Events
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Trenton,
Boston,
Denver,
Baltimore
9/20/97
MOTHERS' MARCH IN NEW JERSEY: On October 21, mothers, grandmothers and foster mothers whose families have been touched by injection-related AIDS, will march on the state capitol in Trenton to protest the continued illegality of needle exchange in New Jersey. The march will take place just two weeks before what is expected to be a very tight race for New Jersey's governorship in which Whitman is seeking re-election. Diana McCague, director of the Chai Project, a needle exchange program and a co-sponsor of the event, told The Week Online, "It is time that New Jersey politicians be forced to face the fact that every new transmission of this virus, every statistic, every bit of the data that adds up to New Jersey having the third-highest rate of injection- related AIDS in the nation, is a human being with a mother and a grandmother and often, children of their own. It is outrageous, no, it is criminal that the governor has chosen to dehumanize and sentence to death the most vulnerable citizens of this state. Governor Whitman is costing New Jersey taxpayers millions of dollars in unnecessary health care expenses, and she is sacrificing the lives of thousands of people for reasons of pure political expediency." Individuals and organizations are strongly encouraged to participate in this important event. Contact Diana McCague at the Chai Project at (732) 247-7014 or Adam J. Smith at DRCNet at (202) 362-0030. To learn more about the scourge of injection-related AIDS in your state, visit http://www.drcnet.org/AIDS. FREEDOM RALLY IN BOSTON: On Saturday, September 20, a crowd of tens of thousands is expected to convene on the Boston Commons to take part in what has become the largest annual marijuana/hemp legalization rally in the nation. The event, sponsored by the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition (http://www.masscann.org), drew more than 30,000 people last year and organizers expect an even larger turnout this year. HARM REDUCTION CONFERENCE: "Drugs and HIV in the Rocky Mountain States", a harm reduction conference, will be held on October 23 & 24 in Denver. Co-produced by the Harm Reduction Coalition (HRC) and People Engaged in Education and Reduction Strategies (PEERS), the agenda for this event includes presentations by experts from around the U.S., as well as those working on the front lines in the Rocky Mountain region. This event will be held at the Adams Mark Hotel, 1550 Court Place, Denver, CO 80202. Registration fees: $35.00/one day, $50.00/two days; make a check or money order payable to Harm Reduction Coalition and mail it to PEERS, P.O. Box 2955, Denver, CO 80201-2955. For more information call HRC (212) 213-6376 or PEERS (303) 455-2472. The 11th International Conference on Drug Policy Reform will convene in New Orleans from October 15-18. For info, contact Whitney Taylor at the Drug Policy Foundation, (202) 537-5005, or visit http://www.dpf.org. Be a part of this large annual gathering of reformers in the U.S.! Methadone patients and advocates will attend the NIDA heroin conference in Washington, DC on Sept. 29-30. See http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1997/9-5-1.html#demos for more info. More events are listed in our Reformer's Calendar at http://www.drcnet.org/calendar.html.
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