cannabisnews.com: Pot Campaign Starts in The City!





Pot Campaign Starts in The City!
Posted by FoM on August 17, 1999 at 17:51:29 PT
By Kathleen Sullivan of the Examiner Staff
Source: San Francisco Examiner 
It's time for all hard-working, job-holding, child-rearing citizens who occasionally have a joint in the privacy of their homes to come out of the closet. All - allegedly - 12 million of you. 
That's the goal of an advertising campaign launched Monday in San Francisco by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. The group, which is headquartered in Washington, D.C., is installing 30 posters in bus shelters around The City. "Honk - if you inhale," says one, with a picture of the distinctive five-fingered marijuana leaf below. "A pot smoker is busted every 45 seconds - and you wonder why we're paranoid," says another. Why start in San Francisco? "We wanted to play to our strength," said Keith Stroup, the group's executive director. "There is probably more support for decriminalizing and legalizing marijuana in San Francisco than any other large city in the country." Stroup hopes the campaign will inspire people to lobby elected officials to decriminalize - remove all penalties for private possession, cultivation and use - of marijuana, and legalize the sale of the plant for smoking. "It was time for us to see if we couldn't engage our core constituency - the millions and millions of hard-working, middle-class, otherwise law-abiding Americans who smoke pot - engaged in the public policy debate," Stroup said. The campaign's motto is featured at the bottom of each poster: "Stop arresting responsible pot smokers." Stroup said "responsible" pot smokers are adults who don't smoke and drive, who don't hesitate to say "no" if conditions are not safe and pleasant for a smoke, who resist abusing marijuana, and who respect the rights of others to avoid the stuff entirely. The group, which has lobbied for reforming marijuana laws for 30 years, believes the American public is ready for a renewed debate on the controversial topic. Stroup noted that in 1995 a nationwide public opinion poll found that 50 percent of Americans thought jail sentences for marijuana use should be eliminated, while small civil fines - like those imposed in California - should be retained. In the same Belden & Russonello poll, 72 percent agreed with the statement: "We should not use our prisons to house marijuana users when we need the prisons to house violent criminals." "And that was four years ago," Stroup said. He said Oregon voters rejected a move by the state legislature last year to recriminalize minor marijuana offenses. "That's indicative of a trend around the country," he said. Stroup said the campaign's biggest foes in the state probably will be the California Narcotics Officers Association. "They're right about that - we're going to be their biggest opposition," said Pierre Bidou, a retired Bay Area police chief and spokesman for the group. "We will fight them tooth and nail. Why do we need another drug to be dependent on?" Bidou said he doesn't know the basis for Stroup's claim that 12 million Americans smoke marijuana. But he doesn't care if it's true. "Just because there are 12 million people smoking it, should marijuana be legalized?" Bidou asked. "If there were 12 million people using cocaine should we legalize that? Just because people do it, does that make it right?" Bidou disagreed with Stroup's claim that citizens are ready for a new public debate on the topic. "Look at the school systems. Youths are suspended immediately for first-time possession," he said. "The public is taking a second look at this. They're starting to go the other way, toward our point of view." By Kathleen Sullivan OF THE EXAMINER STAFF Tuesday, August 17, 1999 ©1999 San Francisco ExaminerBudding Campaign - August 17, 1999http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread2522.shtmlIt’s time we stopped arresting responsible marijuana smokers. NORML's Ad:http://www.norml.org/about/ads.shtml
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #2 posted by FoM on August 18, 1999 at 16:09:21 PT
It's Time To Stop The Madness!
I am with you! I sure think the time has come for our leaders like some are like Gov. Johnson and Gov. Ventura, to just say the drug war is a big failure and decriminalize marijuana for adult use and get treatment, and I don't mean drug testing, I mean real treatment for a person who is really in bad shape with hard drugs. That's how I see approaching the drug war, with compassion. I have met very nice addicts and jail wouldn't have helped them for sure!Peace, FoM!
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #1 posted by steve1 on August 18, 1999 at 14:00:46 PT
12 million and more
It's probably more than 12 million people that smoke marijuana in the US. And that's just the United States. What about England and Canada and the many other countries who are also fighting their own battles to have marijuana widely available legally? I don't know about all of you but I would feel a lot better knowing I am not going to get "punished" for smoking some bud. 
[ Post Comment ]

Post Comment


Name: Optional Password: 
E-Mail: 
Subject: 
Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message]
Link URL: 
Link Title: