DRUG LOBBY STRONG: WHITE

A strong American pro-drug lobby group is manipulating the media with
an organized and effective letter-to-the-editor lobbying campaign,
said Langley-Abbotsford MP Randy White.

The purpose is to sway public opinion to support legalizing drugs, he
said.

The MP noted that the Abbotsford News, and many other newspapers,
publish letters from authors who live all over North America in the
opinion pages.

Newspaper opinion pages are a hot target spot for this lobby group,
said White.

"Many of those letters to the editor are not truly representing the
public opinion of residents in our area," said White.

"Those letters are basically providing free advertising to this lobby
group that wants drugs legalized."

The Media Awareness Project (MAP) is headquartered in California and
states that its mission is to inform the public and promote "balance"
in media coverage about drug policies.

The Web site offers an extensive "letter-to-the-editor" archive, which
claims that the estimated value in free advertising of those published
letters, since 1996, is $12.7 million.

Drug activists can click on these published letters, retrieve them and
find the e-mail address of the newspaper they want to target. The MAP
organizers on the Web site explain how activists can be more effective.

"A letter a month - that's all we ask," suggests the group, adding
that many people publish in major newspapers in the country.

"Each of these published letters are effective ads for reform" -
and, combined, are valued at millions of dollars in advertising -
"See www.mapinc.org/lte and you can do it, too!"

"A single published letter often has the advertising value of many
thousands of dollars."

The newspaper targets include such diverse publications as the Chicago
Tribune, L.A. Times and The Maui News and three of the most successful
letter writers identified with MAP include: Robert Sharpe (962
letters), Alan Randell (234) and Kirk Muse (223). This newspaper has
published a number of letters, according to the MAP Web site.

Letter writer Alan Randell, who lives in Victoria, for example, was
published in the April 19 issue of this newspaper. His letter was
entitled: "A media-driven conspiracy." Sharpe, of Washington, D.C.,
published a letter called "It's prohibition that's deadly" on Feb. 6,
2003.

White said the public needs to be aware that this lobby group is very
powerful and influential.

"That's what's going on," said White. "Those letters are the opinions
of people who do not necessarily represent the majority of the
population. These guys are very effective and they're foisting it upon
an unsuspecting public."