DRUG WAR RUNS CONTRARY TO COMMON SENSE

Major revelations of the truth about the "War on Drugs" have surfaced in
Albuquerque recently. Governor Johnson made his strongest arguments yet for
repeal of drug prohibition at two great N.M. Drug Policy Foundation Forums,
attended by hundreds of concerned citizens.

His contention that legalization would reduce drug abuse and crime was not
only supported by his fellow forum panelists. Our local ABC and CBS
affiliates also aired favorable reports from news teams that they each sent
to Amsterdam. This amazing television coverage (amazing because TV news has
been a consistent cheerleader for repressive drug policy) added to the
accumulating evidence that during his recent visit to undermine our
governor, most of the things that Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey told us were
barefaced lies.

In fact, the Netherlands is enjoying increased public safety by tolerating
marijuana use and successfully separating its distribution from that of
hard drugs.

"Barry McCaffrey has presided over a system where marijuana use has
declined among American youth, masking an even greater rise in the
adolescent use of crack and heroin," says Paul Lewin of Common Sense for
Drug Policy.

If they only knew, Mr. Lewin doubts "most parents would be comfortable with
a system that replaces marijuana with crack and heroin use."

Although the truth is beginning to emerge, don't get the idea that the
government's war on the freedom to control your own body is over! Don't
expect any changes to New Mexico drug laws during the upcoming legislative
session.

Even with Governor Johnson chipping away at the myth of consensus, and with
conservative Maine overwhelmingly passing their medical marijuana
initiative, drug warriors are stepping up their war on the people and on
nature. Depending upon where the Feds allocate "their" resources, expect
things to get worse before they get better.

Many New Mexicans were arrested recently through the joint efforts of
tax-funded federal and state drug units. Probably many long sentences will
be handed down, certainly at great expense. What was accomplished? Can
anyone doubt that the overdosed addicts of Rio Arriba would be alive today,
but for prohibition?

Last year, Congress approved funding for development of genetically
engineered herbicides to target "drug crops.?"

As a result, on November 9th, the Environmental News Network reported that
the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Department of
Agriculture approved quarantined tests of modified Fusarium oxysporum.

Jim McDonough, the state's drug czar, announced plans to release this
long-lived, easily mutated "marijuana-eating fungus." Such irresponsible,
short-sighted arrogance makes environmentalists shudder!

In California, no cruelty is too extreme for federal prosecutors and
collaborating judges trying to destroy the medical marijuana movement. The
Clinton "Justice" Department filed an appeal of the 9th Circuit ruling that
medical necessity may be presented as a defense against marijuana
possession or cultivation charges.

Thus encouraged, on Nov. 5, Federal Judge George King barred co-defendants
Peter McWilliams and Todd McCormick from mentioning Proposition 215,
medical uses of marijuana, or their medical conditions to their juries.
This effectively prevents them from raising a medical necessity defense in
their trial for "conspiring to illegally manufacture" marijuana.

"The Constitution is under attack from many fronts. The courts have
followed a precedent favorable to the government in their prosecution, but
have found every way possible to avoid decisions from the same courts that
recognize individuals' rights," says David Michael, who represents medical
marijuana patient Todd McCormick.

McCormick underwent radical cancer treatments and used medical marijuana
until his 1997 arrest to alleviate the chronic pain he suffers as a result
of his disease.

"This is clear proof that medical facts and the war on drugs are mutually
exclusive," says Thomas Ballanco, attorney for critically ill author Peter
McWilliams. Since the federal government barred him from using medical
marijuana, McWilliams has been unable to keep down his other medicines or
food and his viral load has risen to a life-threatening level. The Los
Angeles Times reports his doctors believe he has only a short time to live
and that a prison term would spell certain death.

Says Peter McWilliams, "How can this happen in America? I can't tell a jury
why I used medical marijuana? I am stunned; speechless. The government
monopoly on justice has just handed me a 'Go-to-Jail-for-Life' card. I now
face ten mandatory years in federal prison. I will die there. My life is
over because I tried to save my life doing something my doctor recommended
in a state where it is legal. If it happened to me, it can happen to
anyone."