A NOTE ABOUT HOW YOU CAN HELP THE FIGHT AGAINST THE DRUG WAR

By Mark Greer

I am writing to you today out of both fear and frustration with the current
state of affairs in America. Although the new millennium began with a
burst of optimism for the future of U.S. drug policy, the last few years
have been marked by a steady erosion of our personal and civil
liberties. While polls show a growing majority support for harm reduction
and a more liberal drug policy, our present government has done its best to
maintain and reinforce its widely discredited and unpopular drug prohibition.

What is particularly frustrating is that we know that there is a better
way. Much of the Western world has chosen to embrace a science-based,
harm-reduction approach towards the use of recreational drugs, treating it
as a medical rather than a criminal concern. While we continue to fill our
prisons with non-violent drug offenders, the U.K will soon reclassify
recreational cannabis use as a non-arrestable offense. Even our neighbours
in Canada will once again consider decriminalizing the personal use of
marijuana in 2004.

Under the questionable moral leadership of John Ashcroft and John Walters,
and as a result of poorly construed policies such the Homeland Security
Act, the HEA and the newly introduced RAVE legislation, our nation is
quickly devolving from the "land of the free" to the land of the carefully
monitored and widely oppressed.

DrugSense has been working hard to help America retain its liberty and
regain its freedoms. With the upcoming federal elections, information is
our greatest tool for progressive change. However, the pending election
has diverted much of the traditional funding avenues for drug policy reform
to the wider goal of ousting the present regime, which is why I need to ask
you today to support our goal of moving toward a compassionate,
science-based drug policy, rather than one which is based on fear and
misinformation.

Find our address below or use our quick, easy, and secure donations page at
http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm#supportds

DrugSense continues to support, assist and inform the entire online drug
policy reform movement through important resources such as the Media
Awareness Project, our weekly e-newsletter, and issue-oriented media Focus
Alerts. Our ever-expanding Drug Policy Central web services currently host
over 100 of drug reforms leading organizations, including Law Enforcement
Against Prohibition, Students for a Sensible Drug Policy, and Common Sense
for Drug Policy. If we are to continue with this good work, we need to ask
for help from people like you who believe that compassionate policies and
the preservation of personal freedoms are what continue to make America great.

Please help us keep Ashcroft/Walters honest; give what you can to
MAP/DrugSense.

With my sincere gratitude, and a hope for new direction for 2004.

Mark Greer

Executive Director

DrugSense