Washington officials attacked an ACLU advertisement in the New York Times questioning marijuana prohibition. In a recent letter sent to ACLU President Nadine Strossen, Office of National Drug Control Policy Chief of Staff Janet Christ expressed “disappointment” with the group’s public position, and questioned whether the campaign spoke for the entire organization.
American Civil Liberties Union President Nadine Strossen responded that the organization has “a long history of opposing our nation’s drug laws as violating a range of fundamental civil liberties.”
She continued: “The basic problem … is the failure of federal law and policy to recognize the proper line that divides legitimate government authority from adult individual’s sovereignty over their own minds and bodies. Accordingly, the question raised by our advertisement is whether there is a principles and scientific basis for drawing that line differently for marijuana and alcohol. Any time you, General McCaffrey or, indeed, the President is willing to debate that question with us publicly, we would welcome such an opportunity.”
For more information, please contact either Allen St. Pierre of The NORML Foundation @ (202) 483-8751 or Ira Glasser of the ACLU @ (212) 549-2500.
