Please forward this alert
widely to your family and friends in the
United States, or tell them to visit http://www.mpp.org/USA
Dear Friend:
On October 25, with our nation still focused on the war against
terrorism, 30 DEA agents raided the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource
Center, which distributed medical marijuana to nearly 1,000 seriously
ill people, most of whom have AIDS.
The DEA seized all of the center's computers, files, bank account,
plants, and medicine. The clinic, which had been the largest and most
well run medical marijuana distribution center in southern California,
is now out of business, and its patients are now combing the streets
to buy marijuana from street dealers.
In response to the raid, a U.S. Justice Department spokesperson said,
"The recent enforcement is indicative that we have not lost our
priorities in other areas since Sept. 11," according to The New York
Times on October 31.
This is an outrageous statement, and it's time for us to fight back.
Please visit http://www.mpp.org/USA to send
a pre-written letter of
protest to your U.S. representative. H.R. 2592, the states' rights
medical marijuana bill currently pending in the U.S. House of
Representatives, would change federal law so that the DEA would no
longer be able to prosecute patients in states that authorize medical
marijuana.
MPP's Web site will determine whether your U.S. representative (1) has
never taken action to change federal medical marijuana policy, (2) has
previously supported medical marijuana in Congress but has not yet co-
sponsored H.R. 2592, or (3) is already a co-sponsor of H.R. 2592.
Regardless of how supportive or hostile your U.S. representative is,
MPP has developed a series of pre-written letters that you can choose
from, with different letters tailored to each of the three groups of
House members mentioned above.
Please visit http://www.mpp.org/USA to send
a pre-written letter.
THE WHOLE PROCESS TAKES LESS THAN TWO MINUTES.
Amazingly, the DEA has not yet arrested anyone associated with the
L.A. center, because the DEA knows that a California jury would not
convict anyone associated with the operation. Instead, the DEA meekly
claimed that the U.S. Supreme Court decision in May proves that the
DEA is authorized to enforce federal laws against marijuana, even in
the eight states that permit medical marijuana use.
The DEA is correct in its legal assessment of the U.S. Supreme Court
decision. Congress did, in fact, declare in 1970 that marijuana has no
medical use whatsoever, and the Court ruled that the DEA can enforce
this law. The Court also said, however, that the people can change
this law by persuading Congress to do so.
So that is what we must do. Please visit http://www.mpp.org/USA
to
tell your U.S. representative to change federal law.
Members of Congress can no longer say that medical marijuana "isn't a
priority" of the federal government. During our nation's darkest hours
since September 11, the federal government has raided not one, but
three medical marijuana operations -- the L.A. center on October 25, a
medical marijuana garden in Ventura County, California, and a medical
marijuana clinic in Cool, California.
If we are going to convince Congress that medical marijuana really is
an issue they should deal with -- because, after all, it really is an
issue that the DEA is dealing with -- then now is the time to take
action.
It is shocking that the U.S. Justice Department is claiming it needs
more taxpayer money to fight terrorism, while an agency within the
Department is planning and executing raids against the LEAST DANGEROUS
people in our society -- cancer patients, people in wheelchairs, and
those suffering from AIDS and MS.
Please visit http://www.mpp.org/USA right
now.
Thank you,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
P.S. There is not yet a medical marijuana bill in the U.S. Senate.
I will send you a separate alert if and when a bill is
finally
introduced.
HOW TO SUPPORT THE MARIJUANA
POLICY PROJECT
MPP is funded entirely by the contributions of its dues-paying members
nationwide. To support MPP's work and receive the quarterly newsletter
"Marijuana Policy Report," please send $25.00 annual dues to:
Marijuana Policy Project (MPP)
P.O. Box 77492
Capitol Hill
Washington, D.C. 20013
202-232-0442 FAX
Because MPP devotes 100% of its efforts toward influencing public
policy, contributions are not tax-deductible. However, donations to
MPP Foundation, MPP's educational branch, are tax-deductible and can
be made on-line at http://www.mpp.org/join-mpp.html
Dear Friend:
One of your two U.S. senators sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee,
which is scheduled to vote TOMORROW (Thursday) morning on the
nomination of John Walters. (If you live in Wisconsin, then both of
your U.S. senators sit on this committee.)
President Bush has tapped John Walters to be the new
Director of the White House Office of
National Drug
Control Policy (ONDCP).
If the committee gives him a majority vote, then the full Senate will
vote on him shortly thereafter (also requiring a majority vote). The
U.S. House of Representatives has no role in the nomination process.
MPP strongly opposes this nomination and asks you to call the office
of your U.S. senator who sits on the Judiciary Committee and tell the
person who answers the phone that you "would like Senator ____________
to vote NO on the nomination of John Walters because of his extreme
views on drug policy."
Alabama - Senator Jeff Sessions
202-224-4124
Arizona - Senator Jon Kyl
602-840-1891 (Phoenix)
California - Senator Diane Feinstein
559-485-7430 (Fresno)
310-914-7300 (Los Angeles)
619-231-9712 (San Diego)
415-393-0707 (San Francisco)
Delaware - Senator Joe Biden
202-224-5042
Illinois - Senator Richard Durbin
202-224-2152
Iowa - Senator Charles Grassley
515-284-4890 (Des Moines)
Kansas - Senator Sam Brownback
785-233-2503 (Topeka)
Kentucky - Senator Mitch McConnell
202-224-2541
Massachusetts - Senator Ted Kennedy
202-224-4543
Ohio - Senator Mike DeWine
202-224-2315
Pennsylvania - Senator Arlen Specter
215-597-7200 (Philadelphia)
New York - Senator Chuck Schumer
518-431-4070 (Albany)
607-772-8109 (Binghamton)
716-846-4111 (Buffalo)
631-753-0978 (Long Island Avenue)
212-486-4430 (New York City)
716-263-5866 (Rochester)
315-425-5471 (Syracuse)
North Carolina - Senator John Edwards
202-224-3154
South Carolina - Senator Strom Thurmond
202-224-5972
Utah - Senator Orrin Hatch
435-586-8435 (Cedar City)
801-625-5672 (Odgen)
801-375-7881 (Provo)
435-634-1795 (St. George)
801-524-4379 (Salt Lake City)
Vermont - Senator Patrick Leahy
202-224-4242
Washington - Senator Maria Cantwell
206-220-6400 (Seattle)
509-353-2507 (Spokane)
Wisconsin - Senator Herbert Kohl
920-738-1640 (Appleton)
715-832-8424 (Eau Claire)
608-796-0045 (La Crosse)
608-264-5338 (Madison)
414-297-4451 (Milwaukee)
Wisconsin - Senator Russell Feingold
920-465-7508 (Green Bay)
608-782-5585 (La Crosse)
608-828-1200 (Middleton)
414-276-7282 (Milwaukee)
715-848-5660 (Wausau)
======================================================================
John Walters holds views on marijuana policy that verge on the
fanatical. Perhaps most disturbingly, Walters has enthusiastically
praised the Peruvian military's practice of shooting down aircraft
suspected of being used by drug traffickers. Earlier this year, two
American missionaries were killed in such a shoot-down, inevitable
casualties of an extraordinarily reckless and immoral practice that
violates international law.
Walters has dismissed the problem of racial bias in drug enforcement
as an "urban myth," despite overwhelming evidence that such bias is
rampant. For example, Blacks comprise only 13% of the nation's drug
users, yet they account for more than 70% of incarcerations for drug
possession.
As Deputy Director of ONDCP during the previous Bush administration,
Walters favored a policy of incarceration over drug treatment and
education. He has lobbied Congress for stiffer penalties for
nonviolent drug offenders and opposed state medical marijuana laws.
In 1996, Walters co-authored a paper entitled "The Clinton
Administration's Continuing Retreat in the War on Drugs." In truth,
however, the Clinton administration escalated the drug war,
imprisoning more people for drug offenses than during the preceding
Reagan and Bush administrations combined. To characterize the harsh
Clinton drug war record as a "retreat" is to elevate partisan politics
over truthful discussion and to show a deep disrespect to the American
people on an issue of the greatest importance.
In short, the Walters drug record is one of propaganda, extremism, and
disregard for issues of racial equality. John Walters is unfit to lead
the nation on drug policy and should be rejected by the U.S. Senate.
Whether or not we can defeat his nomination, raising our voices in
protest now will put pressure on the Bush administration to moderate
its marijuana policies.
The Walters nomination has been criticized by mainstream news outlets
such as The New York Times, The Economist, and the conservative
National Review. Please call your key U.S. senator today. Time is of
the essence. Thank you.
