DRUG CONVICTS' KIN PLAN TO MAKE POINT IN CONVENTION'S 'SHADOW'

Hundreds of relatives of people jailed for drugs offenses will travel to
Philadelphia on Tuesday as part of a five-day alternative convention
designed to "embarrass" Republicans, organizers say.

The "shadow" convention, which also will set up camp next month in Los
Angeles for the Democratic National Convention, wants to throw the
spotlight on campaign finance reform, the war against drugs and poverty.
Organizers hope the event, the brainchild of columnist Arianna Huffington,
will attract almost 1,000 people for the most controversial debates.

Buses carrying as many as 300 people from Michigan, New York and Minnesota
will converge on Philadelphia on Tuesday to protest the number of
nonviolent offenders in jail for breaking drug laws.

Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy
Foundation, which is hosting Tuesday's event, said the war on drugs is
failing because the United States has jailed as many as 500,000 people
guilty of drug offenses. That's more than the total prison population of
Western Europe, he said, adding that some people are given a longer
sentence for such crimes than for second-degree murder or rape because of
federal mandatory minimum sentencing laws.

New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson (R), Rep. Tom Campbell (R-Calif.) and Jesse L.
Jackson will join the protesters.

"Shadow Conventions 2000: A Citizens' Intervention in American Politics"
aims to revitalize what organizers identify as "a superficial political
debate" and the "short-term smugness" of an "ever more privatized political
process." Or as Huffington put it: "The purpose is to give voice to people
who have been excluded from the political system."

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the star speaker, opens the shadow convention
today with a speech on his favorite issue--campaign finance reform.
Huffington's ex-husband, Michael Huffington, spent $30 million on a failed
bid for the Senate in 1994.

On Monday, the advocacy groups Common Cause and Public Campaign host a day
dedicated to the subject. Granny D, who at age 90 and while suffering from
arthritis and emphysema completed a walk across America earlier this year
to lobby for campaign finance reform, will kick off the discussion.

Tuesday's drug debate will feature a choir from Minnesota made up of
children whose parents have been jailed for drug-related offenses. The
third theme--poverty and the wealth gap--will be addressed the following day.