemp Farming Licenses BISMARCK, ND – Two North Dakota farmers filed a lawsuit today in U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota in an effort to end the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) obstruction of commercial hemp farming in the United States. If successful, the legal action would result in licensed hemp farmers receiving assurances that no federal agency could hold them criminally liable under the Controlled Substances Act. Vote Hemp’s grassroots supporters are funding the legal action. A copy of the complaint is available online at: http://www.votehemp.com/legal_cases_ND.html. The farmers – State Rep. David Monson from Osnabrock and Wayne Hauge from Ray – were issued their state licenses to grow industrial hemp from North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson in February 2007. At that time the farmers applied for a DEA permit to grow industrial hemp and import live seed. Over the next few months, however, the agency’s inaction on the applications fueled frustration in North Dakota’s legislature. When lawmakers concluded that DEA had no intention of working cooperatively with the state’s first-in-the-nation hemp farming rules, the North Dakota legislature voted overwhelmingly to drop the DEA licensing requirement from the statute. “I applied for my North Dakota state license in January and was hopeful that DEA would act quickly and affirm my right to plant industrial hemp this year. Unfortunately, DEA has not responded in any way other than to state that it would take them a lot more time than the window of time I have to import seed and plant the crop,” said Rep. David Monson, who is the Assistant Majority (Republican) Leader. “It appears that DEA really doesn’t want to work with anyone to resolve the issue,” Monson added. One of the central arguments in the litigation is that industrial hemp is defined to be those varieties of Cannabis that have no drug value and are cultivated exclusively for fiber and seed. Although useless as a drug crop, industrial hemp plants are distinct varieties of Cannabis sativa L., the same species from which marijuana varieties come. DEA considers industrial hemp plants to be “marihuana,” a controlled substance under Schedule I of the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA), 21 U.S.C. §§ 801 et seq., the possession or production of which is subject to severe criminal penalties under that law, including property forfeiture. “We are asking that DEA to do nothing, exactly what they have done for ten years,” says Tim Purdon one of the attorneys working for Monson and Hauge. “North Dakota’s rules no longer require a DEA permit so we are basically asking the court to tell DEA to leave our farmers alone.” The express language of the CSA has specifically provided that hemp fiber, seed oil and seed incapable of germination are exempt from the definition of “marihuana” and are thus not controlled substances under that law. By virtue of this exemption, it is currently lawful under federal law – and has been for almost 70 years – to import into the U.S., sell within the U.S., and make and sell products made from, the excluded parts of the Cannabis plant (i.e., hemp fiber, stalk, seed oil and seed incapable of germination). The farmers seek a declaration that the CSA does not apply to the industrial hemp plants they seek to cultivate pursuant to state law because: (1) only hemp fiber, stalk, sterilized seed and seed oil, items expressly exempted from the CSA, will enter the marketplace; and (2) the industrial hemp to be grown will be useless as a drug crop due to North Dakota legal requirements for extremely low THC levels. Further, to the extent the DEA attempts to argue that, despite these facts, the CSA does apply to hemp farming under North Dakota law, this would be an unconstitutional federal restraint on commerce occurring purely within the borders of North Dakota. “I want to grow hemp because it will fill a niche market in numerous areas,” says fourth generation farmer and certified public accountant Wayne Hauge. “In recent years there has been strong growth in demand for hemp seeds in the U.S., but the American farmer is being left out while Canadian, European and Chinese farmers are filling the void created by our outdated federal policy.” Last year, just over 48,000 acres of hemp were grown in Canada, primarily in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, provinces that border North Dakota. Hemp farmers in Canada averaged $250 CDN per acre in profit in 2006, according to the Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance, an association of businesses, farmers and researchers. Hemp is a good rotational crop with the ability to reduce weeds in future cereal crops. Very few chemicals, if any, are required to grow the crop which is considered a good alternative to those with harmful environmental impacts such as cotton, tobacco and soy. In the largest hemp producing country, China, which grows 2 million acres, hemp hurds are processed into lightweight boards, and hemp fibers, already used in the paper and automotive industries, are finding new uses as reinforcement in plastics for products such as window frames and floor coverings. (In fact, some of these innovative products will be used on a large scale at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, according to news reports.) In Sweden, companies including IKEA, Volvo and Saab have shown interest in hemp fibers and hurds for use in vehicle interiors and furniture. In the UK, Germany and the Netherlands, considerable investments are being made to develop utilize hemp fiber in composites which are used to manufacture auto parts for BMW, Chrysler and Mercedes. In Canada, Germany and Japan, businesses are investigating reinforcing Polylactide (PLA) plastic with hemp fibers in order to widen the technology’s field of applications. # # # Vote Hemp is a national, single-issue, non-profit organization dedicated to the acceptance of and a free market for low-THC industrial hemp and to changes in current law to allow U.S. farmers to once again grow the crop. More information about hemp legislation and the crop's many uses may be found at www.VoteHemp.com or www.HempIndustries.org. BETA SP or DVD Video News Releases featuring footage of hemp farming in other countries are available upon request by contacting Adam Eidinger at 202-744-2671.

For Immediate Release: June 14, 2007 Contact: David Hurford, Director of Communications, City of Vancouver - Office of the Mayor, T: 604.873.7410 or 604.561.3970 Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan and City Councillors today voted for a City Council resolution to support two important drug policy measures, including: a.. Vancouver Coastal Health Authority's federal application for a 3.5 year extension of Vancouver's safe injection site b.. the general principles and objectives of the Inner Change Society's Chronic Addiction Substitution Treatment (CAST) research trial The measures were introduced by Vancouver City Councillor Kim Capri and seconded by Mayor Sullivan. "The resolution passed by City Council further supports the development of compassionate solutions to the social challenges we face," said Mayor Sullivan. "In addition to supporting the five goals I have established for my government, the extension of the safe injection site and the CAST research trial will help us meet the objectives of Project Civil City." A complete copy of the approved resolution and a background document regarding CAST general objectives and principles are included below. In addition to supporting these measures, Council has asked City Staff to report back to City Council on how the CAST goals and objectives can support Vancouver's drug policy. -END- Test of the Vancouver Drug Policy Resolution: WHEREAS The Vancouver Coastal Health Authority's Safe Injection Site: a.. was first formally introduced by former Mayor Philip Owen with Vancouver's Four Pillars strategy to improve conditions in the Downtown Eastside; b.. is one element of a drug strategy that also includes prevention, treatment and enforcement; c.. has been successfully operating for the last 3.5 years under a federal regulatory exemption which expires this year; d.. has been the subject of research studies that support its effectiveness in reducing the harm associated with drug use and addiction; e.. supports the City of Vancouver's goal of civility on our streets and finding compassionate solutions to challenging social issues; f.. supports Vancouver's objectives as identified in Project Civil City; g.. complements the groundbreaking North American Opiate Medication Initiative (NAOMI) heroin assisted treatment trials led by researchers at the University of British Columbia and University of Montreal, and funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research; h.. will be an important agenda item on Mayor Sam Sullivan's meeting next month with the Four Pillars Coalition; i.. has submitted an application to Health Canada for a 3.5 year extension of their federal exemption. AND WHEREAS The Inner Change Society's Chronic Addiction Substitute Treatment (CAST) research trial: a.. will work with addicted people to change their drug addiction from illegal street drugs to legally available, orally-administered prescription medications; b.. will analyze the effects on both the user's health and the community at large; c.. will include regular interaction with health professionals and facilitate interventions to help users develop an "exit strategy" to end their drug dependency; d.. proposes to help reduce the open drug market and other illegal activity, improve health, increase access to housing and more employment opportunities for individual addicts; e.. is being developed by some of the most experienced health researchers in the field of mental health and addiction; f.. is based in Vancouver and has garnered support from a broad range of key stakeholders and an experienced Board of Directors; g.. is consistent with the drug substitution elements of the Four Pillars strategy; h.. supports the City of Vancouver's goal of civility on our streets and finding compassionate solutions to challenging social issues; i.. supports Vancouver's objectives as identified in Project Civil City; j.. is one element of a drug strategy that also includes prevention, treatment and enforcement; k.. will be an important agenda item on Mayor Sam Sullivan's meeting next month with the Four Pillars Coalition; l.. will also require a federal regulatory exemption; m.. complements the objectives of Vancouver's safe injection site and NAOMI heroin assisted treatment trials; n.. is likely to receive referrals from Vancouver Coastal Health's supervised injection site. THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT Vancouver City Council formally express its support for the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority's federal application for a 3.5 year extension of Vancouver's Safe Injection Site. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT Vancouver City Council formally express its support for the general principles and objectives of the Inner Change Society's Chronic Addiction Substitute Treatment (CAST) research trial as part of a comprehensive plan with additional effort to support the Four Pillars strategy and request that staff report back on the CAST program and how it would be incorporated into the City's drug policy. -END-

MEDIA ADVISORY: June 7, 2007 Contact: Gabriel Sayegh, 646-335-2264 or Tony Newman, 646-335-5384 Rockefeller Drug Law Reform Advocates to Throw a Surprise Birthday Party on Friday at Noon for Gov. Eliot Spitzer Real Reform New York Coalition and Others to Deliver Birthday Cake and Card to Spitzer Asking Him to Keep His Campaign Promise to Reform Draconian Drug Laws New York, NY—The Real Reform New York Coalition will join with many others on Friday, June 8 at noon to throw a surprise birthday party for Gov. Eliot Spitzer outside of his New York City office. Asking him to heed his campaign promise to reform the draconian Rockefeller drug laws, the coalition will celebrate Spitzer’s promise of justice. The Real Reform New York Coalition, made up of advocates, people formerly incarcerated under the Rockefeller drug laws, their family members and supporters, will share cake and party favors with the crowd, and deliver a large birthday card—signed by New York voters—demanding real reform of the Rockefeller Drug Laws. While campaigning, Spitzer promised to make Rockefeller Drug Law reform a priority during his term as governor. However, during the first six months in office, he has remained strangely silent about reforming Rockefeller Drug Laws. The Rockefeller drug laws underwent minor changes in 2004 and 2005. These changes proved to be ineffective in changing the racist and non-rehabilitative impact of these laws. The Rockefeller drug laws have filled New York’s state prisons with more than 14,000 people convicted of drug offenses, representing nearly 38 percent of the prison population and costing New Yorkers more than $550 million annually. New York’s Drug Law Reform Act of 2004 (DLRA) lowered some drug sentences but it fell far short of allowing most people serving under the more punitive sentences to apply for shorter terms. The reforms also did not increase the power of judges to place addicts into treatment programs. While advocates and family members are encouraged by the modest reforms, they maintain that the recent reforms have no impact on the majority of people behind bars. Most people behind bars on Rockefeller drug law violations are charged with nonviolent lower-level or class-B felonies. In April, the state Assembly passed A.6663, a bill that would significantly reform the Rockefeller Drug Laws by expanding treatment, reducing harsh sentences for low-level offenses, and increasing judicial discretion. Governor Spitzer has yet to comment on the bill, which is now sitting in the Senate. What: Surprise Birthday Party/Rally for Rockefeller Drug Law Reform Where: Outside Gov. Spitzer’s New York City Office, 633 3rd Ave. When: Friday, June 8, 2007, 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.

For Immediate Release: June 6, 2007 For More Info: Bill Piper (202) 669-6430 or Naomi Long (202) 669-6071 Rep. Tiahrt (R-Kan.) Continues to Make Uninformed Statements That Discount the Proven Effectiveness of Needle Exchange Programs Advocates to Deliver Mountain of Evidence to Tiahrt’s Office Today So the Kansas Congressman Can Stop Embarrassing Himself Despite Washington, D.C. having one of the worst HIV infection rates in the country, Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.) continues to ignore the mountain of scientific evidence that proves the effectiveness of syringe exchange programs at reducing the transmission of HIV/AIDS, hepatits C and other infectious disease. Tiahrt’s assertion that there are no proven studies that show the efficacy syringe exchange programs is a direct effort to sabotage a recent Congressional effort to remove the ban on funding syringe exchange programs in Washington, D.C. In a strong editorial in today’s Washington Post calling for D.C. to be allowed to fund needle exchange programs, Tiahrt is quoted claiming “…needle exchange programs have been proven in many studies to be ineffective and a threat to the surrounding community, especially the children.” In response, the Drug Policy Alliance will hand deliver numerous studies proving the effectiveness of needle exchange programs to Tiahrt’s office today. “Rep. Tiahrt’s claims that syringe exchange programs don’t work is similar to claiming the world is flat,” said Bill Piper, national affairs director of the Drug Policy Alliance. “We want him to have the information so he doesn’t continue to embarrass himself and, more importantly, sabotage this life-saving measure.” Every established medical, scientific, and legal body to study the issue concurs in the efficacy of improved access to sterile syringes to reduce the spread of infectious diseases: including the National Academy of Sciences, American Medical Association, American Public Health Association, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and President George H.W. Bush's and President Clinton's AIDS Advisory Commissions. Eight government reports concur that access to sterile syringes deceases the transmission of infectious diseases without increasing drug use. No reports contradict these findings. On Tuesday, June 5, Congress moved one step closer to lifting the funding ban on syringe exchange programs in Washington, D.C. The House Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government removed the ban from an appropriations bill that includes the city’s spending plan. In 1998, Tiahrt and the Republican-led Congress barred the D.C. government from spending its own local funds on syringe exchange programs. The ban was reauthorized in the appropriations bill every year since. But with Democrats now in power, the push to lift the ban gained traction. Rep. Jose Serrano (D-NY), who chairs the committee, spearheaded the effort to lift the ban. It has been long established by the scientific community that needle exchange programs reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS amongst people who inject drugs without increasing drug use. In Washington, D.C., injecting drugs is the second-most common means of contracting HIV among men—and the most common form among women. Approximately one-third of new AIDS cases annually are the result of intravenous drug use. DC’s syringe exchange program is crucial to getting people with substance abuse problems into drug treatment. The program estimates it refers about 50 people a month to treatment. Needle exchange programs help public health professionals assess the medical needs of clients, gain trust in the community by meeting clients in their own surroundings, and provide educational materials and referrals.

For immediate release: June 5, 2007 For More Information Contact: John Walsh, Senior Associate, (202) 797-2171, ext 203; cell (202) 213-4863 or Roger Atwood, Communications Director, (202) 797-2171, ext 211; cell (202) 316-3857 New Estimates Show Coca Rising in Colombia, Despite Record Year for Fumigation The U.S. government reported Monday that the amount of land in Colombia under cultivation with coca, the raw material for cocaine, increased 9 percent in 2006 over the previous year. The area under coca cultivation reached 388,000 acres in 2006, up 32,600 acres from 2005, based on figures released by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). WOLA, the research and advocacy group, believes these figures offer fresh and disturbing evidence that the U.S.-backed policy of aerial herbicide spraying of coca fields – a practice known as fumigation – is failing to curb coca production. On the contrary, fumigation is prompting farmers to replant as quickly and in as many locations as they can, contributing to the dispersal of coca growing and Colombia’s internal armed conflict to new areas of the country. “Rather than weaken farmers’ reliance on coca, fumigation serves to reinforce it,” said WOLA Senior Associate John Walsh. “To insist at this point that more spraying will somehow deter farmers from replanting is not just unrealistic, it’s delusional.” The report of a rise in coca cultivation followed another record-setting year of fumigation, with 425,000 acres sprayed, nearly 25 percent more than in 2005. Since 2000 the U.S.-backed program has sprayed herbicide on some 2.1 million acres in Colombia. U.S. and Colombian authorities should focus resources on rural development, alternative livelihoods, and on-the-ground destruction of illegal coca plantations and end the wrong-headed, counterproductive focus on fumigation. ### The Washington Office on Latin America is a non-governmental organization that promotes human rights, democracy, and social and economic justice in U.S. policy towards Latin America.