FREEDOM WEEK AN EVENT THE HERALD MUST COVER

To the Editor:

Students for a Sensible Drug Policy hosted its first campus-wide lecture as
part of Freedom Week this week. Steven Silverman, from the organization
Flex Your Rights (flexyourrights.org) spoke to about 100 students in
Salomon 001 about asserting one's constitutional rights in police
encounters. Silverman's presentation included a realistic portrayal of a
police officer interrogating and subsequently arresting a suspect.

His talk emphasized that most drug-related arrests are avoidable if the
person involved denies the interrogating officer permission to conduct a
warrant-less search, keeps personal items out of plain view and remains
courteous and polite throughout the encounter.

Students at Brown would be well-served to learn about such an important
presentation in their newspaper. Please be sure to send a reporter to the
next Freedom Week speaker, which will be an expert on drug policy reform
from the ACLU. The event is Thursday, Nov. 21 in List 120.

Ben Kintisch '03

SSDP Vice President

Nov. 20