The ad is online in both Realvideo and MPEG format at:

http://www.legalize-usa.org/video4.htm

Common Sense For Drug Policy
3619 Tallwood Terrace
Falls Church, VA 22041
703-354-5694 (phone)
703-354-5695 (fax)
kevzeese@laser.net (email)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WHITE HOUSE LEGAL DEMAND THAT ISSUE ADVERTISEMENT BE PULLED IS EMPHATICALLY
REJECTED BY DRUG POLICY REFORM GROUP

Washington, D.C. - Stating that their publicly televised education messages
now airing on CNN and other outlets "will run, and we will not be
intimidated." Common Sense for Drug Policy has "emphatically rejected" a
White House demand that the organization pull its public education message
off the air. We do not believe that our President should ever seek to
curtail the First Amendment right of any American or any organization to
express political views plainly protected under the Constitution," said
Common Sense President Kevin Zeese.

The ad, produced by Zimmerman and Markman, the team that managed and
handled the media for the successful Medical Marijuana Initiative in
California, is part of a comprehensive effort to open the debate on drug
policy in advance of this week's UN General Assembly Special Session on
Drugs.

Common Sense for Drug Policy, a Virginia-based public policy organization
that opposes US and UN drug policies, began an issue advertisement campaign
on Thursday, June 4th, involving the purchase of $60,000 in commercial time
on CNN and other outlets. The advertisement expresses the organization's
policy belief that the drug war is a failure.

While the advertisement contains actual film footage of President Clinton
addressing the UN, it also features an audio track with an actor's voice
imitating the President as well as an explicit visual disclaimer making it
clear to viewers that it is not President Clinton giving an address urging
a change in drug policy. The ad can be viewed at www.drugsense.org ; video
copies in Beta, VHS and PAL formats are available on request.

An attorney representing the White House Office of Legal Counsel demanded
an allied organization withdraw the advertisements and threatened the
possibility of legal action. A copy of Meredith Cabe's letter is attached.

Kevin Zeese, President of Common Sense for Drug Policy, has responded with
a letter to Ms. Cabe "emphatically" rejecting the White House demand. A
copy of the Zeese letter is also attached.

Mr. Zeese writes: "The White House should not be engaged in an effort to
prevent us from expressing political views through the assertion of bogus
legal rights or remedies. Throughout history, governments incapable of
defending their policies on the merits stifle speech that expresses
opposition to their failed ideas. It is a great sadness to us that our
President, rather than engaging us in debate, would instead act to try and
prevent us from debating at all."

Saturday, over 500 global statesmen, including former UN General Secretary
Javier Perez de Cuellar and former Secretary of State George Shultz, Walter
Cronkite, former White House Counsel Lloyd Cutler, former Attorney General
Katzenbach and others wrote UN General Secretary Kofi Annan urging that the
UN's existing drug policy be reexamined and the debate be opened.

The script for the advertisement.

VIDEO: Clinton walking into UN and then speaking at podium

VOICE OVER: On June 8, the President Clinton will be addressing the

United Nations about the war on drugs, this is what he should say:

[Voice imitating Clinton is out of sync with his speaking]

Do you think the war on drugs is a complete failure? I do.

Do you think if we spend more money we'll win? Forget it.

We're wasting 17 billion dollars a year now. And, because we put hundreds
of thousands of people in prison for drug offenses, prisons are too full so
we put violent criminals out on the street.

Heck, we're causing more crime than we are stopping.

Isn't time for a drug policy based on Common Sense?"

Visit www.DrugSense.org

Paid for by Common Sense for Drug Policy

THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
06/05/98 FRI 14.10 FAX
June 5, 1998
VIA FACSIMILE

Mr. Mark Greer
DrugSense
P.O. Box 651
Porterville, CA 93258

Dear Mr. Greer:

The Office of Counsel to the President has become aware that your
organization is running a television advertisement featuring video footage
of President Clinton, along with his name, but with a voice-over of an
impersonator's voice.

While the video shows President Clinton speaking, the words the viewer
hears are not the President's words. As you are no doubt aware, the
commercial also completely misstates the President's position on the
problem of illegal drugs in this country.

That advertisement violates a long standing White House policy against the
use of the image of the President in advertising or promotional materials
in any way that suggests a linkage between the President and the product,
service, or enterprise being advertised. Superimposing someone else's words
over videotape of the President speaking is confusing, if not deceptive,
and is potentially actionable.

Your organizations advertisement distorts the President's views and
threatens to create precisely the kind of false perception on behalf of the
viewing public the White House policy exists to avoid. We therefore insist
that your organization discontinue that advertisement, and any other
promotional material in which the name, likeness, words, or activities of
the President, his family or the White House is used.

Sincerely,

Meredith E. Cabe
Associate Counsel to the President

Common Sense For Drug Policy
3619 Tallwood Terrace
Falls Church, VA 22041
703-354-5694 (phone)
703-354-5695 (fax)
kevzeese@laser.net (email)
Robert E. Field - Chairman
Kevin B. Zeese - President

June 7, 1998

Meredith E. Cabe
Associate Counsel to the President
The White House
Washington, D.C.

Dear Ms. Cabe:

Last Thursday, my organization, Common Sense for Drug Policy, began airing
a public education message as part of a $60,000 purchase of advertising
time on CNN and other outlets. Our message expresses our strongly held
policy belief that the drug war is a failure, and was run coincident with
the upcoming United Nations General Assembly Special Session known as "The
Drug Summit." While the message contains actual film footage of President
Clinton addressing the UN, it also features an audio track with an actor's
voice imitating the President as well as explicit audio and visual
disclaimers making it clear to viewers that it is not President Clinton
giving an address urging a change in drug policy.

On Friday, we received your startling letter demanding that the public
education message be withdrawn. Your letter asserts that our use of the
President's image violates White House policy. You have threatened us with
legal action, as a means, I suppose, of intimidating us into suspending
further broadcast of the advertisement. Because we believe the
advertisement embodies precisely the kind of political speech that is
protected under the First Amendment, we consulted legal counsel to
determine whether our rights as Americans to address a policy issue in an
advocacy advertisement would prevail against an assertion of White House
policy, stated without citing a single statute or legal precedent.

This weekend, we received an opinion letter from legal counsel which gives
us even more confidence in our right to run the public education message.
Our counsel was able to find several examples of commercial and political
speech which were published or presented over the objections of the
political figures whose names or images were depicted in the ads. Most
recently, for example, Mayor Giuliani was stopped by Federal District and
Federal Appellate Courts, when he sought to end a bus advertisement by New
York Magazine which used his name. A similar case involving a picture of
Vice President Mondale in 1984 led to the same result; namely the
protection of speech and the free expression of ideas.

On this basis, we emphatically reject your demand that we pull the ads. The
ad will run and we will not be intimated. We do not believe that our
President should ever seek to curtail the First Amendment right of any
American or any organization to express political views plainly protected
under the Constitution. My organization believes that the drug war is a
failure and effective alternatives exist. We will continue to express those
views as we see fit.

The White House should not be engaged in an effort to prevent us from
expressing political views through the assertion of bogus legal rights or
remedies. Throughout history, governments incapable of defending their
policies on the merits always try to stifle speech that expresses
opposition to their failed ideas. It is a great sadness that our President
rather than engage us in debate would instead act to prevent us from
debating at all.

I am making my letter and your letter publicly available on Sunday.

Sincerely,

Kevin Zeese