ADS IN FAVOR OF LEGALIZING DRUGS OKD

Judge strikes down ban as breach of free speech

A federal law cutting off funds to any public transit agency that runs ads
calling for legalization or medical use of an illegal drug was declared
unconstitutional Wednesday by a federal judge.

U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman of Washington, D.C., said the amendment
attached to a $3.1 billion transportation measure, signed in January by
President Bush, violated freedom of speech by banning messages based on
their viewpoint.

"The government has articulated no legitimate state interest in the
suppression of this particular speech other than the fact that it
disapproves of the message, an illegitimate and constitutionally
impermissible reason," Friedman said. He prohibited the government from
enforcing the funding restriction.

The ruling in a suit by civil liberties and medical marijuana advocates
could affect billboards and bus shelters in the Bay Area. The transit bill
included $100 million for the already-completed BART airport extension and
$9 million for the Municipal Railway's Third Street light-rail project in
San Francisco, money those transit systems would have forfeited under the
amendment if they accepted a forbidden ad.

Muni spokeswoman Maggie Lynch said her agency hasn't been asked to carry any
such ads but has been advised by city lawyers that its advertising policies
must abide by constitutional First Amendment standards. "We certainly would
not take an ad that would interfere with our federal funding,'' she added.

Bruce Mirken, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, noted that Muni's
bus shelters now carry ads, sponsored by the White House Office of National
Drug Control Policy, suggesting that youthful marijuana use leads to a life
as a derelict.

"If this amendment stood, we would be barred from putting ads in that same
forum to counter that message and to engage in a political debate about the
wisdom of the marijuana laws,'' Mirken said.

BART spokesman Mike Healy was unavailable for comment Wednesday, but
denounced the federal ad restrictions as "blackmail of the transit
industry'' when the suit was filed in February.

Officials in the White House drug office were also unavailable to speak
about the ruling, which could be appealed.

The amendment was sponsored by Rep. Ernest Istook, R-Okla., who took offense
at pro-marijuana ads in the D.C. subway system. One ad was headlined, "Enjoy
better sex!'' and called for legalizing and taxing marijuana.