cannabisnews.com: Drug-Law Fight Launched

Drug-Law Fight Launched
Posted by FoM on January 02, 2002 at 08:00:31 PT
By Bill Laitner, Free Press Staff Writer
Source: Detroit Free Press
For years they've warned of school-yard pushers, of liquor stores that don't check IDs, of new drugs popping up in teenage bloodstreams. Now there's a new enemy in Michigan for substance-abuse educators like the Troy Community Coalition and the Macomb County Prevention Coalition -- an enemy bigger and better financed than just about anything. It's a California foundation that has won major fights to ease drug laws in California and Arizona.
Financed by billionaires George Soros and Peter Lewis, and by multimillionaire John Sperling, the Campaign for New Drug Policies began an effort last month to do the same thing in Michigan. The trio hopes to duplicate in Michigan, Ohio and Florida their recent successes in the West, using the mantra "treatment, not jail" for first- and second-time drug users. That news has Michigan's drug-prevention leaders girding for a fight in 2002. The battle is expected be fought with petitions, speeches and public-service spots leading to the ballot box in November. Central to the fight will be community coalitions, the mostly volunteer antidrug groups in scores of Michigan cities, including nearly two dozen in Oakland County. Under federal law, the nonprofit coalitions generally can spend up to 20 percent of their budgets "to educate voters," said Betsy Glick, spokeswoman in Washington, D.C., at the movement's center -- the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America. On Dec. 14, President George W. Bush cheered coalition leaders from across the country at their national convention in Washington. Then he signed a bill giving them five more years of federal funding -- $450 million through fiscal-year 2007, hundreds of millions more than ever. And Bush pointed to Michigan, singling out the Troy Community Coalition for its success in changing attitudes toward drugs and in helping start other coalitions across the state and the country. The Troy coalition's leader, also head of a regional group of 13 coalitions, is Mary Ann Solberg, nominated by Bush last year to be his deputy White House drug czar. Awaiting Senate confirmation and choosing her words carefully, Solberg said last week she couldn't comment on how Michigan's coalitions will fight the politicking of the Santa Monica-based Campaign for New Drug Policies. But Solberg said she is determined to see more coalitions spawned and strengthened. And if confirmed, she is expected to help them play a key role in opposing any easing of drug laws. Behind the scenes, Solberg is "spearheading the campaign against this initiative," said Diane Dovico, a part-time community organizer for the Royal Oak Community Coalition. "We're all looking to educate people. We'd like to squelch this before people vote on it," Dovico said. Solberg's swan song before moving to Washington might be Jan. 26, when coalition members from across Oakland County are to gather at a Troy church for a Saturday morning meeting on ways to find and keep volunteers, change community attitudes and market the coalition movement. The new petition drive seeks to amend the Michigan Constitution by scaling back mandatory drug-crime sentences and giving judges more discretion in sentencing drug offenders. It is expected to make the ballot with 302,711 signatures. Last year, leaders of metro Detroit coalitions fought another statewide campaign over drug laws. Prompted by petition circulators seeking to ease Michigan's marijuana laws, coalition heads began approaching city and county officials with resolutions condemning marijuana. They got hearty support at council meetings in Detroit, Allen Park, Clawson and Troy. And they won approval from commissioners in Oakland and Macomb counties. But at city halls in Berkley and Huntington Woods, elected leaders balked. That prompted coalition leaders in Oakland and Macomb to call a halt to further canvassing. In Huntington Woods, city commissioners met the delegation with silence. Later, Mayor Ron Gillham said drug debates are best left to voters. Michiganders are far from uniform in their views on drugs, said Lansing pollster Ed Sarpolus, vice president of EPIC/MRA consultants. In a 1999 statewide poll, about 55 percent of state residents supported legalization of marijuana for medicinal use if prescribed by a doctor, Sarpolus said. Yet Michiganders in other polls overwhelmingly rejected suggestions to legalize drugs across the board, Sarpolus said. Many voters seek a middle ground between jail and legalization, said Bill Zimmerman, executive director of the California foundation that has launched the Michigan campaign. He cites a nationwide poll last year by the Pew Research Center for People and the Press, in which Americans by a 52-35-percent majority said drug use should be treated as a disease, not a crime. Michigan's drug czar is unreceptive to that softer line. On Jan. 10, Craig Yaldoo is to deliver a battle cry in the state's war on drugs to members of the Macomb County Prevention Coalition. Yaldoo will rev their enthusiasm for the electoral fight ahead at a meeting open to the public, at 2 p.m. in the Freedom Hill conference center, 15000 Metropolitan Parkway in Sterling Heights. He will call the foundation's plan "the moral equivalent of giving our children rat poison." Last week Yaldoo said the foundation's ideas on sentencing guidelines and treatment plans "are all a hoax." He is a former Wayne County assistant prosecutor, named last year to head Michigan's Office of Drug Control Policy. Crucial to stopping the initiative will be the pavement-pounding and door-knocking of people in community coalitions, Yaldoo said. "They've always brought in teachers and parents and volunteers of all kinds, anyone who yearned for a way to get involved" in fighting drugs, he said. For more on the Campaign for New Drug Policies, see -- http://www.drugreform.orgNote: Coalitions brace for marijuana ballot campaign. Source: Detroit Free Press (MI)Author: Bill Laitner, Free Press Staff Writer Published: January 2, 2002Copyright: 2002 Detroit Free PressContact: letters freepress.comWebsite: http://www.freep.com/Related Articles & Web Site:The Soros Foundation Networkhttp://www.soros.org/Battle Begins Over Proposal To Change Drug Law http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11572.shtmlCampaign for Michigan Pot Proposal is Almost Kaputhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11426.shtml
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Comment #15 posted by FoM on January 03, 2002 at 10:58:28 PT
Yippie el_toonces!!!
That is so cool! Getting paid to do what we just believe we should do! How neat! Keep us posted and good luck to you!
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Comment #14 posted by el_toonces on January 03, 2002 at 10:52:22 PT:
I called the number......
...just to find out where I could get a petition to circulate, thinking it would be as a volunteer. Instead, they want me to go to their office to find out he details (probably the ones mentioned here) and sign a contract. When I told them I would volunteer, they said why not get paid for the signatures you collect? They also gave me a number to call for other types of volunteer activity. I get the feeling these people (this company Progressive Something Or Another) are SERIOUS. And I am glad someone finally is serious about reforming the dreadful situation in this state.El PS -- I go down to their offices on Monday to see how I can help:)
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Comment #13 posted by aocp on January 03, 2002 at 08:42:50 PT
i checked the scene out
and found that right now, they're paying $.75 per validated signature, every week. Who gets to validate these sigs? The repubs in power. Apparently, they're already doing everything little sneaky, dastardly thing in the book to oppose this, as it says in the article.Remember what happened in CO? That Sec o State freaking hid some signatures in her desk and they were only found after the conniving vache died? We gotta keep vigilant here, folks.The folks get paid by the week and most of the cops are treating petitioners pretty fairly. Post offices and malls are good places to set up shop. Spread the word about cannabisnews.com, pot-tv.net, marijuananews.com, marijuana.com, drcnet, mapinc, and the whole slew of others i cannot remember right now. The true goats will educate themselves appropriately if told the info is out there. Cheers.
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Comment #12 posted by i420 on January 03, 2002 at 04:40:29 PT
Same
I was thinking they should think about incentive to get the job done. Say you need 300,000 signatures well pay out $1 per registered voters signature. So say I collect 420 signatures from registered voters i get paid $420 dollars. Even a dime or quarter per signature would get some people hitting the bricks. Of course there would have to be a catch if 300,000 signatures aren't collected noone gets paid.
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Comment #11 posted by FoM on January 02, 2002 at 21:55:15 PT
Thanks aocp!
I sure hope people from Michigan read your post and hopefully respond. That's really good news!
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Comment #10 posted by aocp on January 02, 2002 at 21:13:57 PT
anyone in MI
here's the ad in the Detroit Free Press looking for volunteers:ACTIVISTS-Paid Political work. Need Michigan Residents able to Vote, Campaign for Drug Reform & Protect Civil Rights- FT/PT 313-961-6222
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Comment #9 posted by ekim on January 02, 2002 at 13:34:18 PT:
i420
Ck out http://www.drugsense.org/dpfmi/ you can sign up there Iam told. mike ps tonight on Larry King he will have Dr. Andrew Weil and two other visionarys.
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Comment #8 posted by el_toonces on January 02, 2002 at 12:53:09 PT:
Thanks SpaceCat and Dr. Ethan......
Great idea, the BBC video piece. I had my mother watch it online some time ago. While she is not a prohibitionist, she never had much enthusiasm as a reformer, either. After watching it, she asked me if cannabis might help my conditions (chronic pain from pancreatitis and diabetes) and I replied "How will we know until I can try medical grade cannabis?" [I have yet to "out" myself as a medical user of the stuff to her, though I think she must know I use it and that when I do I can eat better and hold my food down, I need less narcotics for pain, etc....come to think of it, maybe telling her would "rev her up" some more?]. After I told her this, she responded, "Well, I sure hope those dumb politicians stop lying to people and stop bothering anyone who does get help from this stuff."And I consider my Mom's views on drug policy pretty typical: she loves our "9-11 heroes", wants people to feel good, believes the government unless they are caught in an outright lie (I think the BBC show did this for her, especially when I showed her parts of the DARE website for comparison), and for some reason, she thinks MJ should be "proven" before allowed on the market. [Why something must be “proven” to be taken off a list of banned substances I have no clue....it should be other way around; don't ban it until you can "prove" it has NO use and causes lots of harm).I have already arranged to get a bank draft for the tape, but I am wondering whether I need BBC permission for the conversion, which, of necessity, involves duplication? I don't recall my copyright law very well and there have been major revisions to the federal statutes since I was in law school anyway. Wouldn’t I also need some sort of permission for public viewings? Is there a pro-cannabis group that would have some info the use of proprietary media in campaigns like this one?As always, the C-News readers let their educations, supreme intellects, and creativity shine through! For all of you, I am very grateful.Pax vobiscum,El
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Comment #7 posted by SpaceCat on January 02, 2002 at 12:27:06 PT
NTSC conversion
Your local University AV department will almost certainly have a PAL/NTSC converter, so especially if you are a student you could probably get the conversion done for free with a little sweet talk.Be careful about making multiple copies, though. Unless specifically authorized by the copyright holder (the BBC, most likely) you can get into pretty severe legal trouble for unauthorized copies. You can bet the feds would love it if you handed them such a plum while distributing "dangerous knowledge".
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Comment #6 posted by i420 on January 02, 2002 at 11:56:43 PT
HElp !!!!!
Where do we get petitions?????????
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Comment #5 posted by Ethan Russo MD on January 02, 2002 at 11:27:16 PT
More on how to help: Buy Video and Convert to NTSC
From the BBC WWW site:"You can buy videos for Ł35* and transcripts for Ł10* by sending a cheque payable to 'BBC News' to:
BBC Panorama, Room 1118, 201 Wood Lane, London, W12 7TS
We only accept payment by cheque, credit cards cannot be used. We can only provide programmes in the PAL video format, which is the UK standard format. Tapes are dispatched within 2-3 weeks of receipt of a cheque, we are unable to cater for requests for faster delivery.
*The price includes postage and packing. We will not accept payment in other currencies. You can go to your bank and ask for a cheque to be made out in Pounds Sterling. Any bank will do this and may charge a small fee for doing so."I suggest that all activists buy a videocassette of "Cannabis from the Chemist" and pay to have copies made in NTSC, the North American standard. Then, send these to your legislator. Arrange public viewings at no charge. Show people the truth: Patients relieved of pain. A wheelchair-bound woman walking, relieved of tremor. If a picture is worth 1000 words, a video is worth a million.
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Comment #4 posted by Ethan Russo MD on January 02, 2002 at 11:19:04 PT:
What Will Help
Send your reporter, legislator, or yourself to:http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/audiovideo/programmes/panorama/newsid_1625000/1625124.stmThis is the Panorama program presented by the BBC on the results of the GW Pharmaceuticals trials of cannabis-based medicine extracts. I dare say that if more people saw the incredible relief afforded clinical cannabis users, the fight would become much easier.
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Comment #3 posted by el_toonces on January 02, 2002 at 11:12:55 PT:
Help!
Also, I have access to this reporter (actually, several local media people). Anybody have any ideas on how I can help educate him or get him to write a feature piece about those of us who need medical MJ and our predicament?Just e-mail me the suggestions or post here.Thanks all:)
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Comment #2 posted by el_toonces on January 02, 2002 at 11:09:51 PT:
Advantage of being stupid.......
Finally, the fight comes to my home! I am looking forward to this initiative here in Mich. Already, though, I am worrying about the inherent advantage the prohibs have -- their message is so simple even incredibly stupid people can understand it in a short time.Our advantage -- the truth -- isn't so simple and stupid people, especially those who have been totally brainwashed by the McCaffrey's of this world, might not have the ability, time or patience to understand it. And I'm not good at coming up with slick, simple, easily sellable "slogans".

I guess our work is cut out for us:)ElPS -- Happy New Year All!
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Comment #1 posted by Sam Adams on January 02, 2002 at 09:47:21 PT
Use this article to line the bottom of your bird cage
"Now there's a new enemy in Michigan for substance-abuse educators like the Troy Community Coalition and the Macomb County Prevention Coalition -- an enemy bigger and better financed than just about anything. It's a California foundation that has won major fights to ease drug laws in California and Arizona."Gee, they're financed bigger and better than just about anything? That's great journalistic writing huh? Financed better than just about anything, anything not including the federal government:"Then he signed a bill giving them five more years of federal funding -- $450 million through fiscal-year 2007, hundreds of millions more than ever."No question these 3 referendums are all going to pass by over 10% - just watch, at some point, these wet-finger politicians are going to realize that and fold like a house of cards.Actually look, it's already happening:"They got hearty support at council meetings in Detroit, Allen Park, Clawson and Troy. And they won approval from commissioners in Oakland and Macomb counties.But at city halls in Berkley and Huntington Woods, elected leaders balked. That prompted coalition leaders in Oakland and Macomb to call a halt to further canvassing.In Huntington Woods, city commissioners met the delegation with silence. Later, Mayor Ron Gillham said drug debates are best left to voters."If they thought marijuana was a tough sell, they're not going to be happy with this one, treatment vs. prison for small time users is slam dunk. hee hee hee let's watch it happen.....
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