THE EDWARD M. BRECHER AWARD FOR ACHIEVEMENT IN THE FIELD OF JOURNALISM

Edward M. Brecher was a freelance writer and journalist specializing in
medical and scientific topics for more than 50 years. In 1988 he was
awarded DPF's first Lindesmith Award in the Field of Scholarship. Mr.
Brecher authored a groundbreaking synthesis of history and policy analysis
for Consumers Union titled Licit and Illicit Drugs in 1972. At the time of
his death in 1989, the New York Times described Licit and Illicit Drugs as
a monument: "That towering work of scholarhip laid out most of what has
been learned - and selectively forgotten... If more Americans shared his
tolerance for human frailty as well as his recpect for science and history,
the drug monsters might be caged." The Edward M. Brecher Award honors those
in the media that dare to steer around official drug war propoganda.

DAN FORBES's disclosure in Salon that the White House provided hundreds of
thousands of dollars of financial incentives per episode to the TV networks
exposed a major Washington scandal. Mr. Forbes quoted named consultants on
the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) payroll who, while the
scripts were being written, promulgated specific changes in certain shows
at the government's behest. Within a week, Drug Czar McCaffery declared
that his office would no longer get scripts in advance. Subsequently, the
Federal Communications Commission ruled that networks must give notice of
ONDCP involvement in television shows.

Mr. Forbes's investigative journalism also disclosed that the same
financial-credit-for-content paradigm was in place at some of the nation's
most prominent nonfiction magazines as well. Mr. Forbes revealed that the
whole media campaign was propaganda designed to influence potential voters
on medical marijuana issues. It was planned at a meeting attended by
numerous federal, state and private officials - a meeting convened by
General McCaffrey nine days after medical marijuana initiatives passed in
Arizona and California in 1996.

Mr. Forbes spent four years as an emergency child wealfare caseworker for
the City of New York, a glimpse of which is available at
www.mrbellersneighborhood.com Mr. Forbes's work has been recognized by
awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Colombia
University Graduate School of Journalism/Online News Association.

DAN GARDNER authored a remarkable thirteen-part series for the Ottawa
Citizen in Canada titled "Losing the War on Drugs," the results of months
of research. The series, which highlighted the parallels betweeen the drug
war and the failed experiment with alcohol prohibition in the United
States, was syndicated and widley read not just in Canada but throughtout
North America. Mr. Gardner's insightful sriting catapulted the Ottawa
Citizen to the forfront of North American newspapers that offer superb
editorial commentary.

In the three years prior to becoming senior writer, Mr. Gardner wrote
editorials and features for the Ottawa Citizen. His work focuses mainly on
justice and civil liberties. Before entering journalism, he was senior
policy advisor to Ontario's minister of education and social policy advisor
to the Premier of Ontario.

Mr. Gardner holds a master's degree in modern history from York
University, Toronto, and a law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School,
Toronto. He was the recipient of the 1999 Amnesty International Canada
award for a profile of Russin enviornmental dissident Aleksandr Niktin, and
is a nominee for this year's Michener Award for the "Losing the War on
Drugs" series.

PAST AWARDEES:

2000 Rolling Stone

1999 Ofra Bikel & Eric Schlosser

1997 Garry Trudeau

1996 Hugh Downs

1995 Catherine Crier

1994 William Finnegan

_____________________________________________________________________

DrugNews readers may review the works of Mr. Forbes and Mr. Gardner at
these links:

http://www.mapinc.org/forbes.htm

http://www.mapinc.org/gardner.htm (Losing the War on Drugs)

http://www.mapinc.org/author/Dan+Gardner

The Consumers Union Report 'Licit and Illicit Drugs' is at http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/cu/cumenu.htm

_____________________________________________________________________

We know that DrugNews readers who could not attend the conference - and
even those who attended but could not possibly be at every event - are
interested in reading more about it. Already some summaries and
photos have been posted at http://www.drugpolicy.org/conference/ Plus a
complete list of who received awards is at
http://www.drugpolicy.org/conference/awards.html

Last but not least, all of the volunteers at MAP/DrugSense who attended
thank each and every one of you who sought us out and gave so many kind
words of thanks and encouragement! You helped us to clearly see how valued
our work is - and sent us home with renewed energy for our efforts!

Richard Lake,

for The Media Awareness Project and DrugSense