NORML E-Zine 2/13/03

[ReformMaryJaneLaws]

NORML E-Zine
Volume 6
Issue 7
February 13, 2003

The NORML E-Zine is a free weekly compilation of major news items
regarding marijuana policy. Text of archived stories is available on
NORML's website at:
http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=3442

You can join, donate or purchase a NORML-related product online at:
http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=3454

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TOP STORIES

* White House Anti-Drug Ads Foster “Pro-Drug” Beliefs In Teens,
Federal Review Finds
* Smoke And Mirrors Cloud 2003 White House Anti-Drug Budget
* This Saturday Kicks Off First Ever National Medical Marijuana Week

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White House Anti-Drug Ads Foster “Pro-Drug” Beliefs In Teens, Federal
Review Finds
“Little Evidence” That Post-September 11 Ads Linking Drug Use To Terrorism
Are Having Any Favorable Impact On Youth
Washington, DC: Federal anti-drug ads released after September 11,
2001 alleging that recreational drug use aids terrorism fail to discourage
viewers from trying marijuana and other drugs, and may actually increase
use among teens, according to an evaluation released last month by Westat
Inc. and the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of
Pennsylvania for the US National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
The review found "little evidence" that the White House's Youth
Anti-Drug Media Campaign, which recently spent more than than $4 million
dollars to air a pair of anti-drug public service announcements (PSAs)
during January's Super Bowl broadcast, is having any favorable effects on
youth's attitudes toward marijuana or other drugs.
“There is no statistically significant decline in marijuana use to
date, and some evidence for an increase in use from 2000 to 2001,” authors
determined. “Nor are there improvements in beliefs and attitudes about
marijuana use between 2000 and the first half of 2002. Contrarily, there
are some unfavorable trends in youth anti-marijuana beliefs.”
For example, authors noted, “Those who were more exposed to the
Campaign (from November 1999 to January 2001) tended to move more markedly
in a 'pro-drug' direction as they aged than those who were exposed less.”
The Westat and Annenberg review is their second straight evaluation
criticizing the White House ad campaign. A previous review released last
spring reported similar results, which prompted Drug Czar John Walters to
modify the ad campaign to focus primarily on marijuana and the alleged
link between illicit drugs and terrorism. Last June, Walters promised
members of the US Senate that he could turn the ad campaign around by the
fall of 2002. “I'm willing to live by the results [of the] fall (2002)
and spring (2003),” he said.
NORML Executive Director Keith Stroup said that despite Walters'
promises, the White House ad campaign continues to have the opposite
effect on teens than the one lawmakers intended. “This is a colossal
waste of taxpayer's dollars,” Stroup said, noting that the ad campaign
costs an estimated $195 million per year. “The more often teens see these
ads, the less likely they are to say no to marijuana and other drugs.
Clearly, teens are dismissing these ads and their message as nothing more
than government propaganda.”
He added, “NORML believes there is nothing to be gained by
exaggerating marijuana's harmfulness. On the contrary, by overstating
marijuana's potential harm, our policy-makers undermine their credibility,
and their ability to effectively educate the public of the legitimate
harms associated with more dangerous drugs.”
For more information, please contact either Keith Stroup or Paul
Armentano of NORML at (202) 483-5500. The Westat and Annenberg report,
"Evaluation of the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign: Fifth
Semi-Annual Report of Findings," is available online at:
http://www.nida.nih.gov/despr/westat/

_________________________________________________
Smoke And Mirrors Cloud 2003 White House Anti-Drug Budget
Washington, DC: Revised budget numbers released this week for the
Bush Administration's 2003 “National Drug Control Strategy” are not what
they seem, according to an analysis by Common Sense for Drug Policy and
the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA). Both groups note that this year's budget
deliberately conceals billions of dollars in law enforcement spending,
while inflating expenditures on treatment services.
In 2002, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy
(ONDCP) announced, “The Administration will develop a new methodology for
reporting the drug budget.” As a result of this restructuring, this
year's reported total budgetary expenditures total less than $12 billion
dollars – far less than last year's record $19.2 billion budget.
Nevertheless, ONDCP annual spending and priorities are little different
than in years past.
“An analysis of the new budget numbers revealed that by hiding the
costs of incarceration, military activities and other known costs of the
drug war, the Office of National Drug Policy Control was able to bring
their enforcement to treatment levels more into line with public
sentiment,” the DPA. The DPA further found that the ONDCP is inflating
their spending on drug treatment programs by including funding for alcohol
treatment, “which by law is specifically excluded from their scope of
responsibilities.”
Among drug-war related costs dropped from this year's budget is
approximately $3 billion in funding associated with the incarceration of
federal drug prisoners. The ONDCP claims that these costs have been
excluded from the budget “based on the criterion that they are associated
with the secondary consequences of the government's primary drug law
enforcement and investigative activities.”
NORML Foundation Executive Director Allen St. Pierre accused the White
House of “hiding the ball” when it came to estimating the true cost of the
government's war on drugs. “The ONDCP recognizes that they no longer
enjoy the public’s trust and are incapable of crafting a functional drug
policy that Americans support,” he said. “As a result, they are now
trying to conceal from taxpayers the true financial burden of their failed
policies.”
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre or Paul
Armentano of The NORML Foundation at (202) 483-8751. An analysis of the
ONDCP budget by Commons Sense for Drug Policy is available online at:
http://www.csdp.org

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This Saturday Kicks Off First Ever National Medical Marijuana Week
Oakland, CA: Drug law reformers across the nation will hold a
“National Day of Action” in support of medical marijuana law reform on
Saturday, February 15. Educational and direct action events to raise
awareness of the use of marijuana as a medicine will continue all week,
including nationwide protests on Tuesday, February 18, at regional Drug
Enforcement Administration (DEA) offices.
For more information on "Medical Marijuana Week" and events, please
visit the Americans for Safe Access (ASA) website at:
http://www.safeaccessnow.org


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NORML Media Watch
NORML was featured prominently in several media outlets this week,
including The Birmingham News, SignOnSanDiego.com, and the Southwest
Times-Record. To read these articles or about other NORML media
appearances, check out "NORML in the Media" at:
http://www.www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5481

Donate to NORML's "Marijuana Truth Campaign"
If you have not already done so, please consider making a donation to
NORML's "Marijuana Truth" Campaign. To learn more about this campaign or
to read NORML's new report, "Your Government Is Lying to You (Again) About
Marijuana: A Refutation of the Drug Czar's 'Open Letter to America's
Prosecutors,'" please visit: http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5513

Please support NORML/NORML Foundation's efforts to change marijuana policy
and educate the public to alternatives to marijuana prohibition. You can
join, donate or purchase a NORML-related product online at:
http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=3454
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