Narcs vs. Murphy Brown: DEA Chief criticizes fictional news anchor for medical marijuana use 11/7/97

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Thomas Constantine, Director of the DEA, issued a public statement this week in response to an episode of Murphy Brown in which the title character uses marijuana to alleviate the effects of chemotherapy treatments for breast cancer. (The episode came out on the exact one-year anniversary of the passage of California's Prop. 215, November 5th.)

In a thinly veiled shot at the drug policy reform movement, and specifically at financier George Soros and his world- wide Open Society Institute, the statement said that CBS and the show's creators were "doing a great disservice" by "trivializing drug abuse" and "pandering to the libertarian supporters of an 'open society' and to the myths of legalization."

Bill Zimmerman, Director of Americans for Medical Rights, said "A few years ago, Murphy Brown shocked Dan Quayle by revealing that single women were having children. Now she's upset the DEA by disclosing that cancer victims are using marijuana to relieve their nausea. These guys ought to spend less time in Washington and more time in America."

Those who have followed the medical marijuana campaign may be reminded of California Attorney General Dan Lungren, who held a press conference during the Prop. 215 campaign last year to denounce Zonker, the fictional character from the Doonesbury comic strip, for his advocacy of medical marijuana.

For the American Cancer Society's Murphy Brown Breast Cancer brochure, as well as information on the show, go to http://www.cancer.org.

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Issue #18, 11/7/97 Washington Initiative Fails at Ballot: No one said this was going to be easy | McWilliams Case Set Back: Judges "changes mind" on medical necessity defense | California Medical Marijuana Providers Conference: Groups sign on to principles and guidelines document | Patient Threatened with Arrest after Seeking Dialogue: Yuba County accused of violating Prop. 215 | South Carolina Supreme Court Upholds Eight Year Prison Sentence for Woman Whose Baby was Born with Drugs in System | Prohibition at Work: Mexican law enforcement officers once again involved in sometimes lethal criminal activities | Canadian Passports New Currency in Illegal Drug Market | Poll: British MP's Would Modify Cannabis Law -- split most evident within Labour Party | Five Former Cops Plead Guilty to Drug Trafficking | Whitman Wins, Needle Exchange Loses | Miss America Visits Needle Exchange Program | New MS Treatment Very Effective, But Very Expensive... Medical marijuana still illegal as alternative | World Bank Endorses Needle Exchange Funding | McCaffrey Calls Allegations Inappropriate | Irish Teens Top European Drug Users | Study Finds Not All Drug Users Are Losers | Narcs vs. Murphy Brown: DEA Chief criticizes fictional news anchor for medical marijuana use | Media Watch: Drug war issues in the news | Editorial: Are the drug warriors really fighting for this nation's youth?

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