Press Release

For Immediate Release: May 16, 2007 Contact: E.C. Danuel D. Quaintance, Church of Cognizance at (928) 485-2952 I ask for nothing more than open minds to examine the possible consequences of putting scriptural interpretations of a recognized religion to a test, in order to decide if that religion qualifies for First Amendment protections. It is not uncommon amongst followers of various faiths to interpret their common faith in different ways. The Supreme Court stated, in Thomas v. Review Board, “Intrafaith differences of that kind are not uncommon among followers of a particular creed, and the judicial process is singularly ill equipped to resolve such differences in relation to the Religion Clauses,” then went on to instruct that “Courts are not arbiters of scriptural interpretations.” This human freedom to interpret the scriptures as we see them was something most Americans take for granted. This freedom is not something small churches can take for granted any longer. The attack against a small church, and religious interpretations in general, has begun in a U.S. District court in New Mexico. New Mexico follows prior decisions of the 10th Cir. Courts. The 10th Circuit upheld the use of a test in the District of New Mexico, which originated in deciding if the beliefs of a newly established, one-man, religion qualified to receive First Amendment protection. The test has become known as the Meyers Matrix. The use of the Meyers Matrix test was never challenged in the Supreme Court of the United States. Now the Meyers test has been inappropriately used to test if a religious group of a recognized religion deserves protections under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, RFRA. Testimony of cultural anthropologist Dr. Deborah Pruitt, PhD, who specializes in many non-mainstream religions, revealed the Meyers test is highly skewed against a great number of recognized religions. Government, in an attempt to avoid the requirement of showing “a compelling government interest” for burdening the free “Exercise of Religion”, has chosen a new and innovative path of getting around that requirement. First government attorneys declared the religion was “a Bastardized form” of the religion. Then went on to declare, what synonymously amounts to claiming because the leader of a Christian church was no Christ, the church did not deserve the constitutional protection a religion enjoys. This wasn’t enough insult to freedom of religion, government turned to a Priest of another sect of the religion, as an expert witness, in an attempt to prove another religious group incorrectly interprets the teachings, practices, and modes of worship of their common faith. This move showed a total disrespect for prior decisions of the Supreme Court, like the one quoted above. In the end it didn’t matter that government attempted to test one sect against another. Government’s hoped results from such an attempt backfired. The testimony of government’s expert witness from the common faith ended up showing the small group might actually more correctly interpret many elements of their common faith. With the prior method failing it was up to the, recently appointed, Federal Judge to put the hammer down. U.S. District Judge Judith Herrera had her own methods of depriving religious freedoms. She decided to count the elements that were not met in the Meyers test, and then call that which was met “dicta,” which allowed her to not count that part of the test when arriving at a deciding average of whether or not the beliefs qualify for religious protections. By that move, and a determination that the “mantra” considered the “moral and ethical compass,” of this recognized religion, provided no moral or ethical guidance, the judge ruled that not enough factors of the Meyer Matrix were met to qualify for religious protections under RFRA or the First Amendment. End of story, the beginning of the end of a once highly honored protection amongst Americans. The only hope now is through contacting your representatives and asking them to investigate and put a halt to this disregard for cherished human rights. For more information visit http://danmary.org

For Immediate Release: May 16, 2007 Contacts: Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, [email protected] & Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, [email protected] *Greens call for realistic debate in the 2008 Presidential race on the War on Drugs *Democratic and Republican politicians are ignoring the human and economic devastation caused by failed drug policies, unjust laws, and targeting of young people, the poor, and African Americans and Latinos, say Green Party leaders WASHINGTON, DC -- Green Party leaders called for a national discussion on how the US's 'war on drugs' has turned into a war on young people, the poor, and African Americans, Latinos, and other people of color. "The human and economic devastation caused by the war on drugs is missing from the range of debate among both Democratic and Republican presidential candidates. Politicians from these parties, when asked about drug policies, prefer to posture about law and order and endorse failed measures. These politicians don't realize that going along to get along makes one complicit said Cliff Thornton, Green candidate for Governor of Connecticut in 2006 and co-founder of Efficacy, Inc. , which promotes major reforms in drug policy. Greens cited a study by the American Civil Liberties Union ("Cracks in the System: Twenty Years of Unjust Federal Crack Cocaine Law," October 2006, ), 37% of people arrested, 59% of people convicted, and 74% of those sent to prison are African American, even though only 15% of drug users are African American. The Associated Press has reported that "a record 7 million people -- or one in every 32 American adults -- were behind bars, on probation or on parole by the end of last year, according to the Justice Department.... From 1995 to 2003, inmates in federal prison for drug offenses have accounted for 49 percent of total prison population growth." In state prisons, 260,000 people were serving sentences on nonviolent drug charges in 2005, of whom more than 70% were African American or Latino . The Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that nearly one in eight drug prisoners (45,000 Americans) are behind bars for marijuana-related offenses. Green leaders also strongly criticized the punitive denial of financial aid to students with drug convictions, and supported Students for a Sensible Drug Policy in their effort to persuade Congress to reinstate such aid. "The war on drugs is an excuse to ignore the US Constitution's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment, with long prison sentences for minor and nonviolent offenses. The drug war is meant to be waged, not won," added Mr. Thornton. "This is in part a result of pressure on elected officials from the private prison industry lobby, which seeks to build new prisons and fill up cells in order to win government giveaways and increase corporate profits. The Green Party calls for a public debate that challenges the rhetoric of Democratic and Republican politicians who are under influence of these companies, and that recognizes how the war on drugs has only resulted in more crime and violence." "We need to stop spending $50 billion a year on the drug war, and use that money for treatment. We need to repeal mandatory sentencing laws, which override judges' discretion in determining prison time, and 'three strikes' laws that send people -- mostly the poor and people of color -- away for life on nonviolent and minor felonies," said Kevin Zeese, 2006 candidate for the US Senate candidate in Maryland and president of Common Sense for Drug Policy . The Green Party's national platform endorses decriminalization of victimless crimes, such as the possession of small amounts of marijuana; an end to the war on drugs; expanded drug counseling and treatment; and an end to arrest of 'medical marijuana' arrests and prosecution. "Law enforcement should focus efforts on organized crime, including the laundering of drug money at banks, rather than on street-level drug trade, in which kids who get arrested -- or killed -- are quickly replaced," said Nan Garrett, Co-Chair of the National Women's Caucus of the Green Party and 2002 candidate for Governor of Georgia. "Addictive use should be treated as a medical and social problem. Locking up addicts in stressed prison environments, with minimal effort to address the addiction itself, and then freeing them to go back into the same circumstances that led to their abuse of drugs has only aggravated the problem of addiction. Greens endorse rational solutions to the problems of drug abuse that are based on science and health, compassion for addicts and their families, reduction of harm rather than moral judgment, and respect for basic civil liberties and principles of justice."

For Immediate Release: May 11, 2007 CONTACT: Reena Szczepanski (DPA): 505-983-3277 or Nancy Goldstein (NAPW): 347-563-1647 Supreme Court of New Mexico Strikes Down State’s Attempt to Convict Woman Struggling with Addiction During Pregnancy Leading Physicians, Scientific Researchers, and Medical, Public Health, and Child Welfare Organizations Applaud Court’s Order On May 11, the Supreme Court of the State of New Mexico turned back the state's attempt to expand the criminal child abuse laws to apply to pregnant women and fetuses. In 2003, Ms. Cynthia Martinez was charged with felony child abuse “for permitting a child under 18 years of age to be placed in a situation that may endanger the child's life or health. . .” In bringing this prosecution, the state argued that a pregnant woman who cannot overcome a drug addiction before she gives birth should be sent to jail as a felony child abuser. Today the Supreme Court summarily affirmed the Court of Appeals decision, which overturned Ms. Martinez’s conviction. New Mexico joins more than 20 other states that have ruled on this issue and that have refused to judicially expand state criminal child abuse and related laws to reach the issues of pregnancy and addiction. The Drug Policy Alliance (“DPA”) and the National Advocates for Pregnant Women (“NAPW”) filed a friend-of-the-court brief http://www.drugpolicy.org/docUploads/NMvMartinezAmicusBrief.pdf on behalf of the New Mexico Public Health Association, the New Mexico Nurses Association, and nearly three dozen other leading medical and public health organizations, physicians, and scientific researchers. During oral argument, the Justices referenced the amicus brief filed by these organizations and expressed grave concerns about the deterrent effect such prosecutions would have on women seeking prenatal care. Tiloma Jayasinghe, NAPW staff attorney, explained, “Making child abuse laws applicable to pregnant women and fetuses would, by definition, make every woman who is low-income, uninsured, has health problems, and/or is battered who becomes pregnant a felony child abuser. In oral argument, the state’s attorney conceded that the law could potentially be applied to pregnant women who smoked.” Reena Szczepanski, Director of Drug Policy Alliance New Mexico, said, “I hope that this case serves as a reminder that pregnant women who are struggling with drug use should be offered prenatal care and drug treatment, not prosecution. There are better ways to protect our children in New Mexico, and ensure that future generations will be safe and healthy.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday May 10, 2007 CONTACT: Adam Eidinger Ph: 202-744-2671, E: [email protected] or Tom Murphy Ph: 207-542-4998, E: [email protected] California Assembly Passes Hemp Farming Legislation AB 684 Would Allow Farmers to Grow Non-Drug Varieties of Cannabis SACRAMENTO, CA – California’s Assembly today voted 41 to 29, with 9 not voting, to approve AB 684, the California Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2007. The legislation gives farmers the right to grow non-psychoactive Industrial Hemp which is commonly made into everything from food, clothing, paper, body care, bio-fuel and even auto parts. The bill now goes to the Senate where it is expected to have enough support to pass. The text of legislation can be found at: http://www.votehemp.com/state/california.html#Legislation. AB 684, the California Industrial Hemp Farming Act, was authored by Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) and Assemblyman Chuck DeVore (R-Irvine). This is the second time in two years that a bipartisan hemp farming bill has passed the Assembly. Last year, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed AB 1147 which is nearly identical to AB 864. At that time the Governor claimed that bill would put farmers in jeopardy of federal prosecution if they grew hemp despite assurances by Vote Hemp and other supporting organizations such as the California based Hemp Industries Association and California Certified Organic Farmers there would be a challenge to the Drug Enforcement Administration’s legal authority to interfere with the state hemp farming law prior to implementation. “Passage of the hemp farming bill in the Assembly is a sign it is likely to reach Governor Schwarzenegger’s desk for the second year in row,” says Vote Hemp legal Council and San Francisco Attorney Patrick Goggin. “The mood in Sacramento is this bill is consistent with California’s effort to be leader on US environmental policy. Hemp is a versatile plant that can replace polluting crops such as cotton and is taking off as an organic food and body care ingredient. It is time to jump into the expanding market for hemp that California companies currently import from Canada and elsewhere.” Today more than 30 industrialized nations grow industrial hemp and export to the US. It is the only crop that is both illegal to grow and legal for Americans to import. Sales of hemp food and body care products have grown rapidly in recent years fueling an expansion of hemp farming in Canada which topped 48,000 acres in 2006. A telephone poll with a 3.5% margin of error of likely California voters taken from February 22 – 26 showed a total of 71% support changing state law to allow farmers to grow hemp. The survey was conducted by the respected research firm Zogby International on behalf of Vote Hemp and five manufacturers of hemp food products including Alpsnack®, French Meadow Bakery®, Living Harvest®, Nature’s Path Organic Foods® and Nutiva®. Poll questions and results regarding industrial hemp farming policy and consumer attitudes on hemp products and nutrition can be viewed online at: http://www.votehemp.com/polls.html. There is evidence of strong support among men and women and self-identified liberal and conservative voters on the issue. Among California Republicans, 60% support changing state law on hemp while 74% of Democrats are in support. Support was also steady among all age groups, ranging from 54% of 18 to 29 year olds to 82% of 30 to 49 year olds, 74% of 50 to 64 years olds and 60% of those over 65 years old. # # More information about hemp legislation and the crop’s many uses can be found at www.VoteHemp.com.

For Immediate Release: May 10, 2007 Contact: Margaret Dooley, tel: (858) 336-3685 or Dave Fratello, tel: (310) 394-2952 Ahead of Monday Budget Release, Advocates Urge Gov. to Increase Drug Treatment Funding

[Courtesy of the Harm Reduction Coalition] For Immediate Release: May 8, 2007 Contact: Emalie Huriaux, tel: 510-469-7941 Overdose Bill Moves Forward: Unanimous Judiciary Committee Support SACRAMENTO - California Senate Bill (SB) 767, the Overdose Treatment Liability Act, cosponsored by the Harm Reduction Coalition (HRC), a national health and human rights advocacy group working to reduce drug-related harm, and the County of Los Angeles passed the bipartisan California Senate Judiciary Committee today in a 5-to-0 vote. SB 767 will make it easier for health care professionals to participate in comprehensive drug overdose prevention programs that prescribe the opioid antagonist naloxone, thereby removing a large obstacle to the creation and expansion of such programs in California. This proposed legislation will also make it easier to get opioid antagonists into the hands of the people who are the most likely to be bystanders to opioid overdoses, increasing the likelihood that people overdosing on opioids will receive naloxone promptly. Emalie Huriaux, HRC's Overdose Project Manager stated after the unanimous vote, "We are pleasantly surprised. Liability legislation rarely gets support from the Senate Judiciary Committee. This vote shows that committee members understand the lifesaving effects SB 767 will have." Sandi McClure, a member of the Los Angeles Overdose Taskforce, delivered powerful testimony about the loss of her daughter, Jennifer, 15 months ago to a heroin overdose, and how access to naloxone may have saved her life. In addition, Dr. Jeffrey Gunzenhauser, Medical Director for the County of Los Angeles, spoke about the drug overdose epidemic in Los Angeles and throughout the country. Although naloxone is a very safe drug and recent studies have proven that lay people, with appropriate training, can safely and properly administer it, some clinicians are concerned about prescribing take-home naloxone for use by lay people. Clinicians voice concerns that patients may use naloxone on a third party experiencing an overdose and, in the event of an adverse reaction, the clinician could be held liable. In recent years, New York, New Mexico, and Connecticut have enacted legislation similar to SB 767 to protect licensed health care professionals from civil and criminal liability when prescribing take-home opioid antagonists. Since November 2003, HRC's Overdose Project has collaborated with the San Francisco Department of Public Health to provide overdose prevention, recognition, and response training, including naloxone prescriptions, to people at risk for experiencing an opioid overdose. To date, this collaboration has provided training and prescriptions to nearly 1,000 people and heard reports from 250 of them that they used naloxone in an overdose situation. Drug overdose, which is entirely preventable, is the second leading cause of accidental death in the United States. When a person overdoses on opioids (heroin, morphine, methadone, oxycontin, etc.), he/she is rendered unconscious and is in danger of dying because the opioids slow down, and eventually stop, the person's breathing. Naloxone counteracts life-threatening depression of the central nervous and respiratory systems caused by an opioid overdose, allowing an overdose victim to breathe normally. Currently, naloxone can be prescribed only by licensed health care professionals, and has the same level of regulation as prescription ibuprofen. SB 767 protects providers who prescribe take-home naloxone, facilitating greater access to lifesaving medicine for people experiencing opioid overdoses. The bill will be heard later this month by the Senate Appropriations Committee and, if passed, will move on for a vote by the entire Senate later this year. # # # # For more information about the Harm Reduction Coalition, visit http://www.harmreduction.org.

MARDIGRASS MEDIA Tuesday 8 May evening. POLICE MISS OPPORTUNITY TO ARREST THOUSANDS! MARDIGRASS AND POLICE PROPAGANDA! Reading the media it looks like MardiGrass was a massive police feast! The picture they paint is a very misleading image. In reality it was incredibly mellow with very few problems. We do admit the NSW Police media releases listing every detail of their weekend was all the press had to go on, because the organisers were still having too much fun to put out any news! Anyway, journalists had been ignoring MardiGrass mostly and we didn’t anticipate the police putting so much negative spin on such a successful weekend. One assault, ten thousand people, no wonder many police prefer the mellowing affect of cannabis at festivals. Some real stories are starting to emerge. The injuries sustained by police which sounded on the television news like they were sustained in battle, came from them recklessly chasing someone through a crowd, knocking over and injuring a bystander, and eventually hurting themselves by running headlong into a car. You can imagine how they sought revenge on the person they were chasing that had surrended with his hands up. The big crowd watching, including many children, was less than impressed. There are several accounts and complaints about the police horses knocking people about, and even over, as they chased people through market crowds. The horse’s manure has also raised several other concerns, often watery crap was splattered in front of Sibley Street food stalls attracting many complaints by festival goers and stallholders. Some angry stallholders are preparing formal complaints about the health concerns this type of police activity raises. The smell was disgusting bringing dozens of complaints from upset diners.

Contact: Philippe Lucas, tel: 250-884-9821, E: [email protected] or Kirk Tousaw, tel: 604-836-1420, E: [email protected] In May of 2004, the Vancouver Island Therapeutic Cannabis Research Institute (VITCRI), a research and cultivation facility overseen by the Vancouver Island Compassion Society, was raided by the West Shore RCMP. Mat Beren and Michael Swallow were charged with multiple counts of cannabis production, and over 900 plants were seized and destroyed, temporarily leaving the critically and chronically ill members of the VICS without a safe source of medicine. The ensuing court case and Constitutional challenge - which is taking place from May 9th-18th in B.C. Supreme Court, 850 Burdett Avenue - will establish that the federal medical cannabis program is violating the constitutional rights of critically and chronically ill Canadians by a) unnecessarily restricting access to the program; b) supplying an inadequate source of cannabis; and c) instituting arbitrary limitations on production and distribution. "This ineffective, onerous and expensive program has long been an impediment to safe access" says Philippe Lucas, a medical cannabis user and founder of the VICS, "and clearly isn't protecting Canada's sickest citizens from arrest for their use of medical cannabis". The VICS legal team consists of Mr. John Conroy QC from Abbotsford, BC, and Mr. Kirk Tousaw. Witnesses for the defense include Senator Pierre-Claude Nolin (chair of the Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs), Dr. Robert Melamede (Biology professor at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs). "We look forward to challenging the constitutionality of these regulations and demonstrating to the court that Health Canada is not meeting its obligations to Canada's critically and chronically ill", says Mr. Tousaw. If successful, this challenge will make the legal medical use of cannabis more accessible, and potentially legalize the community-based distribution of cannabis. A similar challenge in Ontario from 2003 resulted with the courts striking down the prohibition on the recreational adult use of cannabis in Ontario, thereby legalizing the personal use of cannabis for over 18 months. This case may lead to a similar outcome in B.C.

(More from Dr. Bronner's on the infamous "soap bust.") FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Adam Eidinger May 7, 2007 Drug Test Kit Ideal for Testing Soap but Not Drugs New Video Proves NarcoPouch® 928 Tests Positive on Various Natural Soaps and Negative on "Fake" Soap Based on Detergent Formulations ESCONDIDO, CA – The Bronner family, makers of the popular organic Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps have released a new video of NarcoPouch® 928 field drug tests of its soaps and other brands. The results prove that the test kit which was used to jail Don Bolles, drummer for the legendary punk band The Germs on April 4, will always give a false-positive for the drug GHB (Gamma Hydroxy Butyrate) if used on any true natural soap. However, in an interesting twist, the test will test negative for fake mislabeled "liquid soap" products that are actually detergent-based, not soap. The new video features David Bronner, President of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps, using the NarcoPouch® 928 on a wide variety of common natural soaps as well as detergent based fake "soap" products. The video can be viewed at http://www.drbronner.com/soap_test.html. "Our testing shows that real soaps which are made using the ecological time-honored process of saponification of vegetable oil will always test positive for GHB, while complicated synthetic detergent-based so-called 'liquid soaps' test negative," said David Bronner. "The NarcoPouch® 928 is a great test for determining if a product labeled 'Soap' actually contains real soap or not. It's ironic that the flawed GHB field test used by cops shows in a graphic immediate way true versus fake soaps. Fortunately for Don Bolles, the much more accurate confirmation drug-testing by the Orange County crime lab proved our soap did not contain the drug GHB." Detergents in fake soap products are usually made in part or even entirely from petroleum along with vegetable feedstocks. For instance, Sodium Myreth Sulfate, the main ingredient in JASON's so-called "Pure, Natural, & Organic Soap" is made by attaching ethylene oxide groups from petroleum to vegetable fatty acid, which also produces trace 1,4 dioxane as a side reaction. Olefin Sulfonate, the main ingredient in both Nature's Gate ORGANICS "Soap" and Kiss My Face ObsessivelyOrganic "Soap", is made entirely from petroleum. Cocamidopropyl Sultaine, the main ingredient in EO's so-called soap, is in significant part petroleum-based. Bronner laments: "Companies mislead consumers in conflating their detergent-based products with ecological biodegradable soaps, even calling these synthetic detergent products 'organic'. Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps are real soaps made from real organic oils, while these other so-called 'Soap' products are detergents made from petroleum and conventional vegetable material. They are not soap, they are not organic, they are not natural." The crime lab confirmation test that exonerated Don Bolles and Dr. Bronner's soaps of GHB, uses the GC-MS method which is much more accurate than the field drug test kits used by the Newport Beach Police. "Police departments nationwide should immediately stop using the ODV, Inc. field test for GHB as it is not accurate when used on soaps and who knows what other common household products," said Bronner. ODV, Inc, maker of NarcoPouch® 928 Inc is a subsidiary of Armor Holdings, Inc. The company has done nothing to alert police departments about the false positives when used on natural soap. According to retired FBI agent and forensics expert Dr. Frederick Whitehurst, "There is no effort by the National Academies of Science to validate forensic science protocols and there are no national standards for presumptive field drug tests. I believe our freedoms are being infringed upon because of fake science." To arrange an interview with David Bronner or Don Bolles please contact Adam Eidinger. ###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, April 30, 200& CONTACT: Adam Eidinger Tel: 202-744-2671, E: [email protected] or Tom Murphy Tel: 207-542-4998, E: [email protected] North Dakota to DEA: Out of Our Hemp Fields