cannabisnews.com: And The Winner Is ...





And The Winner Is ...
Posted by CN Staff on August 05, 2002 at 09:14:17 PT
By Tom Baxter and Jim Galloway
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution 
So far the Emmy for most bizarre twists in political advertising goes, hands down, to the 7th Congressional District race. First there was Rep. John Linder's "How I met my wife" spot, then Rep. Bob Barr's "Barr is gooder" ad.Now the Libertarian Party has released its promised ad rapping Barr as a "drug warrior." It stars Cheryl Miller, who suffers from multiple sclerosis and uses medical marijuana. "Bob Barr thinks I should be in jail for using my medicine. Why would you do that to me, Bob?"
This is the ad that Linder last week appealed to the Libertarians not to run -- a little too late in the game to be credible, the Barr forces grumbled.Poll says Barr is aheader After an Insider Advantage poll showed Linder in the lead -- as Linder says his private polling has shown throughout this hard-fought campaign -- Barr's campaign released its own poll Friday, conducted by Republican pollster Whit Ayres on July 29 and Aug. 1.In this version, Barr leads Linder by 41-40 percent, with 19 percent undecided. The margin is wider among those who say they're absolutely certain to vote in this month's primary: Barr leads in that group by 44-38 percent. Barr's campaign noted the sample size was 600 likely Republican primary voters, twice that of the Insider Advantage poll."This race is likely to be close to the end," Ayres writes in a polling memo. "But this is the kind of race of that is usually determined by turnout, and Bob Barr's record of generating a large turnout of loyal Republican voters puts him in a strong position to win the Republican nomination."Meanwhile, Barr has scaled back his ad time for the coming week, with a new ad to come after that.Snipped: Complete Article: http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/metro/insider/Newshawk: Nicholas Thimmesch - http://www.norml.org/Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA)Author: Tom Baxter and Jim GallowayPublished: August 5, 2002Copyright: 2002 Cox Interactive MediaContact: conedit ajc.comWebsite: http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/Related Articles & Web Sites:The Libertarian Partyhttp://www.lp.org/Cheryl Hearthttp://www.cherylheart.org/Cheryl in TV Commercialhttp://www.randforcongress.com/video/rand1.rmBarr vs. Linder: Great Republican Train Wreck http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13032.shtmlLibertarians Target 'Drug Warriors' for Defeat http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12989.shtmlBarr, Boortz Square Off http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12837.shtml 
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Comment #8 posted by p4me on August 05, 2002 at 13:46:41 PT
News copied from DE messageboard
DRUG WAR LAUNCHED AS PRICES PLUMMET SAMANTHA LAWTON08:46 - 05 August 2002 Crime REPORTERA high-profile operation is being launched to combat drug abuse in Stoke-on-Trent.Operation Saracen will use information from the public to target drug dealers across the city.Plans to recruit community workers and form neighbourhood forums in the fight against drugs come as prices of Class-A drugs tumble across the city because of increased availability.Sentinel Sunday yesterday revealed that clubbers can now get their hands on an Ecstasy pill for £2.50 in some places - around the same price as a pint of lager.New figures show ecstasy-related deaths in England and Wales have doubled during 2001 to 40 - twice the total reported in 2000 and almost four times as many as in 1998.The rise is thought to be down to lower prices, stronger forms of the drug and younger users.Other Class-A drugs on sale across the city are plummeting in value. A gram of cannabis can be bought for £5, while 0.1 gram of heroin costs £10 a bag. At £20 is 0.2 grams - the most common deal - of crack cocaine.In other clubs and pubs, the price of an Ecstasy tablet will cost no more than £5, compared to around £10 in the 1990s.Stoke-on-Trent Drug Action Team is currently undertaking a survey to assess how easily people can get their hands on Class-A drugs, including Ecstasy.And a series of initiatives, such as media and community campaigns, is being developed to increase the amount of intelligence obtained concerning the supply of drugs to the area.Plans involve recruiting community support workers and establishing neighbourhood forums. Together with community-based police, they will be gathering information about drug activity on the streets.Chief Inspector Maurice Mason, who is co-ordinating Operation Saracen, said: "Drugs are linked to other forms of criminality as a lot of prolific offenders are addicts."We are targeting them and by taking them out, the theory says that we will reduce crime. We want to take both them, and the drugs, off the streets and are receiving information from residents groups, local authorities, police officers and other sources to help us do this. We are urging people to give us information on drug dealers' addresses because officers will go round there to target them. We will prioritise cases but we will visit offenders' homes."But we are not just taking an enforcement stance, we are working to a multi-agency approach to provide drug addiction education in schools and prisons to prevent people getting into drugs. As long as the information keeps coming in the operation will be a success."The force's performance in relation to drugs seizures, stop-searches, search warrants are already on course to hit the targets set for 2002/03.
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Comment #7 posted by Dark Star on August 05, 2002 at 12:08:50 PT
One Good Deed
For his one good deed, I'd guess that Bob Barr deserves a long stretch in purgatory instead of eternal hellfire and damnation.
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Comment #6 posted by E_Johnson on August 05, 2002 at 12:08:44 PT
Well I did send him a nice thank you note
Barr seems to have a kind of split personality. He took a strong stand against a direct threat posed to me by a female Democratic Senator for whom I voted. First the man has my back, then he wants to stab me in it.I don't understand him. But we don't understand the dinosaurs completely either.
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Comment #5 posted by Gary Storck on August 05, 2002 at 11:47:38 PT
E_Johnson you are right on that
Yes, Barr and my congressperson, the very honorable Tammy Baldwin did cooperate to remove the odious language from the meth bill. But the harm he has caused far outweighs that action. While we can be thankful to Barr for that, we must keep[ in mind that barring his amendment, DC patients would have had legal access to medicinal cannabis for a couple years already. The people of DC support mmj. Every person I talked to about it while in DC for the HR 2592 press conference expressed strong support. It's too bad Barr can't comprehend that the Constitution always matters, not just when it's convenient to his position.And FoM, to try to answer your question, Cheryl is hanging in there the best she can for someone diagnosed with MS 31 years ago, in a large part due to the loving care of her husband, Jim, and when available, the medicine that works best for her, cannabis. 
Drug Policy Forum of Wisconsin
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Comment #4 posted by E_Johnson on August 05, 2002 at 11:01:49 PT
Barr did do one good thing
He and Tammy Baldwin put the brakes on Dianne Feinstein and Orrin Hatch when they tried to put marijuana webmasters in prison for a year with their anti-meth bill, I'll never forget that.
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on August 05, 2002 at 10:44:35 PT
Hi Gary
I really appreciate your activism and standing with your friends like you have. I want to know if Cheryl is holding her own? I'm worried. 
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Comment #2 posted by Gary Storck on August 05, 2002 at 10:40:01 PT
payback is sweet
I was present while some of the commercial's footage was shot, and the commercial is very well done. For someone who can only move her head a few inches, Cheryl has done a greatr job of putting a human face on the victims of Barr's closed-mindedness on medicinal cannabis, almost even better than laying in the doorway of Barr's office, as she did in October 1999. ("Jim Busted, Cheryl Put Back in Chair!", http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/3/thread3364.shtml)And in April 2001, after Jim & Cheryl Miller and Jacki Rickert and myself paused briefly in front of Barr's office for a reunion photo, Barr's office had 7 or 8 Capitol Police detain us for over 20 minutes while exiting the building a few minutes later. I guess two middle-aged guys pushing two severely afflicted women in wheelchairs represented a huge threat to Barr or his ego.Now, his potential constituents get the chance to see who Barr goes out of his way to persecute. It should be a no-brainer. Anyone who takes away people's rights for their vote to be counted on any issue does not deserve to hold office. Hopefully voters will agree.
Is My Medicine Legal YET?
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Comment #1 posted by p4me on August 05, 2002 at 10:27:07 PT
One mans evil weed...
... is another mans medicine. If I were Barr's mother I would not vote for him. First because he is an incumbent and second because he is stupid and malicious enough to do more than just say marijuana is no better than dirt as medicine. And when you introduce such a blatently unconstitutional bill as the one that cut off funding for counting votes in the Washington MMJ initiative in 1998, it shows you have absolutely no respect for Wethepeople or the Constitution.And look how long it took the Supreme Court to make the decision that it was unconstitutional. The court system is in sad shape which is common knowledge.1,2
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