Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2002
Subject: #235 Remove The Cannabis Patients From The Battlefield
DrugSense FOCUS Alert #235 Feb 16, 2002
Please Help Remove the Cannabis Patients from the Battlefield
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Deroy Murdock, a columnist with the Scripps Howard News Service wrote
this in his syndicated column:
The Bay Area clampdown recalls the DEA’s Oct. 25 closure of the Los
Angeles Cannabis Resource Center. It operated with the blessing of
West Hollywood officials and the L.A. County sheriff, all elected
authorities. That was not enough to keep 30 DEA agents from spending
six hours yanking 400 marijuana plants from its premises along with
computers, documents and the medical records of its 960 patients.
Until the Feds intervened, these outfits operated legally. Fifty-six
percent of California voters approved Proposition 215, a medical
marijuana measure, in 1996. Initiatives also have legalized medipot in
Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Maine, Oregon, Nevada and Washington. While
the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last May that therapeutic grass
suppliers cannot assert marijuana’s “medical necessity” to avoid
federal drug laws, it did not address the validity of state statutes
permitting clinical cannabis. Federal heavy-handedness has made drug
decriminalizers rail against DEA chief and former GOP congressman Asa
Hutchinson. As the Drug Policy Alliance’s Glenn Backes says: “You have
an appointed official, a career politician from Arkansas, who sits in
Washington, D.C. and tells the voters of California and the other
seven states that have supported medical marijuana: “It doesn’t matter
what you vote for. I have your tax dollars and I’m going to spend them
going after sick people.”
You can read the rest of the column at this link http://www.mapinc.org/author/Deroy+Murdock
We know that you, readers of our DrugSense Focus Alerts, are already
doing your part sending letters to the editor.
Because we also know, as a result of the votes above and respected
national polls, that taking the patients off the battlefields of the
War on Drugs has a solid majority of public support we are asking you
today to help insure that our elected officials to understand this
simple fact. With sustained pressure – both thru educating the media
and the politicians – we can carry the day on this issue.
So we are providing three alerts below — from the Drug Policy
Alliance, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws,
and the Marijuana Policy Project — in the hope that you will use them
to take further action.
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From the Drug Policy Alliance http://www.drugpolicyalliance.org/
URGENT: STOP THE DEA! Protect Patients and Democracy!!!
Your help is urgently needed! The DEA made numerous medical marijuana
raids across the state of California yesterday ( February 12th ),
closing down non-profit medical co-operatives and victimizing AIDS and
Cancer patients. This comes on the very day that the U.S. Justice
Department urged all law-enforcement agencies “to be on the highest
alert” for impending terrorist attacks. Members of Congress need to
know that these actions are unacceptable.
How You Can Help Stop the DEA:
CALL YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS!! TELL THEM:
1) “I’m outraged that the DEA made medical marijuana raids in
California on a day that law-enforcement agencies were supposed to be
on high alert protecting citizens from terrorist attacks.”
2) “The DEA should stop wasting millions of dollars attacking
patients.”
3) “Congress should cut the DEA’s budget by the amount spent on these
raids.”
4) “Members of Congress should issue press releases and go on record
opposing these raids.”
To Call:
Find out who your Representative and two Senators are by calling the
U.S. Capitol Switchboard at ( 202 ) 224-3121.
You can also find out who your Senators are by going
to
http://www.senate.gov/contacting/index_by_state.cfm
You can find out who your Representative is by going
to
http://www.house.gov/house/memberwww.html
AFTER YOU MAKE THOSE PHONE CALLS, go to
http://www.drugpolicy.org/action/frame_mdmj.html
and fax your Senators and Representative. It is VERY IMPORTANT to
follow up your phone calls with faxes.
For more information on medical marijuana and the DEA raids,
see
http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/pr-february12b-02x.html
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From the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws
http://www.norml.org/
Tell Your Congressmen to Oppose DEA Raids of California Medical
Cannabis Co-operatives Send a message that this time the DEA has gone
too far!
On the morning of February 12, DEA agents carried out a massive series
of raids on California’s medical cannabis co-operatives and providers.
The ultimate result of these raids is that hundreds of seriously ill
patients who rely on these support groups must now turn to the streets
and black market in order to obtain their medicine.
Disturbingly, these raids took place on the same day that our nation’s
federal law enforcement agencies were to be on their highest alert
protecting Americans from a possible terrorist attack. At a time when
federal law enforcement resources are desperately needed to combat the
real threat of terrorism in America, it is absurd that the DEA would
spend time and money coordinating and implementing an assault on
California’s medical marijuana patients and providers. Even more
appalling is that this action took place despite the fact that these
clubs enjoy the support of California voters, local law enforcement,
the San Francisco District Attorney’s office, and the San Francisco
Board of Supervisors.
Please take five minutes to write to your Congressmen and Senators,
urging them to go on record opposing these DEA raids as a waste of
time and money and as a violation of the will of the people of
California. We also recommend that you request your elected official
to introduce legislation in Congress to cut the DEA’s budget by the
amount of money spent planning and carrying out these misguided raids.
Thank you for your help in this important matter.
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From the Marijuana Policy Project http://www.mpp.org/
Dear Friend,
At a time when our nation is concerned about the war on terrorism, the
DEA is waging an all-out war on medical marijuana patients.
The Bush administration warned that there was a high likelihood of a
terrorist attack on Tuesday. They were right: That day, DEA thugs
raided a medical marijuana clinic in San Francisco, charging four
activists in the Bay Area with the “crime” of providing medical
marijuana to patients who are legally authorized to use it under state
law. Each of the four defendants now faces between five years and
life in prison.
Significantly, the clinic was authorized by the local prosecutor’s
office, who expressed his outrage that the DEA is trampling the will
of California voters in its sick crusade against sick people.
Please visit http://www.mpp.org/USA today to fax a pre-written letter
of outrage to your U.S. representative and two U.S. senators. The
whole process takes less than two minutes.
( You might have previously used this Web page to fax a pre-written
letter to your U.S. representative. If so, thank you. But please
visit the page again, because we did not have the Web page set up at
the time for faxing your two U.S. senators. )
In an incredible show of arrogance, DEA Administrator Asa Hutchinson
scheduled a speech in San Francisco for that night. He tried to claim
that the DEA is merely enforcing federal drug laws — and that medical
marijuana isn’t really a priority. But the crowd didn’t buy it,
catcalling him and shouting “Liar!” when he said science has shown
that smoking marijuana has no medical benefit. ( News articles are
available at http://www.mpp.org/USA )
He got a taste of the ridicule he deserves. And MPP wants to add to
his disgrace by overwhelming congressional offices with letters of
protest. Please visit http://www.mpp.org/USA right now to ask your
three members of Congress to ( 1 ) rein in the DEA, and ( 2 ) pass
H.R. 2592, which would allow states to determine their own medical
marijuana policies without federal interference — or raids.
As you may know, the Bush administration ran two TV ads during the
Super Bowl and newspaper ads in the week that followed, claiming that
people who buy drugs are really funding terrorism. If that were true,
why would the Bush administration’s DEA shut down a medical marijuana
clinic, thereby forcing hundreds of patients to buy marijuana from
illegal dealers on the streets instead of a locally sanctioned clinic?
And this isn’t the first time. Let’s not forget that in October, the
DEA pushed 1,000 patients into the streets of Los Angeles after
shutting down a clinic in West Hollywood.
The Bush administration is pursuing a harm-maximization, hate-filled,
destructive policy. It’s time to “just say no” to the DEA. Please
visit http://www.mpp.org/USA to tell the DEA’s funders — the United
States Congress — to come down hard on the DEA. The DEA doesn’t
answer to you — or the voters of California, apparently — but it
must answer to Congress. Please act now.
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia, Executive Director, Marijuana Policy Project
P.S. Please ask your family and friends to visit http://www.mpp.org/USA
so they can send their own letters of protest, too. MPP is trying to
generate enough pressure to force Congress to hold hearings on the
DEA’s abuses.
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ADDITIONAL INFO to help you in your letter writing
efforts
Writer’s Resources http://www.mapinc.org/resource/
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Prepared by Richard Lake, Focus Alert Specialist