Newsbrief: Marijuana Policy Ads Return to DC Following Court Victory 9/3/04

Drug War Chronicle, recent top items

more...

recent blog posts "In the Trenches" activist feed

SUBSCRIBE TODAY!!!

The marijuana reform group whose controversial ads on Washington Metro buses and subway stops spawned a congressional effort to effectively censor them it back at it, and this time it has partners. Change the Climate (http://www.changetheclimate.org), the Boston-based group behind the ads, was vindicated in federal court in June, where it was joined by the Marijuana Policy Project (http:www.mpp.org) and the American Civil Liberties Union Drug Policy Reform Project (formerly the Drug Policy Litigation Project -- http://www.aclu.org/DrugPolicy) in filing suit. US District Court Judge Paul Friedman ruled that an attempt to block the ads by pulling federal funding from any transit system that ran them was an unconstitutional infringement of free speech rights. That failed effort to suppress political opinions with which he did not agree was the brainchild of Oklahoma Republican Rep. Ernest Istook (https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/340/istook.shtml).

"Istook's ban provides powerful evidence of how scared the federal government is of genuine debate," said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of Drug Policy Alliance (http://www.drugpolicy.org) in a press release announcing the new ads. "I guess that's no surprise since they're trying to defend a policy that is indefensible."

The federal government has appealed Judge Friedman's ruling to the DC District Court of Appeals, but in the meantime, free speech reigns once again. And beginning Thursday, marijuana reform ads are once again appearing, this time at the Union Station and Capitol South stops of the Metro. But this time, Change the Climate has been joined by MPP, the ACLU, and DPA as sponsors whose logos appear on the ads.

"We are pleased that the court's ruling will allow the public to see this message, despite the efforts of the government to stifle our point of view," said Graham Boyd, director of the ACLU Drug Law Reform Project.

The ad will run throughout September and features a group of ordinary looking people standing behind prison bars under the headline, "Marijuana Laws Waste Billions of Taxpayer Dollars to Lock Up Non-Violent Americans." It can be viewed at http://www.aclu.org/images/client/decrim_ad.jpg online.

-- END --
Link to Drug War Facts
Please make a generous donation to support Drug War Chronicle in 2007!          

PERMISSION to reprint or redistribute any or all of the contents of Drug War Chronicle (formerly The Week Online with DRCNet is hereby granted. We ask that any use of these materials include proper credit and, where appropriate, a link to one or more of our web sites. If your publication customarily pays for publication, DRCNet requests checks payable to the organization. If your publication does not pay for materials, you are free to use the materials gratis. In all cases, we request notification for our records, including physical copies where material has appeared in print. Contact: StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network, P.O. Box 18402, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 293-8340 (voice), (202) 293-8344 (fax), e-mail [email protected]. Thank you.

Articles of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of the DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.

Issue #352, 9/3/04 Editorial: Back Home in Indiana | In Indiana, Gubernatorial Candidates' College Marijuana Use Provides Opening for Discussion of Higher Education Act Drug Provision | Outgoing New Jersey Governor Calls for Needle Access Legislation | Kentucky's New Drug Strategy: More of the Same, Plus a Drug Czar | Montana Moving Toward Appointing a Drug Czar? | Newsbrief: Alaska Supreme Court Restricts Marijuana Search Warrants | Newsbrief: European Drug Reformers Seek More Dialogue with European Union, Funding for Permanent Dialogue | Newsbrief: House Speaker Dennis Hastert Defames Drug Reform Funder Soros, New Jersey DA Joins Smear Campaign | Newsbrief: Human Rights Watch Calls on Schwarzenneger to Sign Needle Access Bills | Newsbrief: Marijuana Policy Ads Return to DC Following Court Victory | Newsbrief: Safe Crack-Smoking Kits Distributed in Winnipeg | Newsbrief: This Week's Corrupt Cops Story | Ninety-nine Percent of All Marijuana Eradicated in US is Feral Hemp, Federal Data Reveals | This Week in History | The Reformer's Calendar

This issue -- main page
This issue -- single-file printer version
Drug War Chronicle -- main page
Chronicle archives
Out from the Shadows HEA Drug Provision Drug War Chronicle Perry Fund DRCNet en Español Speakeasy Blogs About Us Home
Why Legalization? NJ Racial Profiling Archive Subscribe Donate DRCNet em Português Latest News Drug Library Search
special friends links: SSDP - Flex Your Rights - IAL - Drug War Facts

StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network (DRCNet)
1623 Connecticut Ave., NW, 3rd Floor, Washington DC 20009 Phone (202) 293-8340 Fax (202) 293-8344 [email protected]