cannabisnews.com: Pot Flashback 





Pot Flashback 
Posted by CN Staff on January 16, 2003 at 11:09:15 PT
By Daniel Forbes
Source: Reason Magazine
Derided by the White House as "nothing more than a cheap political stunt," marijuana advocates' attempt to hold Office of National Drug Control Policy head John P. Walters' feet to the fire for his overt, taxpayer-funded political campaigning against drug-reform state ballot initiatives bore some small fruit this week. Responding to a formal complaint from backers of the Nevada marijuana legalization measure that received 39 percent of the vote in November, Nevada Secretary of State Dean Heller formally charged the nation's drug czar to issue "a written response to the complaint" by January 27th. 
The complaint against Walters was filed in early December by the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that supported the initiative. It contends that Walters was in violation of state election law that he "file a statutorily-required Report of Campaign Contributions and Expenses" after the drug czar and a score of ONDCP aides visited Nevada last July and October specifically to denounce the ballot initiative. Steve Fox, MPP's director of government relations, declares "this is kind of historic since I don't know that any state has previously asked a federal official to respond to the requirement that they file campaign finance reports." He says ONDCP tried to laugh it off, "but Nevada's secretary of state said it's not a crock." ONDCP declined comment on Nevada's request, which was issued over the signature of Susan Bilyeu, the state's Deputy Secretary for Elections. In its complaint, MPP also takes issue with the White House's near-ubiquitous anti-drug television ad campaign. A series of ONDCP ads that first aired during September links domestic marijuana consumption with foreign terror. During the fall election season (and on in to December), the White House funded some $48 million nationally in anti-marijuana ads. MPP charges that ONDCP ran afoul of state law by airing these ads in Nevada but not reporting the expenditure to the state. The law in question reads: "Expenditures made within the state or made elsewhere but for use within the state, including expenditures made outside the state for printing, television and radio broadcasting, must be included in the report." In its complaint, MPP states, "it is for you to investigate whether the vast number of commercials aired by Mr. Walters and ONDCP should be considered part of the effort to defeat" the initiative. However, Nevada is not demanding that Walters account for the ads. While acknowledging that the commercials may be considered a campaign expenditure, Nevada's Susan Bilyeu says that at this point, "the sole legal issue is whether Walters is subject to our legal jurisdiction." Nevada's request for a response from Walter's notes that "the complaint alleges you were in the State of Nevada on a couple of occasions advocating the defeat of [the initiative]." If that's all it takes to find against Walters, he's a dead duck. The law governing disclosure of "contributions received" applies to, "every person or group of persons organized formally or informally who advocates the passage or defeat of a question." Walter's advocacy against the measure while in Nevada is a matter of public record. During his three days traveling around the state, Walters made a series of media appearances warning that the initiative's passage would lead to Nevada becoming "a center for drug tourism." And he said the initiative would help "feed the criminal organizations that are a dangerous threat to democratic institutions in the Western Hemisphere." On Election Day itself, The Wall Street Journal published his statement that, "we're going to fight whether we win or lose in every state they [reformers] come in to from now on." There's evidence that Walters knew he was skating on thin ice by making such statements. He told the Chicago Tribune in October: "I certainly understand the dangers of federal officials, a White House official, coming to a state and talking about a state ballot issue. We didn't use to do this." As to Walters' prospective defense, Bruce Mirken, a spokesperson for MPP, says, "he never denied his purpose was to oppose the initiatives. If he wants to play word games about it, let him." MPP attorney Steve Fox was less sanguine, saying, "if he says he wasn't advocating defeat, we'll see what Nevada's perjury statutes say." The state fine for noncompliance for the reporting requirement is only $5,000. Says Mirken, "while the fine is not huge, what's more important is if Nevada concludes that our complaint is valid, that Walters broke the law, is now caught and held to account." In the midst of a hard-fought political campaign, Walters had a good strategic reason not to register with the state as seeking to influence the election. Says Kevin Zeese, president of Common Sense for Drug Policy, "should the federal government be seen as trying to influence the outcome, that would have been a real issue in the campaign. Vast portions of the state are federal land, and people don't particularly like the federal government in Nevada." MPP's Fox suggests, "he didn't file because he doesn't want people to know how many tax dollars he wasted in the campaign against the initiative." State Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani (D-Clark County), who advised MPP, notes Nevadans' emphasis on states' rights, embodied in the saying: "Independent like Nevada." ONDCP's response to Nevada is the next chapter in what marijuana proponents hope will be an enlightening saga. Deputy Secretary Bilyeu indicates that her office has spoken to ONDCP, and that the drug czar's office intends to reply. She notes, however, "it's an open question if he is subject to state law or not." If ONDCP can convincingly cite federal law that supercedes state law, Bilyeu thinks "that may be the end of it." Should ONDCP's reply not satisfy, her office will seek guidance from the state attorney general. No matter the outcome in Nevada, MPP's Mirken concludes, "hopefully it will get them to obey the law, or at least promote an honest discussion of what federal officials can do with taxpayer money to conduct a political campaign." Note: Did Drug Czar John Walters illegally campaign against a pro-marijuana ballot initiative? Nevada's Secretary of State wants to know. Daniel Forbes --  ddanforbes aol.com -- is a freelance journalist who writes frequently on drug-policy issues. An archive of his work is available at The Media Awareness Project -- http://www.mapinc.org/forbes.htmSource: Reason Magazine (US)Author: Daniel ForbesPublished: January 16, 2003Copyright: 2003 The Reason FoundationContact: letters reason.comWebsite: http://www.reason.com/ Related Articles & Web Sites:CSDPhttp://www.csdp.org/Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/Media Campaign Adshttp://www.mediacampaign.org/mg/NORML: Marijuana Truth Campaignhttp://freedomtoexhale.com/truth.pdfDrug Czar Asked for Explanationhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15202.shtmlGovernment Lying To You Again About Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15199.shtmlRebellion Against the Drug Czarhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14885.shtml
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #2 posted by p4me on January 16, 2003 at 12:12:19 PT
Reason & Dan Forbes- What a team.
It sure beats CMS & Joyce. I had to wait 15 days in January for my Dan Forbes fix. It was worth the wait. I love the way he sings the truth.His stuff has a way of ending up at alternet.org and drugwars.com. Plenty of people will read this and encourage stronger convictions for reform. I feel confident the marijuana.com readers will see this with along with excellent commentary from Doc_Zombie. There is some new stuff up at alternet, but not this article- http://www.alternet.org/issues/index.html?IssueAreaID=17
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by druid on January 16, 2003 at 11:32:35 PT
NORML-Georgia
Hello again,Many of you have send me emails offering help. I thank you for your
response. I had so many requests, that I felt it would probably do to 
send
out another mass mailing. You all asked "what can I do to help?" Below 
is
a copy of the press release we are sending out to other lists. It lists
SPECIFICALLY how to help.If all you do is send a little money, please donate to National NORML 
in
the next thirty days, and make sure they understand your donation is 
for
use in Georgia only! We will get the funds in the form of a grant, 
which
will help springboard our state lobbying effort..(Please note, there will be NO Georgia "chapter" of NORML, just this 
Lobby
group, soon to be named.)Would you like to see MARIJUANA DECRIMINALIZED? Would you be willing to
join an effort to achieve this necessary and overdue change?We are writing to invite you to be a part of an exciting project that
we've initiated, organizing a NORML (National Organization for the 
Reform
of Marijuana Laws) style lobby group here in Georgia and we want your
help. Our initial aim is to advocate more effective drug policy.A few weeks ago, Rick Day, formerly of Texas NORML, now a Georgia 
resident
and the NORML contact for Georgia, solicited help to re-work and 
re-write
an economic impact study of the small possession marijuana laws using
Georgia facts and figures. This project is humming right along and 
should
be concluded, at least in draft form, very soon, with numbers that will
shock even the most hard core drug warrior!To really get this off the ground, we are looking at an organizational
meeting in the first half of February. We have not yet picked a date or 
a
location and we want your help with that.In addition, we want all to research and bring to this meeting a list 
of
ways you can help. Questions to ask yourself:Can you donate money?
Do you know people who can donate?
Do you personally know any Georgia Representatives or Senators,
including your own? Have you ever lobbied?
Do you know the name of your (possibly new) legislators?
Do you know any Georgia politicians from the local to the state
to the federal level?
Do you know any judges, police officers or public figures?
Can you be part of a communication hub in your area, such as phone 
trees?We need your help and know that a lot of you have interest in this 
issue.
Please contact any of us below with:1) Input on the meeting: Are weeknights better for you and if so what
weekdays are off limits? Or would you prefer a weekend afternoon or
morning?2) Personal research: all of the information in the preceding 
paragraph,
plus anyone you think should be invited to this meeting.Let's make 2003 the year Georgia's sensible citizens have a coalition 
to
work with for building better drug policy.Rick Day day1557 bellsouth.netNan Garrett ngarrett greens.orgAl Herman cinerguy mindspring.comAndrew Greenberg andrew holistic-design.com
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment