FEDS SUED IN FLAP OVER DRUG-LAW ADS

WASHINGTON - A lawsuit filed yesterday accuses the federal government
of illegally blocking drug-law reformers who want to deliver their
message to public transit riders.

The suit targets a little-noticed amendment that went into effect
earlier this month as part of Congress' 2004 spending measure.

It bars all ads on transit systems if they advocate reforms such as
the legalization or medical use of marijuana and other drugs.

"The government does not want the public to know how badly our drug
policy has failed, so it is trying to silence Americans who oppose the
war on drugs," said Graham Boyd, director of the ACLU Drug Policy
Litigation Project, which filed the suit in Washington, D.C., federal
court.

"Fortunately, the First Amendment clearly prohibits this kind of
blatant viewpoint-based censorship," he said.

At stake are more than $3 billion in federal transit funds nationwide.
New York City could lose at least $75 million if it accepts
drug-reform ads on the subways or buses, according to the ACLU.

The case was filed yesterday after the Washington Metropolitan Area
Transit Authority declined an ad with the headline: "Marijuana laws
waste billions of taxpayer dollars to lock up nonviolent Americans."

A spokeswoman for Washington Metro, which was named as a defendant
with federal Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, said the system
would have risked losing $85 million by accepting the ad.

"Given our critical dependency on continued federal funding, we have
no choice but to follow the law that Congress passed," said Lisa
Farbstein. "To do otherwise would be a disservice to our customers and
the region's taxpayers."