SAN FRANCISCO -- Recent alarming reports of environmental damage caused by illegal marijuana farms in national forests and wilderness areas in California and elsewhere show that an entirely new approach is needed in order to solve the problem, officials of the Marijuana Policy Project said today.
"Year after year we hear from law enforcement and U.S. Forest Service officials about growing environmental damage caused by these criminal operations, even as law enforcement seizures of marijuana plants set new records every year," said Bruce Mirken, MPP's California-based director of communications. "What we've been doing is plainly not working and has actually caused the problem in the first place. It's time to get off the treadmill and try a new approach."
Dear friends:
Last week, I sent you MPP's new video about the lies being spread about marijuana by the Drug Free America Foundation (DFAF).
DFAF is now taking its lies into Massachusetts, where a measure to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana is on the ballot this Election Day. Its new radio ad â which you can listen to here â claims that the initiative will âput marijuana, a dangerous and addictive drug, into the hands of our children.â
If you want to fight back against the dishonorable attempts to keep Massachusetts voters from passing a far more sensible law, please give what you can to the campaign today. With just three weeks remaining until Election Day, every dollar you can give will help.Â
Bizarrely, the ad criticizes the campaign for accepting âout-of-stateâ contributions â yet the opposition ad itself is sponsored by the Florida-based Save Our Society from Drugs (SOS). SOS is DFAF's lobbying arm.
Even more disgustingly, DFAF was previously known as Straight Inc., one of the most notorious drug war abominations: It ran a network of âtreatment facilitiesâ that were shut down amid lawsuits and investigations regarding horrifying physical and emotional abuse of the young people in its care.
That's the sort of shady opposition that the campaign is up against in Massachusetts. They're willing to say and do anything to keep the initiative from passing on November 4. Would you please consider donating $10 or more today so that the campaign has the resources to continue fighting back?
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEÂ Â Â
OCTOBER 14, 2008
Reformers Call For New Policy to Protect Forests From Marijuana Farms
New Approach Needed to Curb Environmental Damage, Advocates Say
CONTACT: Bruce Mirken, MPP director of communications ............... 415-668-6403 or 202-215-4205
SAN FRANCISCO -- Recent alarming reports of environmental damage caused by illegal marijuana farms in national forests and wilderness areas in California and elsewhere show that an entirely new approach is needed in order to solve the problem, officials of the Marijuana Policy Project said today.
   "Year after year we hear from law enforcement and U.S. Forest Service officials about growing environmental damage caused by these criminal operations, even as law enforcement seizures of marijuana plants set new records every year," said Bruce Mirken, MPP's California-based director of communications. "What we've been doing is plainly not working and has actually caused the problem in the first place. It's time to get off the treadmill and try a new approach."
   An Oct. 13 Associated Press story quoted Forest Service agent Ron Pugh describing the problem as "a crisis at every level."
   "California is a world-leading producer of two popular psychoactive drugs -- marijuana and wine," Mirken said. "California's wine industry is a huge asset to our state's economy and reputation, generating tax revenue, tourism and prestige, with no meaningful environmental problems. There is no reason marijuana should be different. They're both agricultural products, and there is nothing inherently dangerous about marijuana cultivation. The difference is that wine is legally regulated, while we consign marijuana -- the state's leading cash crop, based on government figures -- to the criminal underground where it is completely unregulated and untaxed, while all the profits go to criminals. In the process, we've effectively invited the violence from the Mexican drug trade over our borders. The problem isn't marijuana, the problem is dumb policy."
   "Last year the number of Americans who have used marijuana reached an all-time record of over 100 million. It's time to stop imagining that we can make this industry go away and time to start bringing it under responsible regulation just like our wine industry."
   With more than 25,000 members and 100,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit http://MarijuanaPolicy.org.