Date: Tue, 16 Jul 2002
Subject: #246 USA Today Gives Hutchinson Free Ride In Netherlands

DrugSense FOCUS Alert # 246 July 16, 2002

USA Today Gives Hutchinson Free Ride In Netherlands

*********************PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE*************************

DrugSense FOCUS Alert # 246 July 16, 2002

DEA head Asa Hutchinson recently traveled to the Netherlands. USA
Today reported on the trip this week. The article not only lets
Hutchinson make absurd criticisms about the Dutch system without any
challenge, the reporter ignores a number of inconvenient facts, such
as lower drug use rates in the Netherlands.

The article states:

“U.S. law enforcement officials want the Dutch to become less
hospitable to Ecstasy’s manufacturers and smugglers, but they have
little power to make that happen. The Netherlands is a wealthy ally
that cannot be pushed into tougher drug enforcement with the promise
of U.S. aid or the threat of sanctions.”

Surely the reporter knows that pushing countries into “tougher drug
enforcement” does not make a country “less hospitable” to drug
manufacturers – in Colombia such tactics have dramatically increased
drug production.

Please write a letter to USA Today asking why the newspaper is only
telling half the story on the Netherlands.

Thanks for your effort and support.

WRITE A LETTER TODAY

It’s not what others do it’s what YOU do

***************************************************************************

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E-mailing a copy directly to [email protected] if you are not
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This is VERY IMPORTANT as it is one very effective way of gauging our
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************************************************************************

CONTACT INFO

Source: USA Today (US)
Contact: [email protected]

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
—————–

U.S. urges Dutch to toughen drug policy

Webpage: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washdc/2002/07/15/usat-dutch-drugs.htm
Pubdate: July 15, 2002
Source: USA Today (US)
Copyright: 2002 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc
Contact: [email protected]
Website: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nfront.htm
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/466
Author: Donna Leinwand, USA Today

U.S. urges Dutch to toughen drug policy

AMSTERDAM The United States’ anti-drug chief and a Dutch police
commander were touring Amsterdam’s red-light district recently when a
man approached the U.S. law enforcement delegation. “Ecstasy? Viagra?
Cocaina?” he whispered to a Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman.
The Dutch cop shrugged. DEA Administrator Asa Hutchinson grimaced.
Drug dealers are bold here. Drugs, especially the club drug Ecstasy,
are cheap and plentiful. Dutch police mostly look the other way,
preferring to focus on property crimes and public nuisances.

It’s added up to a 100 million-pill-a-year problem for the USA, where
authorities have become increasingly frustrated at how the
Netherlands’ laissez faire approach to drug enforcement has allowed
Ecstasy labs to flourish here.

The Netherlands has become the dominant supplier of the synthetic
hallucinogenic drug that has exploded in popularity among U.S. teens
and young adults. U.S. officials say about 80% of the 2 million
Ecstasy pills flowing into the USA each week are manufactured on Dutch
soil. U.S. Customs officers stationed in New York City-area airports,
the most popular Ecstasy smuggling hubs, say they can make a bust
every other day just by targeting passengers from flights that have
passed through the Netherlands.

The percentage of teens in the USA who use Ecstasy has more than
doubled since 1995, a survey last year by the Partnership for a
Drug-Free America showed. In a nationwide survey of 6,937 youths ages
12-18, 12% said they had used Ecstasy, up from 5% in 1995. It ranks
behind only alcohol and marijuana in teen popularity.

U.S. law enforcement officials want the Dutch to become less
hospitable to Ecstasy’s manufacturers and smugglers, but they have
little power to make that happen. The Netherlands is a wealthy ally
that cannot be pushed into tougher drug enforcement with the promise
of U.S. aid or the threat of sanctions. Instead, U.S. officials are
trying to politely persuade the Dutch to see it their way.

Hutchinson, who visited the Netherlands for two days in June, hopes a
more conservative Dutch parliament elected May 15 and increasing
pressure from less permissive members of the European Union will
prompt the Dutch to pursue dealers and manufacturers more
aggressively.

The Dutch have made significant busts since creating a synthetic-drug
law enforcement division in 1997. In 2000, Dutch authorities
dismantled 23 Ecstasy labs, the U.S. State Department says. Dutch
officials say they intend to close more Ecstasy labs with five new
anti-drug squads. The Dutch parliament recently approved a five-year,
$35 million program aimed at reducing the Ecstasy supply, and the
Dutch justice minister has suggested a registration system for
pillmaking machines.

U.S. officials appreciate the moves. But they say the Netherlands’
underlying tolerance of drugs undermines the crackdowns. Penalties for
dealing and manufacturing drugs are not stiff enough to discourage it,
they say.

“They have a permissive drug policy that has a natural way of
attracting those who want to engage in illegal behavior, and they have
a weak law enforcement structure,” Hutchinson says.

Ecstasy is illegal in the Netherlands. The Dutch, however, regard drug
use primarily as a health issue rather than as a crime problem, so
they focus their efforts on preventing drug use rather than law
enforcement. Licensed shops in the Netherlands sell marijuana for
individual use, and the government provides free needles and clean
rooms where heroin addicts can shoot up. Addicts who become a nuisance
are steered toward treatment. The large-scale dealers and
manufacturers who are prosecuted rarely spend more than a year or two
in prison.

Dutch officials, when challenged on their priorities, refer to an
insatiable U.S. demand for drugs. “What we are doing is fighting some
basic rules of an economic market,” says Steven van Hoogstraten,
former director of drugs policy at the Dutch Justice Ministry.
Manufacturers want to smuggle drugs to the market willing to pay the
highest price, he says, alluding to the USA’s black market.

An Ecstasy pill typically sells for about 50 cents wholesale and $7
retail in the Netherlands; it brings about $15 in the typical U.S.
nightclub. Drug prices in the Netherlands are the lowest in Western
Europe, the United Nations Office for Drug Control Policy says.

The Dutch police report that 40% of the Ecstasy they seized in 1999,
about 1.5 million of 3.7 million tablets, was destined for the USA.
Police data indicate that 8.1 million Ecstasy tablets seized worldwide
in 2000 could be traced to the Netherlands, a State Department report
says.

Manufacturers in the Netherlands usually buy used pill presses from
Asia, particularly India and Thailand. They import the chemicals from
China, the largest producer of chemicals used to make Ecstasy. The
Chinese say they produce the chemicals for making perfume, Dutch
officials say.

“There is no legitimate use for the chemical” in the Netherlands, says
David Borah, the DEA attache based in The Hague. “So we know it’s
being used to make Ecstasy.”

Many smugglers who bring chemicals into the Netherlands find cover at
Rotterdam’s port, the world’s busiest. About 40% of the 6.5 million
containers that pass through the port each year contain chemicals.
Loose European borders mean that smugglers can bring the chemicals and
pill presses from Eastern Europe in tractor-trailers with little risk
of inspection.

Dutch customs officials X-ray 25,000 to 30,000 containers a year, less
than 1% of the 6.5 million containers that pass through Rotterdam each
year. They say they usually need advance intelligence and luck to find
Ecstasy pills in containers the size of railroad cars.

“Try to find a bag of 10,000 pills in a 40-foot container of
tomatoes,” says Kees Visscher of Dutch customs.

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ADDITIONAL INFO to help you in your letter writing
efforts

3 Tips for Letter Writers http://www.mapinc.org/3tips.htm

Letter Writers Style Guide http://www.mapinc.org/style.htm

************************************************************************

SAMPLE LETTER (SENT)

To the Editors of USA TODAY:

DEA Administrator Asa Hutchinson should be seeking advice on drug
policy from the Dutch, not giving it. (“U. S. Urges Dutch to Toughen
Drug Policy” 7-15-02). The Dutch rate of recreational drug use and
abuse is substantially lower than U. S. rates. See:
http://www.drugwarfacts.org/thenethe.htm

If we stop drugs like ecstasy from coming from the Netherlands the
drugs will come from somewhere else. As long as Americans want drugs
and we are willing to pay a substantial price for the drugs, someone
will produce them and someone will get the drugs to the willing
buyers. Guaranteed.

Best regards, Kirk Muse

IMPORTANT: Always remember to include your address and phone
number.

NOTE: If you choose to use this letter as a model please modify it at
least somewhat so that the paper does not receive numerous copies of
the same letter and so that the original author receives credit for
his/her work.

************************************************************************

TARGET ANALYSIS USA Today

With a U.S. circulation of over 2.3 million, the readership
demographics are: Total Adult Readers 4.3 million. Male/Female 66/34%.
Median Age 41 years. Attended College 80%. Median HH Income $71, 661.

The average published letter would cost over $5,000 if purchased as an
ad.

The MAP published letter archive has 53 letters from USA Today. A
recent sample shows they tend to be short – about 40% being under 100
words. The average published is 169 words, and the largest about 300
words.

The published letters can be viewed here:

http://www.mapinc.org/mapcgi/ltedex.pl?SOURCE=USA+Today

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Porterville, CA 93258 (800) 266 5759 [email protected]
http://www.mapinc.org/ http://www.drugsense.org/

**************************** Just DO It!! ******************************

Prepared by Stephen Young – www.maximizingharm.com DrugSense FOCUS
Alert Specialist

Date: Sun, 09 Jun 2002
Subject: Major Media Ignores – National Protest Against DEA

Major Media Ignores – National Protest Against DEA

BLAST THE PRESS – WAKE
UP AMERICA!

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PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE
——-

DrugSense FOCUS Alert #245 9 Jun, 2002

Thursday, June 6th was a nation-wide day of action to push back DEA
attempts to re-criminalize medical cannabis. On or after June 6th,
2002 the DEA will attempt to shut down dispensaries now legally
providing medical cannabis to patients in western states. Protests
were held in 60 cities, and there were arrests in both Washington,
D.C. and San Francisco.

The Media Awareness Project of DrugSense joined California NORML,
Cannabis Action Network, Common Sense Drug Policy, Drug Policy
Alliance, Drug Policy Forum of Texas, Marijuana Policy Project, NORML,
Students for Sensible Drug Policy, Unitarian Universalists for Drug
Policy Reform and other organizations in supporting this direct action
called by Americans for Safe Access http://www.safeaccessnow.org/

Despite efforts of local protest organizers and the protest being
covered by two wire service stories, newspapers carried only 17 items
(list of links below) directly related to the action as newshawked to
MAP or Americans for Safe Access. No major newspapers, with the
exception of the Washington Times and Washington Post provided
coverage on this important national event!

Please write Letters to the Editor to tell your local, state, and
particularly major national newspapers that medical marijuana and
these protests are important news to you and that this type of event
should be covered. Even if your letter is not published, newspaper
editors and publishers need to know what you, their readers, think is
important!

By using this webpage http://www.mapinc.org/media.htm and the ‘List by
Area’ dropdown you can select newspapers in your state, click on the
word ‘Contact” and obtain the email address or webform for sending
Letters to the Editor to your newspaper.

Reports of where local actions were held, and many result reports, are
on the Americans for Safe Access website http://www.safeaccessnow.org/
that may allow you to add some local protest information to your
letter. Other resources with superb information about medical cannabis
include:

http://www.drugwarfacts.org/medicalm.htm – facts referencing respected
sources.

http://marijuanainfo.com/ presents the conflicting views and opinions
of different sides of the medical marijuana debate.

http://www.ohiopatient.net/Poll_Analysis.htm 66 separate public
opinion studies, plus this: An estimated nine million people in the
United States use cannabis medicinally and over the last ten years,
nearly one-quarter of a million people in the United States have been
arrested on medical-marijuana-related offenses.

Thanks for your effort and support.

WRITE A LETTER TODAY

It’s not what others do it’s what YOU do

************************************************************************
PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER OR TELL US WHAT YOU DID
( Letter, Phone, fax etc.)

Please post a copy your letter or report your action to the sent
letter list ([email protected]) if you are subscribed, or by
E-mailing a copy directly to [email protected] if you are not
subscribed. Your letter will then be forwarded to the list with so
others can learn from your efforts and be motivated to follow suit.

Subscribing to the Sent LTE list ([email protected]) will help you to
review other sent LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or
approaches as well as keeping others aware of your important writing
efforts.

To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form

This is VERY IMPORTANT as it is one very effective way of gauging our
impact and effectiveness.
************************************************************************

SAMPLE LETTER that was sent to USA Today

Dear Editor,

Reading today’s USA Today I thought I would find articles about
yesterday’s medical marijuana protests in over 50 cities throughout
the US? I find your paper to be one of the better in existence but do
not understand why there is no mention about this important event.

As you must well know, the DEA will close/are closing medical cannabis
clubs in California in defiance of the will of the California voter
and possibly 80% of the American voter. When polled, the American
people are clearly behind marijuana for the sick, and to a slightly
lesser degree, the American people want some sense to our War On Drugs
and a re-evaluation of our government’s war on marijuana as started by
and with no revisions since the Nixon era.

The time is long overdue to bring science and sanity together on this
issue. The current government scheme to combine drugs and terrorism
and place the American recreational and medical drug user at the
forefront of our recent terrorist woes is unconscionable.

I hope you will continue to service the American people by your good
work in the media and not forget the heart of our domestic problems –
the failed War On Drugs. Patients and their caregivers are now subject
to arrest and imprisonment. If this is not front-page news I don’t
know what is.

Respectfully,

Peter Christopher

IMPORTANT Always include your address and telephone
number

Please note. If you choose to use this letter as a model please modify
it at least somewhat so that the paper does not receive numerous
copies of the same letter and so that the original author receives
credit for his/her work.

———————————————————————-

ADDITIONAL INFO to help you in your letter writing
efforts

Writer’s Resources http://www.mapinc.org/resource/

************************************************************************

Extra Credit. Please consider writing to some or all of the newspapers
that did publish something. Just click on the URL to see the article –
and the contact for your letter.

CA: OPED: Medical Marijuana Feds Should Stop Their Attack URL
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1064/a06.html

CA: Protesters Ask DEA to Change Drug Law URL http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1061/a11.html

WI: Rally Backs Medical Marijuana URL http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1056/a03.html

DC: PUB LTE: Medicinal Marijuana Is Up In Smoke URL
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1059/a07.html

US: OPED Why I Am Willing to Go to Jail For Medical Marijuana URL
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1057/a08.html

CA: 200 Join Santa Rosa Protest of Federal Pot Laws URL
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1057/a09.html

CA: Medicinal Marijuana Advocates Prepare For ‘Day of Direct Action’
URL http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1057/a10.html

CA: Protesters Target DEA Offices Over Medical Pot URL
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1057/a05.html

CA: Medical-Pot Backers Protest To Feds URL http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1056/a10.html

DC: 10 Arrested In Protest Against DEA URL http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1055/a05.html

DC: Hill Protests Target Marijuana, Oil Policies URL
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1053/a06.html

AZ: OPED: Stop The War On Medical Marijuana URL http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1052/a09.html

CA: Medical Marijuana Activists Plan Massive Protest URL
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1050/a05.html

CA: OPED: Stop The Federal War On Medical Marijuana URL
http//www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1049/a07.html

AZ: OPED: We Must Stop The War On Medical Marijuana URL
http//www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1043/a05.html

TX: Making Case For Marijuana URL http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1060/a05.html

CA: Inland Rallies For Medical Pot OK http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1056/a11.html

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Prepared by Richard Lake http://www.mapinc.org/rlake/ Focus Alert
Specialist

Date: Tue, 28 May 2002
Subject: #244 National Columnist Rebuts Drug Czar Fantasies

NATIONAL COLUMNIST REBUTS DRUG CZAR FANTASIES

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PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE
——-

DrugSense FOCUS Alert #244 May 28, 2002

Since his appointment to the unenviable job of being the nation’s
leading drug warrior this past December, John Walters has written
several opinion pieces which quite frankly have been a few cards short
of a full deck with regards to credibility and accuracy. From his
suggestion that American marijuana users support international
terrorism to the idea that they are major contributors to global
ecological destruction, Walters has not only come across as dishonest,
he has bordered on the hysterical.

Nowhere was this more obvious than his late April rant that was
published in the Washington Post and subsequently picked up on the
syndicate wire by a half dozen other newspapers. Here he gravely
intoned the dangers of ‘harmless marijuana’. He prefaced by noting
that for decades the American populace has snickered over
reefer-madness propaganda and then he proceeded to lay out a full
column’s worth of the same misleading information. This column was
nicely rebutted in each of the newspapers it ran in — both by letter
writers and also in a counterpoint column which ran in the St
Petersburg Times.

Now, three weeks after the fact, Chicago Tribune columnist Clarence
Page wrote his own rebuttal and utterly dismantled the key talking
points offered by Walters in his ill-advised piece. Page clearly shows
how Walters manufactures imaginary statistics regarding marijuana
potency levels. He also provides clear and honest examples of how the
voters in eight states and the District of Columbia have decisively
supported the legal access to medical marijuana within their own
borders. This was in direct contrast to the assertions by Walters that
such support constituted a ‘cynical campaign’ to covertly ‘legalize
drugs of all kinds’.

In short, Page’s column was as strong a refutation of a public policy
official’s dishonesty as we have seen at a national level in quite
some time. To date, we know of six newspapers that ran Page’s column.
Interestingly, the combined circulation of these six easily surpassed
the circulation of the six papers the Walters column was published in.
Thus far more Americans were exposed to the truthful rebuttal than to
the original misleading column by Walters.

Please consider writing letters to the papers which showed the courage
to run an opinion column that quite frankly states a federal official
of Walters’ stature is at best misleading the American public and at
worst is outright lying. Only in this way will these and other papers
have the future fortitude to run important and honest rebuttals of any
drug warring official’s opinions which may find their way into print
during the coming months.

Thanks for your effort and support.

WRITE A LETTER TODAY

It’s not what others do it’s what YOU do

************************************************************************
PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER OR TELL US WHAT YOU DID
( Letter, Phone, fax etc.)

Please post a copy your letter or report your action to the sent
letter list ([email protected]) if you are subscribed, or by
E-mailing a copy directly to [email protected] if you are not
subscribed. Your letter will then be forwarded to the list with so
others can learn from your efforts and be motivated to follow suit.

Subscribing to the Sent LTE list ([email protected]) will help you to
review other sent LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or
approaches as well as keeping others aware of your important writing
efforts.

To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm
and/or http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form

This is VERY IMPORTANT as it is one very effective way of gauging our
impact and effectiveness.
************************************************************************

The Page column was originally printed in his hometown newspaper, The
Chicago Tribune. We also have five other newspapers that picked up the
column off the syndicate wire. Please consider sending a letter to
each one. If you do this via e-mail, please be sure to send individual
mailings, though your content may be the same for each letter. LTE
Editors do not like using letters which are CCd to more than one
outlet. If you reference the headline be sure to use the correct on
for each publication as they vary from one paper to another.

Drug Czar Pushes Marijuana Myths With Tax Money
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n988/a01.html
Pubdate: Wed, 22 May 2002
Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)
Contact: [email protected]

Drug Czar Pushes Marijuana Myths With Tax Money
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n990/a02.html
Pubdate: Sun, 26 May 2002
Source: Dallas Morning News (TX)
Contact: [email protected]

Drug Czar Pushes Myths
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n987/a01.html
Pubdate: Sat, 25 May 2002
Source: Buffalo News (NY)
Contact: [email protected]

‘Reefer Madness,’ The Sequel: The Drug Czar’s Odd Ideas
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n984/a07.html
Pubdate: Sat, 25 May 2002
Source: Sacramento Bee (CA)
Contact: [email protected]

Drug Czar Perpetuates Pot Myths
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n981/a11.html
Pubdate: Sat, 25 May 2002
Source: Charlotte Observer (NC)
Contact: [email protected]

Pushing Drug Myths With Our Taxes
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n976/a07.html
Pubdate: Thu, 23 May 2002
Source: The Dominion Post (WV)
Contact: [email protected]

What’s So Scary About Marijuana?
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1002/a07.html
Pubdate: Tue, 28 May 2002
Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MO)
Contact: [email protected]

Hysterical Pot Shots Discredit Drug Czar
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1002/a08.html
Pubdate: Fri, 24 May 2002
Source: Baltimore Sun (MD)
Contact: [email protected]

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DRUG CZAR PUSHES MARIJUANA MYTHS WITH TAX MONEY
by Clarence Page — Chicago Tribune

Our nation’s drug czar is annoyed.

If proponents have their way, the District of Columbia will vote later
this year to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes for the second
time. John P. Walters, director of the Office of National Drug Control
Policy, took some pot shots at the issue in a recent Washington Post
piece that has been reprinted across the country.

Unfortunately, he brings more smoke than light.

“After years of giggling at quaintly outdated marijuana scare stories
like the 1936 movie ‘Reefer Madness,”‘ he writes, “we’ve become almost
conditioned to think that any warning about the true dangers of
marijuana are overblown.”

He then proceeds with unintended irony to give an “overblown” warning
of his own about “The Myth of ‘Harmless’ Marijuana.”

He warns baby boomer parents that “today’s marijuana is different from
that of a generation ago, with potency levels 10 to 20 times stronger
than the marijuana with which they were familiar.”

He doesn’t say where he gets that whopper of a statistic and that’s
too bad, since it conflicts with a federally funded investigation of
marijuana samples confiscated by law enforcement over the past two
decades.

Published in the January, 2000, Journal of Forensic Science, that
study found the THC content (that’s the active ingredient that gets
you high) had only doubled to 4.2 percent from about 2 percent from
1980 to 1997.

Those are not undesirable potency levels when you are using it to
relieve illness.

Yes, marijuana is dangerous. So are cigarettes, liquor and
prescription drugs. The question that Walters fails to address is why
marijuana should be treated differently from those other drugs?

We allow adults to buy cigarettes and alcohol, even though both are
highly addictive and kill thousands every year.

Doctors treat the ill with numerous prescription drugs that are more
dangerous and addictive than marijuana. But they are not allowed to
treat the ill with marijuana, even though many wish they could.

Instead, thousands of Americans have become criminals by purchasing
marijuana rather than seeing their loved ones suffer.

Yet, Walters lambastes what he calls the “cynical campaign underway”
in the District of Columbia and elsewhere “to proclaim the virtues of
‘medical’ marijuana.”

In fact, those “cynical” campaigners include the American Public
Health Association, the New England Journal of Medicine and almost 80
other state and national health-care organizations that support legal
patient access to marijuana for medicinal treatment.

So far, eight states have legalized medical use of marijuana by ballot
initiative or legislation. District of Columbia voters also passed a
referendum in 1998, but it has been blocked by Congress. Where
referendums have been held, they have passed. But, alas, Walters is
following in the path of past drug czars who feel they know what’s
better for voters than the voters themselves do.

Walters dismisses those initiatives as “based on pseudo-science.”
Maybe he did not read the 1999 report by the Institute of Medicine, a
branch of the National Academy of Sciences. It confirmed the
effectiveness of marijuana’s active components in treating pain,
nausea and the anorexic-wasting syndrome associated with AIDS.

Walters says we should wait for more information. He praises a study
now under way at the University of California’s Center for Medicinal
Cannabis Research. But, if that study doesn’t come out the way Walters
would like, you have to wonder, will he ignore that one, too?

“By now most Americans realize that the push to ‘normalize’ marijuana
for medical use is part of the drug legalization agenda,” he says,
mentioning financier George Soros and others who have contributed to
the legalization cause. Walters does not mention the billions of tax
dollars that he, as drug czar, has at his disposal to push marijuana
myths – with our tax money!

Instead, Walters arouses our passions by recounting the lawlessness of
violent marijuana-dealing street gangs in the District. If anything, pot
gangs offer us another good reason to legalize marijuana. After all, when a
drug is outlawed, only outlaws will have the drug.
******************************************************************************

SAMPLE LETTER

To the Editors:

Thank you for publishing Clarence Page’s outstanding OPED: “DRUG CZAR
PUSHES MYTHS” (Sat, 25 May 2002).

I agree with Drug Czar John P. Walters’ assertion that many of those
that support the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes have
an agenda beyond just the legalization of marijuana for medicine.

I proudly count myself as having such an agenda.

Those who opposed slavery had an agenda, as did those who opposed the
mass murder of Jews and other minorities in Germany. And those who
opposed racial segregation, obviously had an agenda.

Those who opposed alcohol prohibition because it was counter-
productive and caused much more harm than it prevented obviously had
an agenda.

And yes, we who oppose recreational drug prohibition because it is
counterproductive and is causing much more harm than it prevents,
proudly have an agenda.

Best regards,

Kirk Muse

IMPORTANT: Always include your address and telephone
number

Please note: If you choose to use this letter as a model please modify it
at least somewhat so that the paper does not receive numerous copies of the
same letter and so that the original author receives credit for his/her work.
—————————————————————————-

TO SUBSCRIBE, DONATE, VOLUNTEER TO HELP, OR UPDATE YOUR EMAIL SEE
http://www.drugsense.org/hurry.htm

TO UNSUBSCRIBE SEE http://www.drugsense.org/unsub.htm

ADDITIONAL INFO to help you in your letter writing
efforts

3 Tips for Letter Writers http://www.mapinc.org/3tips.htm

Letter Writers Style Guide http://www.mapinc.org/style.htm

****************************************************************************

Prepared by Stephen Heath http://www.flcan.org Focus Alert Specialist

Date: Wed, 15 May 2002
Subject: # 243 Drug Warriors Admit Their Propaganda Fails

Drug Warriors Admit Their Propaganda Fails

——-
PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE
——-

DrugSense FOCUS Alert #243 Wed. May 15, 2002

Being a prohibitionist means you never turn your back on well-funded
projects, no matter how dismal the results. Drug Czar John Walters
this week acknowledged that the television advertising campaign
designed to push young viewers away from drugs has failed. Walters
makes his admission at a significant time, as the ad campaign will
soon be considered for refunding by the US Congress.

Quoted in a Wall Street Journal story, Walters is ready to fight for
the funds, despite poor outcomes. Even though his colleagues couldn’t
get it right after spending $929 million on the program, Walters says
that the ads can be improved. He also talks about more insidious plans
to lobby television script writers for more drug hysteria.

While the story addresses the ad program’s failure as measured by
survey, it overlooks many ethical questions raised by government
payments to media outlets. Despite some problems in the reporting of
the story, even the WSJ sees what’s going on: “In effect, Mr. Walters
is attempting to spin some otherwise gloomy news.”

Please write to the Wall Street Journal to ask if legislators are
going to throw away another $929 million for a program that threatens
the quality of information about drugs more than it threatens drug
use.

Thanks for your effort and support.

WRITE A LETTER TODAY

It’s not what others do it’s what YOU do

************************************************************************
PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER OR TELL US WHAT YOU DID
( Letter, Phone, fax etc.)

Please post a copy your letter or report your action to the sent
letter list ([email protected]) if you are subscribed, or by
E-mailing a copy directly to [email protected] if you are not
subscribed. Your letter will then be forwarded to the list with so
others can learn from your efforts and be motivated to follow suit.

Subscribing to the Sent LTE list ([email protected]) will help you to
review other sent LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or
approaches as well as keeping others aware of your important writing
efforts.

To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm
and/or http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form

This is VERY IMPORTANT as it is one very effective way of gauging our
impact and effectiveness.

************************************************************************

CONTACT INFO

Source: Wall Street Journal (US)
Contact: [email protected]

***************************************************************************
ARTICLE

Pubdate: Tue, 14 May 2002
Source: Wall Street Journal (US)
Copyright: 2002 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Contact: [email protected]
Website: http://www.wsj.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/487
Author: Vanessa O’connell
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n915/a09.ht

NEW DRUG CZAR SAYS AD CAMPAIGN AIMED AT CHILDREN HAS FLOPPED

WASHINGTON — So much for those flashy TV ads intended to inspire
American kids to stay off drugs . The new U.S. drug czar, John P.
Walters, says the government’s antidrug advertising of recent years
has failed. Worse, he fears it even may have inspired some youngsters
to experiment with marijuana.

“This campaign isn’t reducing drug use,” said Mr. Walters, who became
head of the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy earlier this
year.

Mr. Walters was openly critical of the ads even before taking office,
and argued that the advertising effort was in dire need of an
overhaul. Now, he said, he is armed with survey data that support his
suspicions that the campaign hasn’t worked.

The five-year-old antidrug program is unusual among public-health
advertising because it is funded largely by taxpayers — $929 million
so far — rather than nonprofit groups or public service spots that
media outlets run free of charge. Moreover, Congress enacted an
unusual law requiring TV networks, cable outlets, magazines and other
media to donate an equal amount of ad space for each ad purchase,
effectively doubling the impact of the government dollars.

The so-called National Youth Anti-Drug Media campaign includes more
than 212 TV commercials featuring such performers as the Dixie Chicks
and hip-hop singer Mary J. Blige, as well as actors posing as drug
users. The campaign, developed by some of the best-known agencies on
Madison Avenue, was considered a novel step in public health
advertising because it was aimed directly at kids. (The ads didn’t
include the famous “This is your brain on drugs ” commercials, a
campaign from a nonprofit group that no longer is being used.)

The antidrug effort is now up for reauthorization for an additional
five years. At a time when plenty of government programs are seeking
funding, Mr. Walters wants Congress to appropriate for next fiscal
year the same $180 million it gave to the campaign this year, though
he argues it will be managed more efficiently. He spent much of Monday
afternoon placing calls to U.S. lawmakers, national nonprofit
organizations and other players in the war on drugs to argue that
while the effort has failed to achieve its goals, it deserves
continued support.

(Snipped for space – to see the article in its entirety, go here:
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n915/a09.ht )

Although traditional advertising has been the centerpiece of the
effort, the Office of National Drug Control Policy has been
experimenting with other means of getting its message across. For
example, the office has been bringing together TV script writers with
drug abuse experts in an effort to persuade the creators of TV shows
to show drug abuse as a problem that extends beyond poor inner-city
neighborhoods.

Starved for ad dollars amid an advertising recession now in its second
year, the media world initially hoped it could get paid by the
antidrug agency to promote its cause in shows. But the government so
far hasn’t paid for script development with taxpayer funds.

People familiar with the matter said that if the traditional
advertising continues to deliver disappointing results, the office
will abandon the program and Mr. Walters will begin to experiment with
other ways of reaching young people. He declined to be more specific,
adding, “We intend to be more rigorous in our testing.” Mr. Walters
also suggested he may target older teenagers rather than kids 12 and
13 years old.

According to data cited by the government agency, drug abuse by young
people remains stubbornly high. In an annual survey by the University
of Michigan released last December, 25% of high-school seniors said
they used illegal drugs in the prior month; more than half said they
experimented with illegal drugs at least once before graduation.

******************************************************************************

SAMPLE LETTER (sent)

To the Editor of the Wall Street Journal:

After spending $929 million over four years, the Office of National Drug
Policy Control has finally determined that taxpayer-sponsored anti-drug ads
fail to impact levels of youth drug use (“New drug czar says ad campaign
aimed at children has flopped,” May 14). Is anybody really surprised? Even
less surprising is the reaction of drug czar John Walters: Lobby for
additional funds to keep the program going. As usual, measured failure in
drug control efforts is met with outstretched palms and promises that
things are going to get better, as long as the funding continues.

Somewhat surprising was the assertion made by the story’s author: “But the
government so far hasn’t paid for script development with taxpayer funds.”
That statement contradicts details reported only a couple years ago by many
media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal. The Journal story titled
“Subplot: Networks let White House vet scripts to press antidrug line”
(Jan. 14, 2000) states: “To broadcast various antidrug messages in
commercials and during shows, Mr. Weiner said the drug office will pay
networks nearly $200 million in the year that started Oct. 1.”

Did we pay or didn’t we? Those of us critical of the government’s
anti-drug media campaign have worried that dangling advertising
dollars in front of newspapers and TV stations will encourage the
media to spin information towards the government’s viewpoint. Did I
just see that happen?

Stephen Young

IMPORTANT: Always include your address and telephone
number

Please note: If you choose to use this letter as a model please modify it
at least somewhat so that the paper does not receive numerous copies of the
same letter and so that the original author receives credit for his/her work.
—————————————————————————-

TO SUBSCRIBE, DONATE, VOLUNTEER TO HELP, OR UPDATE YOUR EMAIL SEE
http://www.drugsense.org/hurry.htm

TO UNSUBSCRIBE SEE http://www.drugsense.org/unsub.htm

ADDITIONAL INFO to help you in your letter writing
efforts

3 Tips for Letter Writers http://www.mapinc.org/3tips.htm

Letter Writers Style Guide http://www.mapinc.org/style.htm

****************************************************************************

TARGET ANALYSIS

From their website: “The Wall Street Journal’s 1,943,601 readers are
a highly intelligent, diverse and desirable audience for marketers.
They are today’s key decision makers in government, commerce and
industry….” So the Journal is a very good target for Letters to the
Editor.

Our sample of the body of published letters shows that the average one
printed is about 210 words, with a range of from 116 words to 400
words. These published letters averaged 3.7 paragraphs with a range of
1 to 7 paragraphs. We notice that about half of published letters
included some title that reflected a possible expertise in the
subject, so if you have such a title as a reformer, author, whatever,
please include it. To review previous published letters please click
this link:

http://www.mapinc.org/mapcgi/ltedex.pl?SOURCE=Wall+Street+Journal

Maybe we will not have seven letters published in a special box as we
did back in June ’98 http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98/n493/a02.html
– but with your help we can at least try!

****************************************************************************
Prepared by Stephen Young – www.maximizingharm.com
and Richard Lake
Focus Alert Specialists

Date: Wed, 08 May 2002
Subject: # 242 Disease Plays Better Than Needle Exchange In Peoria

Disease Plays Better Than Needle Exchange In Peoria

——-
PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE
——-

DrugSense FOCUS Alert #242 Wed, 8 May 2002

Needle exchanges have been an important part of efforts to block the
transmission of disease among intravenous drug users. Apparently the
news hasn’t made it to Peoria yet. The local newspaper ran several
stories this week about a needle exchange program in the city. The
coverage included a remarkably ignorant editorial that is reproduced
below. A column printed the same day that’s almost as bad can be
viewed here: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n875/a10.html

The attack against needle exchange has now become a personal attack on
the provider of the services. The editorial viciously attacked Beth
Wehrman, a courageous reformer who has brought successful harm
reduction efforts to many cities in Illinois. Beth is also a dedicated
Media Awareness Project volunteer. The effectiveness of street
outreach and needle exchange programs has been proven in study after
study – for information on the subject see http://www.drugwarfacts.org/syringee.htm

Tuesday evening, May 7th, in a rush to judgement, the City Council of
Peoria acted, and the Wednesday morning banner headline is “Needle
Exchange Program Outlawed.” See http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02.n881.a07.html

Unfortunately, the Peoria Journal Star and some local politicians
clearly haven’t taken the time to read the evidence. Instead their
arguments are based on prejudice and illogical assumptions. Please
write a letter to the Peoria Star Journal to politely remind editors
that a little research might save them from embarrassing themselves in
the future. It might also help to reduce the harm of the drug war in
their city. Please also consider writing to the City Council in
Peoria. Contact information is below.

Thanks for your effort and support.

WRITE A LETTER TODAY

It’s not what others do it’s what YOU do

************************************************************************

PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER OR TELL US WHAT YOU DID ( Letter,
Phone, fax etc.)

Please post a copy your letter or report your action to the sent
letter list ([email protected]) if you are subscribed, or by
E-mailing a copy directly to [email protected] if you are not
subscribed. Your letter will then be forwarded to the list with so
others can learn from your efforts and be motivated to follow suit.

Subscribing to the Sent LTE list ([email protected]) will help you to
review other sent LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or
approaches as well as keeping others aware of your important writing
efforts.

To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm
and/or http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form

This is VERY IMPORTANT as it is one very effective way of gauging our
impact and effectiveness.

************************************************************************

CONTACT INFO

Source: Peoria Journal Star (IL)
Contact: [email protected]

—————————————————————————-

EXTRA CREDIT

Please let the Peoria Mayor and City Council know what you think about
their efforts to run Beth out of town! Please be polite and positive.
Educate them!

Mayor: David Ransburg [email protected]

Council Members:
Jim Ardis [email protected]
Charles Grayeb [email protected]
Clyde Gulley Jr. [email protected]
John Morris [email protected]
Patrick Nichting [email protected]
Gary Sandberg [email protected]
William Spears [email protected]
Marcella Teplitz [email protected]
Gale Thetford [email protected]
Eric Turner [email protected]

***************************************************************************

EDITORIAL

Pubdate: Tue, 07 May 2002
Source: Peoria Journal Star (IL)
Copyright: 2002 Peoria Journal Star
Contact: [email protected]
Website: http://pjstar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/338
Related: Please read thru the following to see exactly how this newspaper
created the hysteria:
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n852/a09.html
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n867/a02.html
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n867/a01.html
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n875/a10.html
Facts: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/syringee.htm
Bookmarks: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction)
http://www.mapinc.org/find?137 (Needle Exchange)

GET THE POINT: ‘NEEDLE LADY’ SHOULD BE SENT PACKING

Letting somebody drive into a residential neighborhood and give away
needles to junkies is the craziest idea that’s come this way in a long
time. It’s as bizarre as any urban legend that’s gone around, but it’s
true. Unfortunately.

Every Wednesday, Beth Wehrman cruises through Peoria’s South Side,
pulls over and hands out needles and syringes to drug addicts who,
neighbors complain, sometimes shoot up in public view and throw the
refuse onto their property. This goes on near a school, near
businesses and near homes. And this, Wehrman would have you believe,
is good for the city because it will reduce the incidence of AIDS.

Don’t you believe her. The weekly appearance of the “needle lady” (as
the neighbors call her) is a hideous threat to this neighborhood and
to any city that permits it. It lures junkies in. Junkies scare good
homeowners, renters and businesses away. It tells kids that drug use
must be more than OK, it must be very good, because otherwise somebody
wouldn’t be handing out needles for free. Even the ice cream man makes
you pay. It gives suburbanites one more reason to stay there and
Peorians one new reason to think about moving out.

The needle exchange program is part of an effort to limit the spread
of AIDS by encouraging addicts to return their used needles and shoot
up with clean ones. Nearly one-fourth of new AIDS cases can be traced
to contaminated needle reuse. Wehrman, a nurse, runs a Rock Island
based agency which partners with a Chicago alliance that says it is
engaged in public health research about needles. She also has a grant
from the Champaign-Urbana Public Health which is supposed to be used
for prevention and education. Wehrman also hands out condoms and gives
hepatitis immunizations and HIV tests.

While the support for needle exchanges is growing to counteract the
threat of AIDS, there are a number of reasons for communities to
embrace them reluctantly. Drugs can kill; sterilizing a needle does
not make usage safe. Illegal drug use is illegal; cities should not
abet those who would break the law. Junkies destroy families and
communities; society should not sanction or enable them.

Whatever the role for privately funded needle exchanges might be
should be limited to programs operated in conjunction with a broader
effort to wean people off drugs. There is some evidence that addicts
who come to agencies for clean needles become receptive, over time, to
starting treatment. But a clinic, where a counselor is available, is a
far cry from a street-corner encounter with a nurse in a car who says
it’s not her job to recommend that abusers see the light.

Tonight the Peoria City Council will consider an ordinance that would
limit the sale or exchange of needles to a building in a part of town
that is not residentially zoned, and also require the distributor to
tell the police when and where he’ll be working. Corporation counsel
Randy Ray believes this is as far as state law permits cities to go.
Wehrman maintains that if she is forced to move to a storefront or
clinic, she won’t be able to reach as many people.

That would be wonderful.

The first responsibility of any city is not to keep its drug addicts
healthy but to protect the people who live and work in its
neighborhoods, who obey the law every day and who are trying to teach
their children to do the same. Residents of the Olde Towne South
neighborhood where Wehrman sets up shop already put up with too many
neighborhood vermin. They shouldn’t have to advertise for imports.

The Peoria City Council should do whatever it takes to put this
huckster wagon out of business. Then it should ask the state
Legislature to take a second look at the 50-year-old law that courts
have said justifies street-corner giveaways if the distributor says
she’s doing important research. That’s really preposterous.

******************************************************************************

SAMPLE LETTER (sent)

To the Editor of the Peoria Journal Star:

I was very disappointed to read your editorial “Get the Point,” about
the so-called “needle lady,” Beth Wehrman. The slightest bit of
research would have dispelled many myths editorialists presented as
facts.

The editorial stated, “While the support for needle exchanges is
growing to counteract the threat of AIDS, there are a number of
reasons for communities to embrace them reluctantly.” Unfortunately,
the editorial did not cite any studies that would explain such
reluctance. Authors must have missed virtually every study released on
needle exchanges in the past five years.

Four years ago, the U.S. Surgeon General stated: “After reviewing all
of the research to date, the senior scientists of the Department and I
have unanimously agreed that there is conclusive scientific evidence
that syringe exchange programs, as part of a comprehensive HIV
prevention strategy, are an effective public health intervention that
reduces the transmission of HIV and does not encourage the use of
illegal drugs.”

That perspective has not changed in the scientific community. Hmmm,
who’s judgement should I trust, editorialists in Peoria or the former
Surgeon General?

The judgement of editorialists was further put into question with a
number of statements including: “Wehrman maintains that if she is
forced to move to a storefront or clinic, she won’t be able to reach
as many people. That would be wonderful.”

Difficult problems are best dealt with in the open. Pushing them
underground only helps them to fester and grow. Maybe this is what the
Peoria Journal Star wants the injection drug problem to fester and
grow, but please don’t try to use obfuscation to convince anyone that
that increasing the harm from IV drug use is in the community’s best
interest.

Stephen Young Member Drug Policy Forum of Illinois

—————————————————————————-

IMPORTANT: Always include your address and telephone
number

Please note: If you choose to use this letter as a model please modify
it at least somewhat so that the paper does not receive numerous
copies of the same letter and so that the original author receives
credit for his/her work.

ADDITIONAL INFO to help you in your letter writing
efforts

Writer’s Resources http://www.mapinc.org/resource/

****************************************************************************

Prepared by Stephen Young – www.maximizingharm.com Focus Alert
Specialist

Date: Wed, 01 May 2002
Subject: Drug Czar Ignores IOM Report, Record Of Failure

**********************************************************************

DrugSense FOCUS Alert #241 Wed, 1 May 2002

Drug Czar Ignores IOM Report, Record of Failure

Write Away! Write Now! It’s your Right to Write! Just DO
It!

********************* PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE ******************

Taking a break from blaming drug users for September 11th, Drug Czar
John Walters has published yet another misleading op-ed. This time
the subject is marijuana and the Washington Post is the messenger.
Walters pretends to be rational and even goes so far as to acknowledge
the existence of prohibition-related violence.

Unfortunately, in Walters’ mind gangland killings are acceptable
collateral damage providing the price of marijuana remains high. The
near-record levels of drug use cited by Walters suggest that the price
of pot has not kept kids from smoking it. Walters’ most glaring
offense is his lies about medical marijuana. In claiming a lack of
available research on a plant that has been used medicinally for
thousands of years, Walters’ ignores the recommendations of the 1999
Institute of Medicine Report, commissioned by the very same White
House Office of National Drug Policy he works for.

Potential LTE talking points:

* There is no evidence that marijuana use would “soar” if legal. If anything
tough drug laws increase use. A majority of European Union countries have
decriminalized pot. Despite marijuana prohibition, lifetime use of
marijuana in
the U.S. is higher than any European country. See:
http://www.monitoringthefuture.org/pubs/espad_pr.pdf

* The anti-tobacco campaign Walters mentions succeeded at reducing
tobacco use without relying on a punitive criminal-justice system. If
social marketing works for addictive tobacco, why is the threat of
criminal records necessary to deter marijuana use?

* Drug policy dictated by federal bureaucrats with “drug-free”
backgrounds gives rise to policy based on ignorance. Key stakeholders
(actual drug users) are not only ignored, but persecuted and
incarcerated.

* The increased marijuana potency cited by Walters, if true, is not
necessarily a bad thing. Potent pot requires less smoke inhalation
and incurs fewer health risks to the user.

* The ONDCP needs to stop pretending there is no scientific basis for medical
marijuana and read the recommendations of its own report. See:
http://www.mpp.org/science.html

Thanks for your effort and support.

WRITE A LETTER TODAY

It’s not what others do it’s what YOU do

**********************************************************************

PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER OR TELL US WHAT YOU DID ( Letter,
Phone, fax etc.)

Please post a copy your letter or report your action to the sent
letter list ([email protected]) if you are subscribed, or by
E-mailing a copy directly to [email protected] if you are not
subscribed. Your letter will then be forwarded to the list with so
others can learn from your efforts and be motivated to follow suit.

Subscribing to the Sent LTE list ([email protected]) will help you to
review other sent LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or
approaches as well as keeping others aware of your important writing
efforts.

To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm
and/or http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form

This is VERY IMPORTANT as it is one very effective way of gauging our
impact and effectiveness.

************************************************************************

CONTACT INFO

[email protected]

*************************************************************************
ARTICLE

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n832/a02.html

Webpage: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11915-2002Apr30.html
Pubdate: Wed, 01 May 2002
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Page: A25
Copyright: 2002 The Washington Post Company
Contact: [email protected]
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Author: John P. Walters
Note: The writer is director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

THE MYTH OF ‘HARMLESS’ MARIJUANA

Last December the University of Michigan released its annual survey
“Monitoring the Future,” which measures drug use among American youth.
Very little had changed from the previous year’s report; most
indicators were flat. The report generated little in the way of public
comment.

Yet what it brought to light was deeply disturbing. Drug use among our
nation’s teens remains stable, but at near-record levels, with some 49
percent of high school seniors experimenting with marijuana at least
once prior to graduation — and 22 percent smoking marijuana at least
once a month.

After years of giggling at quaintly outdated marijuana scare stories
like the 1936 movie “Reefer Madness,” we’ve become almost conditioned
to think that any warnings about the true dangers of marijuana are
overblown. But marijuana is far from “harmless” — it is pernicious.
Parents are often unaware that today’s marijuana is different from
that of a generation ago, with potency levels 10 to 20 times stronger
than the marijuana with which they were familiar.

Marijuana directly affects the brain. Researchers have learned that it
impairs the ability of young people to concentrate and retain
information during their peak learning years, and when their brains
are still developing. The THC in marijuana attaches itself to
receptors in the hippocampal region of the brain, weakening short-term
memory and interfering with the mechanisms that form long-term memory.
Do our struggling schools really need another obstacle to student
achievement?

Marijuana smoking can hurt more than just grades. According to the
Department of Health and Human Services, every year more than 2,500
admissions to the District of Columbia’s overtaxed emergency rooms —
some 300 of them for patients under age 18 — are linked to marijuana
smoking, and the number of marijuana-related emergencies is growing.
Each year, for example, marijuana use is linked to tens of thousands
of serious traffic accidents.

Research has now established that marijuana is in fact addictive. Of
the 4.3 million Americans who meet the diagnostic criteria for needing
drug treatment ( criteria developed by the American Psychiatric
Association, not police departments or prosecutors ) two-thirds are
dependent on marijuana, according to HHS. These are not occasional pot
smokers but people with real problems directly traceable to their use
of marijuana, including significant health problems, emotional
problems and difficulty in cutting down on use. Sixty percent of teens
in drug treatment have a primary marijuana diagnosis.

Despite this and other strong scientific evidence of marijuana’s
destructive effects, a cynical campaign is underway, in the District
and elsewhere, to proclaim the virtues of “medical” marijuana. By now
most Americans realize that the push to “normalize” marijuana for
medical use is part of the drug legalization agenda. Its chief
funders, George Soros, John Sperling and Peter Lewis, have spent
millions to help pay for referendums and ballot initiatives in states
from Alaska to Maine. Now it appears that a medical marijuana campaign
may be on the horizon for the District.

Why? Is the American health care system — the most sophisticated in the
world —
really being hobbled by a lack of smoked medicines? The University of
California’s
Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research is currently conducting scientific
studies
to determine the efficacy of marijuana in treating various ailments. Until that
research is concluded, however, most of what the public hears from marijuana
activists is little more than a compilation of anecdotes. Many questions remain
unanswered, but the science is clear on a few things. Example: Marijuana
contains
hundreds of carcinogens.

Moreover, anti-smoking efforts aimed at youth have been remarkably
effective by building on a campaign to erode the social acceptability
of tobacco. Should we undermine those efforts by promoting smoked
marijuana as though it were a medicine?

While medical marijuana initiatives are based on pseudo-science, their
effects on the criminal justice system are anything but imaginary. By
opening up legal loopholes, existing medical marijuana laws have
caused police and prosecutors to stay away from marijuana
prosecutions.

Giving marijuana dealers a free pass is a terrible idea. In fact,
thanks in part to excellent reporting in The Post, District residents
are increasingly aware that marijuana dealers are dangerous criminals.
The recent life-without-parole convictions of leaders of Washington’s
K Street Crew are only the latest evidence of this.

As reported in The Post, the K Street Crew was a vicious group of
marijuana dealers whose decade-long reign of terror was brought to an
end only this year after a massive prosecution effort by Michael
Volkov, chief gang prosecutor for the U.S. attorney’s office. The K
Street Crew is credited with at least 17 murders, including systematic
killings of potential witnesses. ( It should not be confused with the
L Street Crew, a D.C. marijuana gang that killed eight people in the
course of doing business. )

Says prosecutor Volkov: “The experience in D.C. shows that marijuana
dealers are no
less violent than cocaine and heroin traffickers. They have just as much
money to
lose, just as much turf to lose, and just as many reasons to kill as any drug
trafficker.”

Skeptics will charge that this kind of violence is just one more
reason to legalize marijuana. A review of the nation’s history with
drug use suggests otherwise: When marijuana is inexpensive, as it
would be if legal, use soars — bad news for the District’s schools,
streets and emergency rooms.

***********************************************************************

SAMPLE LETTER

To the Editor:

Drug czar John Walters is confused if he thinks that the principal
argument for marijuana legalization is that the plant is relatively
harmless. Like any drug, marijuana can be harmful if abused. It is
not the effects of marijuana that necessitate drug law reform, but
rather the effects of marijuana prohibition.

Walters notes near-record levels of marijuana smoking among teenagers,
yet fails to consider that drug dealers don’t ID for age. Apparently
Walters thinks leaving marijuana distribution in the hands of
organized crime is a good thing providing pot remains expensive.

Walters goes so far as to suggest the 17 murders committed by the K
Street Crew, one of two “marijuana gangs” cited by Walters, are
acceptable collateral damage. I for one do not approve of my tax
dollars subsidizing organized crime and violence. The marijuana plant
has never killed anyone. The same cannot be said of marijuana
prohibition.

Finally, we have the effects of drug laws on the individual. A heavy
marijuana smoker will no doubt experience some negative consequences,
but short-term memory problems are inconsequential compared to
long-term criminal records. The government does not actively try and
destroy the lives of alcoholics. I fail to see why marijuana smokers
should be singled out for punishment.

Robert Sharpe

IMPORTANT: Always include your address and telephone
number

Please note: If you choose to use this letter as a model please modify
it at least somewhat so that the paper does not receive numerous
copies of the same letter and so that the original author receives
credit for his/her work.

—————————————————————————-

TARGET ANALYSIS

The Washington Post has over 1.5 million readers daily, 2.1 million
readers on Sunday. While the Post has a nationwide audience, it most
effectively reaches the people, and those who work for the federal
government, inside the beltway.

Reviewing previously published letters at http://www.mapinc.org/mapcgi/ltedex.pl?SOURCE=Washington+Post
it is clear that the Post selects fairly short – three or four
paragraph – letters to the editor to print. The body of the average
printed letter is 146 words. The range of published letters is between
104 and 210 words in length.

TWO MORE ALERT TARGETS

The John P. Walters, U.S. Drug Czar’s OPED “The Myth of ‘Harmless’
Marijuana” which was printed in the Washington Post also appeared in the
following two newspapers Thursday, 2 May

Source: St. Petersburg Times (FL)
Contact: [email protected]

Source: Tampa Tribune (FL)
Contact: [email protected]

———————————————————————-

ADDITIONAL INFO to help you in your letter writing
efforts

Writer’s Resources http://www.mapinc.org/resource/

********************************************************************

Prepared by Robert Sharpe, Focus Alert Specialist

Date: Fri, 26 Apr 2002
Subject: #240 Smoke Pot And Kill The Environment

**********************************************************************

DrugSense FOCUS Alert # 240 Fri, 26 Apr 2002

Smoke Pot and Kill the Environment

********************* PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE *********************

The United States Drug Czar, John Walters, got loose with his second
published OPED earlier this week out of his great respect for the
environment and the supporters of Earth Day and other right thinking
American ideals.

He is gravy-training on the two month old ONDCP ad campaign which
continues to tell Americans that if they smoke pot they are funding
terrorism. As if that is not enough to weigh down the conscience of
tens of millions of citizens, now they must also accept the burden of
being responsible for environmental damage. Most noted are the
destruction of South America and also North America…in short — half
the planet or better.

The OPED is full o’ bull in nice heaping helpings for those who enjoy
rebutting tired and stale accusations wrapped coyly in the thin,
easily penetrated onion skin of a new ‘angle’.

We invite you to consider writing one or both of the newspapers it ran
in (to date), and let them know how you feel about some of the points
that Walters makes. Please do not send the same exact letter to both
papers since they are in very similar geographical markets. If time is
a concern, consider at least a few modifications so each letter is
distinct.

Thanks for your support and enjoy.

WRITE A LETTER TODAY

It’s not what others do – it’s what YOU do

**********************************************************************

PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER OR TELL US WHAT YOU DID ( Letter,
Phone, fax etc.)

Please post a copy your letter or report your action to the sent
letter list ([email protected]) if you are subscribed, or by
E-mailing a copy directly to [email protected] if you are not
subscribed. Your letter will then be forwarded to the list with so
others can learn from your efforts and be motivated to follow suit.

Subscribing to the Sent LTE list ([email protected]) will help you to
review other sent LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or
approaches as well as keeping others aware of your important writing
efforts.

To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm
and/or http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form

This is VERY IMPORTANT as it is our way of gauging our impact and
effectiveness.

**********************************************************************

CONTACT INFO:

The OPED was printed in these newspapers, and perhaps
others.

April 22 in The Oregonian
US OR: OPED: The Other Drug War
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n782/a03.html
Contact: [email protected]
Website: http://www.oregonlive.com/

and

April 24 in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
US WA: OPED: Drugs Destroy Environment Too
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n795/a08.html
Webpage: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/67652_drugop.shtml
Contact: [email protected]
Website: http://www.seattle-pi.com/

Here is a portion of the column, from the webpage URL
above:

DRUGS DESTROY ENVIRONMENT TOO

Wednesday, April 24, 2002
By JOHN P. WALTERS, DRUG CZAR

We know that illegal drugs do a great deal of harm — to our bodies,
our minds and our communities.

But there’s another harm associated with illegal drugs that more and
more Americans are beginning to understand: The billions of dollars
Americans spend on drugs each year are taking a horrific toll on some
of the most fragile and diverse ecosystems on the planet.

Consider the Andes and Amazonian regions of South America. In
countries such as Colombia and Peru, astonishing environmental riches
abound. The Huallaga region of Peru may be the world’s richest in all
forms of fauna, hosting record numbers of species among butterflies,
amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. Colombia contains roughly 10
percent of the Earth’s biodiversity, second only to Brazil.

But that diversity is rapidly being destroyed. Environmental
journalist Stephanie Joyce, reporting in International Wildlife,
described the scenes she had witnessed in the Andean region: “a
devastated landscape … an accordion of scarred red hillsides dotted
with rotting tree stumps. The forest has disappeared as far as the eye
can see.”

Who cut down the forest, wiped out the fragile wildlife, depleted the
soil and left behind a chemically poisoned scar that had once been
rainforest? It’s a tragic story of greed and dependency. But the
culprit here isn’t a rapacious corporation. It’s our demand for
illegal drugs.

It is time we look at the real, far-reaching consequences of our drug
use and the damage we are doing to our selves and to our world.

Our government and the host nations have tried to curtail cocaine
production by spraying coca fields with glyphosate (the chemical
compound that has been used safely by millions of Americans for
years). But our spraying is not the engine driving all this
environmental destruction; it’s the growing and processing of cocaine
itself. Illegal drug manufacturers, obviously, follow no environmental
or safety rules.

**********************************************************************

SAMPLE LETTER

NOTE If you choose to use this letter as a model please modify it at
least somewhat so that the paper does not receive numerous copies of
the same letter and so that the original author receives credit for
his/her work.

To the Editor:

Drug Czar Walters weaves a tawdry web of deceit in his column and
leaves us struggling to identify our most astonished moment when reading.

Since over 85% of illegal drug use he references is adults smoking
marijuana, it is a fanciful twist to tie them in with the growers of
coca and the manufacturers domestically of methamphetamines. However
after his Super Bowl ad campaign theme of linking us to Osama Bin
Laden, I guess it’s par for the course. His observations would have
more value if he acknowledged that current U.S. drug policy is
directly responsible for the obscene profits of illegal drug sales. We
note that alcohol and tobacco users are not destroyers of the
environment since their products are produced in a legal and regulated
marketplace.

But likely even more boggling was Walters’ , “Our government ….have
tried….spraying coca fields with glyphosate (the chemical compound
that has been used safely by millions of Americans for years).”

Thus, Mr. Walters with a straight face now cites glysophate as being a
‘safe’ product to be dumping out of airplanes with huge barrels and
sprayers. Day after day after day across the Colombian farmlands. Mr
Czar, please note this is not what I read on the bottle of glysphate I
bought at the nursery last week as following label directions for the
front lawn of my house.

If America continues to swallow the odorous and misleading guidance of
the White House and ONDCP drug policy, far more than the environment
is doomed.

Stephen Heath
Clearwater FL

(always provide your email and phone contacts so that editors may
verify that you sent the letter)

———————————————————————-

ADDITIONAL INFO to help you in your letter writing
efforts

Writer’s Resources http://www.mapinc.org/resource/

**********************************************************************

Prepared by Stephen Heath, DrugSense FOCUS Alert Specialist

Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002
Subject: #239 It Is Not OK To Evict Granny

**********************************************************************

DrugSense FOCUS Alert # 239 Fri, 29 Mar 2002

It Is Not OK To Evict Granny

********************* PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE *********************

By now every daily newspaper in the United States has carried the
story about the Supreme Court deciding it is OK to throw entire
families out of public housing for the sins of one family member or
friend. And the editorials and OPEDs are starting to appear, both for
and against this decision.

Ohio’s Beacon Journal editorial ‘Scales of Justice’ said, “A 1988
federal law authorized the Department of Housing and Urban Development
to evict from public housing any tenant who violated the lease
requirement that no tenant, members of the household and guests be
involved in using, producing, selling or distributing drugs.

“HUD then developed a “one-strike-and-out” zero-tolerance policy that
permits a family to be evicted — even if the tenant had no way of
knowing that a guest or member of the household had violated the drug
policy. Also, it made no difference whether the violation occurred
within or away from the housing property.

“Harsh and inflexible, the policy has been applied in California
against such tenants as an elderly woman whose mentally disabled
daughter was caught with cocaine three blocks away from the apartment
she shared with her mother, and an elderly man whose caretaker was
caught with crack cocaine. By zero-tolerance guidelines, they were
guilty because of the behavior of others.

“This week, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld without a dissenting vote
HUD’s eviction guidelines as within the language and intent of the law
as enacted by Congress….

“As with other war-on-drugs policies and legislation — for example,
forfeiture laws that target homes, automobiles and other properties
suspected to be associated with drug-related crimes — the eviction
policy offers one more example that as instruments of justice, zero-
tolerance policies are blunt, utterly unfair and indiscriminate….

“The high court’s ruling exposes the deep flaw in the law. The onus
is on Congress to rectify it by expanding the administrative
discretion of housing agencies.”

In addition to contacting your congress persons, letting the media,
and thru the media the public, know your views is critical if we hope
to turn this around. Your Letters to the Editor will help the public
see the basic injustice in this law.

WRITE A LETTER TODAY

It’s not what others do – it’s what YOU do

**********************************************************************

PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER OR TELL US WHAT YOU DID ( Letter,
Phone, fax etc.)

Please post a copy your letter or report your action to the sent
letter list ([email protected]) if you are subscribed, or by
E-mailing a copy directly to [email protected] if you are not
subscribed. Your letter will then be forwarded to the list with so
others can learn from your efforts and be motivated to follow suit.

Subscribing to the Sent LTE list ([email protected]) will help you to
review other sent LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or
approaches as well as keeping others aware of your important writing
efforts.

To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm
and/or http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form

This is VERY IMPORTANT as it is our way of gauging our impact and
effectiveness.

**********************************************************************

FINDING TARGETS FOR YOUR LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Already many dozens of news items have been archived at MAP. They are
all good targets.

http://www.mapinc.org/find?TK=evict&dd1=26&mm1=3&yy1=2002&DE=m

You may wish to write to many of the newspapers in your state. Finding
the email addresses for Letters to the Editor for your state’s
newspapers is also easy.

Go to http://www.mapinc.org/resource/email.htm Use the Location
dropdown to select your state. Check the Email Only block. If you wish
to have the list sent to you as well as shown, enter your email
address in the ‘Email to’ field. Press the Search button.

IMPORTANT NOTE

Newspaper editors expect that the LTEs you write are for them alone.
For the best results always address each email one at a time to each
newspaper.

Below is a list of some of the early opinion items already published.
Besides being superb targets for your Letters, they may give you some
ideas for drafting your letter:

Editorial: Zero Tolerance For Zero Tolerance
Las Vegas Sun (NV)
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n595/a03.html

Editorial: Federal Housing: Laying Down The Law
Topeka Capital-Journal (KS)
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n599/a03.html

OPED: New Law’s Target Too Broad Ledger-Enquirer (GA)
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n593/a11.html

Editorial: Scales Of Justice
Beacon Journal, The (OH)
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n593/a06.html

Column: There’s One Law For The Rich, Another For Poor
Intelligencer Journal (PA)
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n593/a03.html

Editorial: Mix ‘Zero Tolerance’ Rule With Compassion
Jackson Sun News (TN)
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n592/a06.html

Editorial: Little Justice In Court Decision On Evictions
Asheville Citizen-Times (NC)
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n591/a07.html

Editorial: Kicking Out Grandma
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MO)
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n584/a02.html

Editorial: A Win For Public Housing
Boston Herald (MA)
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n583/a07.html

Editorial: Drug Law Ruling Can Help Clean Up Public Housing Northeast
Mississippi
Daily Journal (MS)
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n582/a09.html

**********************************************************************

SAMPLE LETTER

NOTE If you choose to use this letter as a model please modify it at
least somewhat so that the paper does not receive numerous copies of
the same letter and so that the original author receives credit for
his/her work.

To the Editor:

Congress writes a law, and the government uses it to force families
who would otherwise be homeless to sign a contract saying that they
will all be thrown out of their public housing – if a family member,
friend, or even a visitor is alleged to be using drugs.

It does not matter if the alleged offence is blocks or miles away and
the person signing the lease had no idea that the other person was
involved with drugs.

And the Supreme Court agrees! Congress can write laws that are unfair
– that tear up American values of justice and fair play.

It is OK to evict granny and the rest of the family because one person
sneaks off and is caught doing wrong. Never mind that the person who
sinned may be being punished, or even in taxpayer supported
rehabilitation. Just put them all out on the street.

Must be that new ‘compassionate conservatism’ that I keep reading
about!

Richard Lake
Chief Warrant Officer
U.S. Army, Retired
Escanaba, Michigan

(always provide your email and phone contacts so that editors may
verify that you sent the letter)

———————————————————————-

ADDITIONAL INFO to help you in your letter writing
efforts

Writer’s Resources http://www.mapinc.org/resource/

**********************************************************************

Prepared by Richard Lake, DrugSense FOCUS Alert Specialist

Date: Mon, 18 Mar 2002
Subject: # 238 Canadian Newspapers Carrying Anti-War Messages

******************************************************************

DrugSense FOCUS Alert # 238 Mon, 18 Mar 2002

Canadian Newspapers Carrying Anti-war Messages

*********************PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE*************************

In the six years The Media Awareness Project have been tracking
newspaper coverage of drug policy news and opinion, we have seen a
demonstrable and measurable shift away from Drug War support. Not
only has overall coverage and column inches increased tremendously,
the most important half of the equation – opinion – has clearly swung
to a majority support for reform ideas and proposals. Additionally, we
see an increasing number of newspapers calling out Drug War
hypocrisies, and most notable is the number of editorial boards and
opinion writers who are quite frankly ‘demanding’ public officials
take notice and accept accountability for ending of the War as we have
known it for the past 60+ years.

While the needed areas of reform are numerous and each require more
light and scrutiny, nowhere is the need for dramatic reform more
apparent than in the area of cannabis law reforms. While recent
opinion polls may still show a minority of voters believe that
“Marijuana should be legalized for adult use”, we also know that a
majority of voters believe an adult should not be jailed for marijuana
possession. This percentage jumps to 80% or better when the question
involves adults using marijuana as medicine.

Most folks already know that Canada has been ahead of the U.S. in
terms of it’s laws about marijuana for adults. In the past two years,
not only has their federal government made allowances for medical
users, but they are clearly giving serious debate to overall
decriminalization of marijuana possession. This of course has provoked
an even higher level of press coverage than enjoyed by the readers of
U.S. newspapers. And likewise, an increasing amount of this coverage
is calling for strong reform of drug policy.

The NATIONAL POST, Canada’s second most widely read newspaper came out
with likely the strongest editorial viewpoint about marijuana
decriminalization that we have seen from a newspaper of this size
anywhere in North America. The editorial ran this past Friday (Mar 15)
and speaks for itself.

This is as strong a need as we have ever had for supporting and
thank-you letters.

One need not make a particularly eloquent statement, nor compose the
‘perfect’ thoughts for this letter, since the editorial does the work
for us. What is most needed is to let the National Post know that
their viewpoint is shared by many people, and not just those who ‘want
to legalize all drugs’, or simply ‘unrepentant hippies and
counterculture types’ (You all KNOW who you are…)

Thanks for your effort and support. We suggest you review our Target
Analysis (below the Sample Letter) prior to writing your letter for
information which may increase your impact and your chance of
publication.

WRITE A LETTER TODAY

It’s not what others do it’s what YOU do

***************************************************************************

PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER OR TELL US WHAT YOU DID ( Letter,
Phone, fax etc.)

Please post a copy your letter or report your action to the sent
letter list ([email protected]) if you are subscribed, or by
E-mailing a copy directly to [email protected] if you are not
subscribed. Your letter will then be forwarded to the list with so
others can learn from your efforts and be motivated to follow suit.

Subscribing to the Sent LTE list ([email protected]) will help you to
review other sent LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or
approaches as well as keeping others aware of your important writing
efforts.

To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm
and/or http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form

This is VERY IMPORTANT as it is our way of gauging our impact and
effectiveness.
************************************************************************

CONTACT INFO

Source National Post (Canada)

Contact [email protected]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXTRA CREDIT –

Send your letter to any or all of the newspapers in Canada and ask
them to consider reprinting the editorial from the National Post.

You can go to the DrugSense MEDIA EMAIL DATABASE. Simply go to the
website below and select ‘Canada’ as your criteria and – presto – a
list of media contacts complete with names of the media organization
will be presented or E-mailed to you.

http://www.mapinc.org/resource/email.htm

IMPORTANT NOTE

Newspaper editors expect that the LTEs you write are for them alone.
For the best results always address each email one at a time to each
newspaper.

***************************************************************************

ORIGINAL EDITORIAL

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n468/a04.html

Webpage:
http://www.nationalpost.com/commentary/story.html?f=/stories/20020315/344962.html

Pubdate: Fri, 15 Mar 2002
Source: National Post (Canada)
Copyright: 2002 Southam Inc.
Contact: [email protected]

IT’S AGREED: DECRIMINALIZE POT

The lobby to decriminalize marijuana continues to grow, with the
Canadian Medical Association now joining the push. The organization,
which represents more than 50,000 physicians, has strengthened the
case previously made by groups such as the federally funded Canadian
Centre on Substance Abuse, the Association of Canadian Police Chiefs
and the Canadian Bar Association. These organizations hardly
constitute a hippy rabble.

What is it going to take for the federal government to abandon the
obsolete view that marijuana is a dangerous vice that merits the force
of Criminal Code sanction? The CMA notes that of the 66,500 drug
offences in Canada in 1997, more than 70%, or 47,908, were
cannabis-related. Of those, two-thirds involved mere possession and
the majority of those charged with offences were young. About 2,000
Canadians go to jail annually for simple possession of marijuana. It
is these figures, and not the consumption of the mood-altering
substance, that constitute the real source of concern Enforcement of
our marijuana laws necessitates a useless waste of public funds and
police resources.

[SNIP]

The facts show that marijuana generally contributes to ruin of neither
mind nor body

[SNIP]

Public opinion is also well ahead of the government on this issue.
Polls have shown that Canadians overwhelmingly support
decriminalization, with one survey in 1990 finding that seven out of
10 Canadians felt marijuana possession merited no more than a fine.

[SNIP]

The federal legislators should take the advice of their doctors and
decriminalize marijuana entirely.

*****************************************************************

SAMPLE LETTER

NOTE If you choose to use this letter as a model please modify it at
least somewhat so that the paper does not receive numerous copies of
the same letter and so that the original author receives credit for
his/her work.

TO THE EDITORS of The National Post

Thank you for publishing, “It’s agreed Decriminalize
pot’.

It’s refreshing to read some sane, rational viewpoints regarding
Marijuana Prohibition. Your editorial aptly noted that it is the law
enforcement of this inane criminal interdiction policy , aka
Prohibition, that causes the real harm to our society.

Too often the media plays the “reefer madness” party line at the
expense of not only medical marijuana users, but all adults who use
marijuana responsibly. After all, such coverage usually garners gushy,
reactionary readership. It does squat though to truly inform and
educate the public.

Thank you kindly for showing some leadership, honesty and willingness
to buck the status quo on Marijuana Prohibition. Canada has an amazing
opportunity to not only demonstrate leadership in reforming our drug
laws but also to send a clear signal that we will not be intimidated
by the failed American “Drug War” Policies of zero-tolerance and its
wasteful, shameful abuses.

David d’Apollonia Dartmouth, Nova Scotia

—————————————————————————-

ADDITIONAL INFO to help you in your letter writing
efforts

Writer’s Resources http://www.mapinc.org/resource/

TARGET ANALYSIS

The National Post is one of two newspapers sold everywhere in Canada.
Here is what their website says about their circulation (note that a
Canadian dollar is worth about 63 cents in U.S. dollars today) 810,400
daily readers across 16 major Canadian markets. $76,918 average
household income is 30% higher than the Canadian average. $49,346
average personal income is 40% higher than the Canadian average.
National Post daily readers are 44% more likely than adults 18+ to
have personally accessed a search engine in the past month.

Our analysis of the published letters at http://www.mapinc.org/mapcgi/ltedex.pl?SOURCE=National+Post+(CN)
shows that the National Post selects what they print based on quality
– without any bias as to the location of the LTE writer. Clearly,
shorter to the point LTEs are most likely to be printed. Our analysis
shows that the average published letter body is only 124 words long,
with a range from 56 to 258 words.

****************************************************************************

TO SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE, OR UPDATE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS

Please utilize the following URLs

http://www.drugsense.org/hurry.htm

http://www.drugsense.org/unsub.htm

We wish to thank all our contributors, editors, Newshawks and letter
writing activists.

NOTICE

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving the included information for research and
educational purposes.

REMINDER

Please help MAP find news articles. Details at http://www.mapinc.org/hawk.htm

=
NOW YOU CAN DONATE TO DRUGSENSE ONLINE AND IT’S TAX DEDUCTIBLE

DrugSense provides many services to at no charge BUT THEY ARE NOT FREE
TO PRODUCE.

We incur many costs in creating our many and varied services. If you
are able to help by contributing to the DrugSense effort visit our
convenient donation web site at http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm

-OR-

Mail in your contribution. Make checks payable to MAP Inc. send your
contribution to

The Media Awareness Project (MAP) Inc. d/b/a DrugSense PO Box 651
Porterville, CA 93258 (800) 266 5759

********************* Just DO It!! **********************************

Prepared by Stephen Heath of The Drug Policy Forum of Florida
DrugSense FOCUS Alert Specialist