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Congress Does Good - At Last
You Can Make a Difference |
Dear friends,
Wow. Because of your hard work, Congress is on the verge of ending two disastrous drug war policies that weâve been fighting for years. In the next few weeks, Congress will likely repeal restrictions preventing Washington, DC from implementing a medical marijuana law that we helped pass. Legislators are also close to eliminating the federal syringe funding ban, a policy responsible for tens of thousands of Americans contracting HIV/AIDS or hepatitis C. Letâs keep up this momentum and call for an end to more failed policies! These changes come at a time when President Obamaâs drug czar is finishing his blueprint for U.S. drug policy. You've endorsed our first two recommendations for drug czar Gil Kerlikowske to create an exit strategy for the war on drugs. Join me in sharing one last big idea with the drug czar: Eliminate drug policies that are proven failures. You know the ones. Those stupid government anti-marijuana ads. DARE drug education built on scare tactics. Crop spraying in Colombia that hurts farmers and harms the environment but does nothing to reduce cocaine exports. It's clear from your overwhelming endorsement of the first two recommendations that you and I agree: We need to get the federal government out of the way so states can try new policies, and we need to stop using the criminal justice system to deal with drug issues. Sincerely,   Ethan Nadelmann  |
The calls to Congress are working -- keep it up!
Friends:
The calls to Congress are working, and I've been getting great feedback from ASA activists. Will you help?
Step by step, Congress is learning about the Truth in Trials Act.Â
A good example is U.S. Representative Darrell Issa, who got a number of calls, emails, and letters from ASA activists in his Southern California district.  One such email came from ASA activist Joshua Lewis, who is Editor-in-Chief of the Medical Cannabis Journal.Â
Congressman Issa sent the following response to Joshua:
-----
From: Congressman Darrell Issa
Sent: Thursday, December 03, 2009 10:29 AM
To: Joshua Lewis
Subject: Re: your recent message
Dear Mr. Lewis:
Thank you for taking the time to write to me to request my co sponsorship of the Truth in Trials Act
I have forwarded your letter to my Legislative Assistant who will investigate the possibility of cosponsoring this bill.
Thank you again for taking the time to bring your interest in this bill to my attention.
Sincerely,
Darrell Issa
Member of Congress
-----
Elected officials are starting to pay attention to what we are asking for. Medical marijuana patients need protection from federal prosecution. The Truth in Trials Act can help.
Will you call your Member of Congress?
Here's a reminder of the basic steps:1. Find out who your Rep is. Go to http://www.house.gov and type in your zip code in the upper left corner. If it asks for your full "Zip+4", just look at your last piece of junk mail.
2. Dial 202-224-3121. Ask the operator to transfer you to your Member of Congress.
3. Tell your Rep ... "I'm calling from ______ and I want you to cosponsor HR 3939, the Truth in Trials Act."
4. Reply to this email and tell me who you called.
Thanks!
- Sanjeev, ASA
ASA's 2009 Holiday Party
ASA's 2009 Holiday Party -- Oakland, California
Americans for Safe Access 2009 Holiday Party
Wednesday, December 16th at 7:30 PM
Live Music with Brass Liberation Orchestra, DJs, Entertainment by Shamanic Cheerleaders, Silent Auction, Appetizers & Champagne.
Hosted by Steph Sherer, Executive Director & Founder of ASA
Screening of "Medical Cannabis in California: A report from the front-line"
Age 21+, Please Bring ID
Maxwell's Restaurant & Lounge
341 14th Street at Webster in Oakland
$25 Pre-sale tickets online:Â www.americansforsafeaccess.org/holidayparty
Or call ASA's office at 510-251-1856Washington Post Writer Gets Tricked by the Drug Czar, Refuses to Accept Responsibility
Feds: Watch out for drivers high on drugs
As you idled at that busy intersection Saturday night, there's a pretty good chance another driver waiting for the light to change was high on illegal drugs.
About 11 percent of motorists are high on the weekend, and the number creeps up past 16 percent once night falls on Friday and Saturday, according to federal drug czar Gil Kerlikowske and a national roadside survey by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The problem is, that's simply not what the drug czar or the survey said. The data reported on percentages of drivers who tested positive for having drugs in their system, which does not mean they were impaired behind the wheel. The NHTSA carefully explained this in their report:
The reader is cautioned that drug presence does not necessarily imply impairment. For many drug types, drug presence can be detected long after any impairment that might affect driving has passed. For example, traces of marijuana can be detected in blood samples several weeks after chronic users stop ingestion. Also, whereas the impairment effects for various concentration levels of alcohol is well understood, little evidence is available to link concentrations of other drug types to driver performance.
Now, in fairness to Halsey, it was almost certainly the drug czar's intention to blur that distinction and ONDCP shares the blame when their devious press releases lead to factual distortions in the press. Nevertheless, when Pete Guither sent an email correcting the error, Halsey jettisoned all credibility by getting pissed and spewing insults:
Your arrogance and ignorance are impressive.
Behold the unmatched maturity and professionalism of a staff writer at the venerable Washington Post. Confronted with a transparent and embarrassing error, he spits venom instead of attempting to correct or qualify his poor reporting. Halsey speaks of arrogance and ignorance even though he's the one refusing to admit mistakes and reporting on studies he hasnât read and doesnât understand.
As someone who's emailed corrections to a good number of journalists, I can honestly say I've never seen such a shameless and hostile response. Typically, a correction is made or not made and I get a "thanks for sharing" or I'm ignored. This, on the other hand, is so nasty that it would warrant managerial intervention even if Pete's suggestion weren't clearly correct. Seriously, whoever signs the checks at The Post should tell Ashley III Halsey not to act like this.
Other than that, the whole episode reminds me of basically every drug-related news story ever published prior to 2009. Maybe Halsey just missed the memo about drug reporting having to be accurate from now on.
Congressional Budget Deal Allows Federal Funding for Needle Exchange and Medical Marijuana in the Nation's Capital
Modifies a prohibition on the use of funds in the Act for needle exchange programs; the revised provision prohibits the use of funds in this Act for needle exchange programs in any location that local public health or law enforcement agencies determine to be inappropriateIts description of the DC appropriations language:
Removing Special Restrictions on the District of Columbia:...Also allows the District to implement a referendum on use of marijuana for medical purposes as has been done in other states, allows use of Federal funds for needle exchange programs except in locations considered inappropriate by District authorities.And its language on the youth media campaign:
National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign: $45 million, $25 million below 2009 and the budget request, for a national ad campaign providing anti-drug messages directed at youth. Reductions were made in this program because of evaluations questioning its effectiveness. Part of the savings was redirected to other ONDCP drug-abuse-reduction programs.Citing both reforms in the states--from medical marijuana to sentencing reform--as well as the conference committeeâs actions, Drug Policy Alliance Executive Director Ethan Nadelmann stopped just short of declaring victory Wednesday. âItâs too soon to say that Americaâs long national nightmare â the war on drugs â is really over,â said Nadelmann. âBut yesterdayâs action on Capitol Hill provides unprecedented evidence that Congress is at last coming to its senses when it comes to national drug control policy.â But, as noted above, there are still two votes to go, and DPA is applying the pressure until it is a done deal. âHundreds of thousands of Americans will get HIV/AIDS or hepatitis C if Congress does not repeal the federal syringe funding ban,â said Bill Piper, DPA national affairs director. âThe science is overwhelming that syringe exchange programs reduce the spread of infectious diseases without increasing drug use. We will make sure the American people know which members of Congress stand in the way of repealing the ban and saving lives.â Washington, DC, residents got a two-fer from the committee when it approved ending the ban on the District funding needle exchanges and undoing the Barr Amendment, the work of erstwhile drug warrior turned reformer former Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA), which forbade the District from implementing the 1998 medical marijuana initiative, which won with 69% of the vote. âCongress is close to making good on President Obamaâs promise to stop the federal government from undermining local efforts to provide relief to cancer, HIV/AIDS and other patients who need medical marijuana,â said Naomi Long, the DC Metro director of the Drug Policy Alliance. âDC voters overwhelmingly voted to legalize marijuana for medical use and Congress should have never stood in the way of implementing the will of the people.â "The end of the Barr amendment is now in sight,â said Aaron Houston, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project. âThis represents a huge victory not just for medical marijuana patients, but for all city residents who have every right to set their own policies in their own District without congressional meddling. DC residents overwhelmingly made the sensible, compassionate decision to pass a medical marijuana law, and now, more than 10 years later, suffering Washingtonians may finally be allowed to focus on treating their pain without fearing arrest." Medical marijuana in the shadow of the Capitol? Federal dollars being spent on proven harm reduction techniques? Congress not micromanaging DC affairs? What is the world, or at least Washington, coming to?
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