cannabisnews.com: Challenge To Metro Ad Curb Argued 





Challenge To Metro Ad Curb Argued 
Posted by CN Staff on April 28, 2004 at 21:37:02 PT
By Carol D. Leonnig, Washington Post Staff Writer
Source: Washington Post 
A lawsuit accusing Congress of illegally selecting the kind of political views that can be expressed in Metro station advertisements will probably help shape what Americans can see in mass transit systems across the country, attorneys said in a court hearing yesterday. A federal judge heard arguments in a suit filed after Metro rejected an ad from Change the Climate, a group that advocates reforms in laws against marijuana. Metro took the action after Congress passed a law that denies federal money to transit systems that accept advertising promoting the legalization of drugs.
U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman warned that the case's outcome might require Metro to make painful choices. The transit system could be pressed to remove other politically charged advertisements it has long accepted on train platforms and bus shelters, or it could be forced to give up crucial federal funds that help pay for the transit system's expansion. He said he would announce a ruling soon. Change the Climate and two other drug policy groups filed the suit, along with the American Civil Liberties Union. They contended that the law amounted to unconstitutional censorship. The suit challenges a law that threatens 53 transit authorities with the loss of $3.1 billion in federal funds annually if they accept ads criticizing U.S. drug policy. Rep. Ernest J. Istook Jr. (R-Okla.), angered by a marijuana legalization ad that appeared last year in the Metro system, introduced the legislation in December. The ad showed a couple with the legend "Enjoy better sex! Legalize and Tax Marijuana." In court yesterday, the Justice Department argued that the federal government can refuse to help provide a canvas for groups to state their political views. Drug policy critics have other places to advertise, said Sara Clash-Drexler, the government attorney. Snipped: Complete Article: http://freedomtoexhale.com/challenge.htmSource: Washington Post (DC)Author: Carol D. Leonnig, Washington Post Staff WriterPublished: Thursday, April 29, 2004; Page B06 Copyright: 2004 Washington Post Contact: letterstoed washpost.comWebsite: http://www.washingtonpost.com Related Articles & Web Sites:MPP: http://www.mpp.org/ACLU: http://www.aclu.org/DPA: http://www.drugpolicy.org/CTC: http://www.changetheclimate.org/Federal Judge Hears Arguments Over Pot Ads http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18749.shtmlIstook's Illegal Amendment http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18401.shtmlSuit Targets Ban on Pro-Pot Ads http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18362.shtmlFeds Face Lawsuit in Censorship Fight http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18359.shtml
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Comment #6 posted by Jose Melendez on April 29, 2004 at 09:45:38 PT
I love it.
Help Keep Drug War Deadly and Legal!http://rxpot.com/cannabisnews/voteJose.htmlMedia heads up: "Next on Day to Day, the costs of waging peace . . . "http://npr.orgsee also kind words from Hoss at:http://weblog.siliconvalley.com/column/dangillmor/archives/010296.shtml
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Comment #5 posted by kaptinemo on April 29, 2004 at 09:07:51 PT:
Brilliant! 
These suggestions are EXACTLY what's needed to bridge the gap caused by the Great Disconnect of the Pontius Pilate-like 'clean-hands' public moralizing of the antis ("It's all for the children!") with the ugly realities attendent with incarceration, prison rape and HIV.Not to mention unlawful deaths of children such as Alberto Sepulveda and Esequiel Hernendez (odd how so many non-Anglo children get whacked by DrugWarriors, isn't it?)...all in order to 'save them from drugs'.The public must have their doubts as to why the DrugWarriors keep poor-mouthing themselves and crying that they need more money and more power (and concomitantly for you to have less and less rights) to fight what they've been fighting for the last 90 years with increasingly less success. Ads like these would act as catalysts for further discussions. Discussions the antis have moved Heaven and Earth to avoid even making their way to dinner tables, much less your TV. When they come to both, the next step is reform-minded legislation.It's coming. Yes, antis, it's coming; like dawn, it's inevitable.
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Comment #4 posted by Petard on April 29, 2004 at 06:21:50 PT
For that matter Virgil, ...
How about turning the whole ONDCP TV commercial thing on it's head? Take the standard format of their prohibitionist commercials, but show them as being voiced over by Noriega and other S. American "Drug Lord" types as supporting CP so that "I can keep making an inflated $ off your kids and keep pushing my other products (scene of powders and pills and syringes) to them, kinda like your local pharmacy is at the back of the store so they can pitch all their other products to you to generate added sales. Thanks to you, these weeds and flowers are worth more than gold. So, do it for me, (show a gold toothed, heavily armed Sandanista type character with $ bills falling from the sky all around him) Support the Drug War". Another could show the harms of the abuse of the Drug War. Some scenes of kids going into a prison environment, getting catcalls, and winks from the big burly inmates. A voice saying, "It's for the kids, mandatory minimums, and mandatory "treatment" (scene of a baby faced teen getting his hair stroked by a gnarly looking dude as the cell door slams behind him "CLANG"). The voice continues, "Support the Drug War, your kids will love you for it." 
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Comment #3 posted by Shishaldin on April 28, 2004 at 23:17:30 PT
No Virgil...
not funny....%$^# & BRILLIANT! Classic Ju-Jitsuesque maneuver! Take the ONDCP's ridiculous rigid rhetoric, blow it up into 3 simple words, and you've effectively framed the entire issue with it's attendant negative references of Al Capone types getting rich and being violent *because* of the *policies* of Prohibition!! Folks will recall that Prohibition FAILED.I think of the analogy of a bully with his slingshot (ONDCP boo hiss!) always shooting at us (Cannabists! hoo rah!) with rocks. With this, we've just grabbed the slingshot's pouch, loaded it with large diameter buckshot, and shot him in the face with his own weapon. *While* he's holding it, no less. Watch out, Johnny Pee! Ooooo, that's gotta hurt! Looks like Dr. Barfwell got winged on that one, too ;)I think the only thing I'd add to it would be (in a much smaller font, but very visible) Brought to you by the folks that gave you The Fabulously Successful 13 Year Run of Prohibition: The Al Capone Years...Great idea Virg!Peace and Strength,Shishaldin
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Comment #2 posted by Virgil on April 28, 2004 at 22:07:00 PT
A funny thought
What if a reform group wanted an ad that only said "Support Cannabis Prohibition"? It is my belief that it would benefit the cause by breaking the silence that is the only solution to continuing CP and it would generate all kinds of publicity. Can the government spend $200 million a year to say the same thing, without using the word "prohibition" of course, and a reform group cannot come out and just state it. It is prohibition that everyone must live with while people can accept or deny cannabis. It is CP that tramples people's unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The ONDCP do not want the words "Support Cannabis Prohibition" on any buses. They want to lie about marijuana and they do not want the word "prohibition" mentioned ever. The word "prohibition" gets the silent treatment at all times with the government. They also would not like to see the word "Why?" after it. 
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Comment #1 posted by Jose Melendez on April 28, 2004 at 21:46:01 PT
cannabis ad: butter change the law soon . . .
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n643/a02.html?397Genesis 1
 29   And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
 
 
  Génesis 1
 29 Y dijo Dios: He aquí que os he dado toda planta que da semilla, que está sobre toda la tierra, y todo árbol en que hay fruto y que da semilla; os serán para comer.  
 
http://bible.gospelcom.net
 
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