PRO-POT ADS TO BE POSTED AT 10 METRO STATIONS

Metro subway stations will soon display a batch of ads promoting the
legalization and taxation of marijuana as a means to improve sex, save
taxes and protect children.

The poster ads, sponsored by the Massachusetts-based nonprofit group Change
the Climate Inc., had been displayed on Metro buses, billboards and bus
shelters during the past month. They are expected to be posted at 10 subway
stations as early as Monday, said Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel.

D.C. Council member Jim Graham, chairman of Metro's Board of Directors,
said, "These ads are intolerable, and we need to review our policies so
that First Amendment considerations are not allowed to compel us to accept
this type of advertising."

Under its policy for public service advertising, Metro reserves 10 percent
of its advertising space for nonprofit groups.

Joseph White, founder and president of Change the Climate, said his group
is not advocating the use of marijuana but is seeking to prod discussion
about drug laws. The ad campaign is the group's third in the metropolitan
area since 2001.

"Washington, D.C., is one of our favorite targets because here are
politicians who are standing in the way of change," said Mr. White of
Greenfield, Mass., a 48-year-old father of three boys.

On its Web site -- http://www.changetheclimate.org -- the group says it
aims to "raise the hackles of America's 'morality police' " with its "Enjoy
better sex!" ad, which shows a young couple in a romantic embrace. The
group says the drug has been used by "many different cultures as an
aphrodisiac for thousands of years" and "has been used in India for at
least 3,000 years to increase libido and conquer impotence."

But in its Web site's "Myths & Facts" section, the group argues against the
assertion that marijuana use can cause impotence, stating, "Most studies of
humans have found that marijuana has no impact on sex hormones."

Change the Climate's poster showing a smiling teenage girl does not say how
legalizing and taxing marijuana would "Protect our Children!" but the group
says on its Web site that regulating pot, like alcohol, would make it more
difficult for children to acquire the drug.

According to a survey by the National Institute on Drug Abuse last year,
38.7 percent of eighth-graders said they had used alcohol in the past 12
months, compared with 14.6 percent who said they had used marijuana during
the same period.

Joyce Nalepka, founder and president of Drug-Free Kids: America's
Challenge, said the ads send "a dangerous message to children."

"I think it is irresponsible to promote legalization of marijuana in a
country where it already is a major problem," said Mrs. Nalepka, who
founded the Silver Spring-based group in 1997. "We have in every city in
this country problems with drugs, violence and trying to protect all children."

Two years ago, Metro officials rejected Change of Climate's ad campaign but
reversed their decision after the American Civil Liberties Union took up
the group's cause, citing the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech.

"While the [subject] may be controversial to some people, we have a
commitment to present all sides of every issue," said Mr. Taubenkibel. "As
long as an ad is not vulgar, crude, uses no four-letter words and presents
their viewpoint, then they have a right to go up."

Mr. Graham, Ward 1 Democrat, said he believes in the First Amendment, "but
we are being carried to limits here that no one can tolerate.

"When it leads us down this kind of path, we must find another option," he
said of the ads.

The Washington Post first reported about Change the Climate's ads.