MORE THAN 11 MILLION MARIJUANA ARRESTS SINCE 1965 . . .
ANOTHER EVERY 49 SECONDS!
March 26, 1998
A sparsely attended afternoon conference organized by Empower America repeated prohibitionist warnings about the dangers of relaxing federal drug policies and urged voters to reject initiatives legalizing marijuana for medical use.
“For physicians to prescribe burning leaves is hypocrisy,” explained Dr. Robert Dupont, former head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Dupont was joined by Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Thomas Constantine, Swiss doctor Ernst Aeschbach, and California Bureau of Narcotics Officer Christy McCampbell. Empower America co-director William Bennett moderated the symposium. Only about 40 people attended the event.
“The media and the public are paying less attention to these type of rhetoric-ladened prohibitionist events than ever before,” said Allen St. Pierre, Executive Director of The NORML Foundation. “They understand that the issue of medical access to marijuana is a public health issue, and that it has no place in a forum emphasizing the ‘War on Drugs.'”
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre of The NORML Foundation @ (202) 483-8751.