Antidrug crusader says ban High Times website

HEADLINE: JOHN HOLMSTROM, PUBLISHER OF HIGH TIMES, A MAGAZINE CELEBRATING
MARIJUANA, AND JIM COPPLE OF THE COMMUNITY ANTIDRUG COALITIONS OF AMERICA
DISCUSS DRUG RELATED WEB SITES

ANCHORS: JODI APPLEGATE

The debate about unfiltered Web sites on the Internet usually centers around
the availability of sexually oriented material. But lately many have become
concerned at the number of drugrelated sites. High Times, for years a
magazine which celebrated marijuana, now has one of the more active Web
pages. Reportedly, High Times' Web site has more than 200,000 visitors per
month. Joining us, the publisher of High Times, John Holmstrom, and the
president of Community AntiDrug Coalitions of America, Jim Copple.

Gentlemen, thank you both very much for joining us.

Mr. JOHN HOLMSTROM: Thank you.

Mr. JIM COPPLE: Thank you.

APPLEGATE: Let me start with you, Mr. Holmstrom, because so much of this
controversy comes on the heels of all this discussion about tobacco and
images aimed at children and so forth. What do you do to try and make sure
your kids don't visit your Web site?

Mr. HOLMSTROM: We have a disclaimer page on the beginning of the Web site
discouraging any kids from visiting our site. And we also encourage any
parents who might visit our site and want to keep their child off, we would
encourage them to download Net Nanny software.

APPLEGATE: OK. It's a little bit hard to read on the TV screen, but basically
it said if you're under 21 don't visit this Web site.

Mr. HOLMSTROM: Right. And we offer parents filtering software so that they
can keep their child from visiting the Web site. It's very important
thattherethere is filtering software out there for parents.

APPLEGATE: How do parents get that?

Mr. HOLMSTROM: Download it from the Internet.

APPLEGATE: Can they get it from your Web site, or do you somehow make it
easier for the parents to get that?

Mr. HOLMSTROM: Yes. We send them to a Web site that offers that software.

APPLEGATE: OK, Mr. Copple, obviously there's no way that the simple warning
of disclaimer is going to guarantee that kids don't log on, but how about Mr.
Holmstrom's description of this software that can block the information from
kids?

Mr. COPPLE: Well, I think it's a noble effort, but I don't think it's
complete. I think what we have in this issue is similar to what we have in
pornography, this is chemical pornography, it's promoting an illean illegal
activity. It'swhile they can put disclaimers on it, the Internet is a wide
open vehicle, I think theas with pornography, we have to regulate access
and we have to regulate location. We have to put a brown wrapper around this
issue.

APPLEGATE: Let'slet's get specific here. Do you have any evidence that
young people looking at sites like this then as a result use illegal drugs?

Mr. COPPLE: Yeah, we haveit'swe now have research data, we have largely
anecdotal data at this point. I met with a focus group of young people a
couple of weeks ago in Cincinnati that talked about accessing information
about marijuana growing, about marijuana use. A more insidious access has
been people who've been able to access the Web to get information on how to
build formulas for methamphetamine and operating labs. Young people can
access that kind of information, and that's highly volatile explosive
chemicals that can kill you. And we've got to figure that out.

APPLEGATE: OK, I want to talk about thoseI want to talk about those
socalled harder drugs in just a moment, but first let's talk a little bit
more about marijuana, because there is a character in cartoons on your Web
site called Potpye who resembles Popeye, who says things like "I'm mellow to
the finish 'cause I smokes me spinach." Do you worry about kids being exposed
to that?

Mr. HOLMSTROM: From what I understand, your technical people had a hard time
finding that cartoon on our Web site to present on this program. This isn't
like that cartoon advertising in tobacco ads where we're pushing it in
people's face, this is more like an editorial comment, like a "Doonesbury"
thatthat discusses the drug war from our perspective.

APPLEGATE: My producer tells me that even though we did have a little trouble
downloading it, they didn't have trouble finding it so that they could
eyeball it. And I guess the point about Potpye is that it's going to remind
people of Joe Camel.

Mr. COPPLE: Right. We've justwe've just knocked off Joe Camel in this
tobacco agreement. And Iquite frankly, glamorizing an illegal behavior and
activity in Potpye is not something I want our children exposed to. Not at
all.

APPLEGATE: We should alsowe should also make clear, that Mr. Copple alluded
to this, even on your Web site, which seems to primarily focus on marijuana,
our producer was able to find information on how to defeat drug tests for
cocaine, heroin, and speed, and other Web sites feature information on how to
make speed, on how to take LSD, chat rooms on what it's like to take
marijuana. Do you worry about kids being exposed to some of these things?

Mr. HOLMSTROM: Well, from our surveys, we don't have a lot of kids visiting
this Web site. We don't have verywe have 99 percent of our visitors are
over the age of 18. And I'm surprised you've been able to find that much
information about other drugs on our Web site. What we have is an advertiser
who has a 900 number that offers that information. We're not offering a lot
of that information to people. We...

APPLEGATE: Mr. Copple, we only have a few moments left, but if you had your
druthers, how would you solve this problem?

Mr. COPPLE: I think we need to look at access and location on the Web. We
need to create an intranet, and in fact we're going to push with the US
Department of Education where students in schools are able to access this
kind of information openly and freely that we create an intranet mechanism
where students are only able to access certain kinds of information. We do
not want them accessing illegal information related to illegal activity or
illegal behavior. We're promoting...

APPLEGATE: OK. II really need yes or no on this, I'm sorry, because we're
almost out of time. Would you say that sites like the High Times site should
be abolished, yes or no?

Mr. COPPLE: Well, if I had my druthers, yes, I would like to see them
abolished.

APPLEGATE: All right, we saw Mr. Holmstrom's reaction to that. Gentlemen,
thank you both very much. We appreciate your joining us this morning to share
your perspectives on this.

It is 19 minutes after the hour, and we'll be right back after this.