DrugSense FOCUS Alert # 238 Mon, 18 Mar 2002 Canadian Newspapers Carrying Anti-war Messages PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE In the six years The Media Awareness Project have been tracking newspaper coverage of drug policy news and opinion, we have seen a demonstrable and measurable shift away from Drug War support. Not only has overall coverage and column inches increased tremendously, the most important half of the equation - opinion - has clearly swung to a majority support for reform ideas and proposals. Additionally, we see an increasing number of newspapers calling out Drug War hypocrisies, and most notable is the number of editorial boards and opinion writers who are quite frankly 'demanding' public officials take notice and accept accountability for ending of the War as we have known it for the past 60+ years. While the needed areas of reform are numerous and each require more light and scrutiny, nowhere is the need for dramatic reform more apparent than in the area of cannabis law reforms. While recent opinion polls may still show a minority of voters believe that "Marijuana should be legalized for adult use", we also know that a majority of voters believe an adult should not be jailed for marijuana possession. This percentage jumps to 80% or better when the question involves adults using marijuana as medicine. Most folks already know that Canada has been ahead of the U.S. in terms of it's laws about marijuana for adults. In the past two years, not only has their federal government made allowances for medical users, but they are clearly giving serious debate to overall decriminalization of marijuana possession. This of course has provoked an even higher level of press coverage than enjoyed by the readers of U.S. newspapers. And likewise, an increasing amount of this coverage is calling for strong reform of drug policy. The NATIONAL POST, Canada's second most widely read newspaper came out with likely the strongest editorial viewpoint about marijuana decriminalization that we have seen from a newspaper of this size anywhere in North America. The editorial ran this past Friday (Mar 15) and speaks for itself. This is as strong a need as we have ever had for supporting and thank-you letters. One need not make a particularly eloquent statement, nor compose the 'perfect' thoughts for this letter, since the editorial does the work for us. What is most needed is to let the National Post know that their viewpoint is shared by many people, and not just those who 'want to legalize all drugs', or simply 'unrepentant hippies and counterculture types' (You all KNOW who you are...) Thanks for your effort and support. We suggest you review our Target Analysis (below the Sample Letter) prior to writing your letter for information which may increase your impact and your chance of publication. WRITE A LETTER TODAY It's not what others do it's what YOU do PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER OR TELL US WHAT YOU DID (Letter, Phone, fax etc.) Please post a copy your letter or report your action to the sent letter list () if you are subscribed, or by E-mailing a copy directly to if you are not subscribed. Your letter will then be forwarded to the list with so others can learn from your efforts and be motivated to follow suit. Subscribing to the Sent LTE list () will help you to review other sent LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or approaches as well as keeping others aware of your important writing efforts. To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm and/or http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form This is VERY IMPORTANT as it is our way of gauging our impact and effectiveness. CONTACT INFO Source National Post (Canada) Contact ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ EXTRA CREDIT - Send your letter to any or all of the newspapers in Canada and ask them to consider reprinting the editorial from the National Post. You can go to the DrugSense MEDIA EMAIL DATABASE. Simply go to the website below and select 'Canada' as your criteria and - presto - a list of media contacts complete with names of the media organization will be presented or E-mailed to you. http://www.mapinc.org/resource/email.htm IMPORTANT NOTE Newspaper editors expect that the LTEs you write are for them alone. For the best results always address each email one at a time to each newspaper. ORIGINAL EDITORIAL URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n468/a04.html Webpage: http://www.nationalpost.com/commentary/story.html?f=/stories/20020315/344962.html Pubdate: Fri, 15 Mar 2002 Source: National Post (Canada) Copyright: 2002 Southam Inc. Contact: IT'S AGREED: DECRIMINALIZE POT The lobby to decriminalize marijuana continues to grow, with the Canadian Medical Association now joining the push. The organization, which represents more than 50,000 physicians, has strengthened the case previously made by groups such as the federally funded Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, the Association of Canadian Police Chiefs and the Canadian Bar Association. These organizations hardly constitute a hippy rabble. What is it going to take for the federal government to abandon the obsolete view that marijuana is a dangerous vice that merits the force of Criminal Code sanction? The CMA notes that of the 66,500 drug offences in Canada in 1997, more than 70%, or 47,908, were cannabis-related. Of those, two-thirds involved mere possession and the majority of those charged with offences were young. About 2,000 Canadians go to jail annually for simple possession of marijuana. It is these figures, and not the consumption of the mood-altering substance, that constitute the real source of concern Enforcement of our marijuana laws necessitates a useless waste of public funds and police resources. [SNIP] The facts show that marijuana generally contributes to ruin of neither mind nor body [SNIP] Public opinion is also well ahead of the government on this issue. Polls have shown that Canadians overwhelmingly support decriminalization, with one survey in 1990 finding that seven out of 10 Canadians felt marijuana possession merited no more than a fine. [SNIP] The federal legislators should take the advice of their doctors and decriminalize marijuana entirely. SAMPLE LETTER NOTE If you choose to use this letter as a model please modify it at least somewhat so that the paper does not receive numerous copies of the same letter and so that the original author receives credit for his/her work. TO THE EDITORS of The National Post Thank you for publishing, "It's agreed Decriminalize pot'. It's refreshing to read some sane, rational viewpoints regarding Marijuana Prohibition. Your editorial aptly noted that it is the law enforcement of this inane criminal interdiction policy , aka Prohibition, that causes the real harm to our society. Too often the media plays the "reefer madness" party line at the expense of not only medical marijuana users, but all adults who use marijuana responsibly. After all, such coverage usually garners gushy, reactionary readership. It does squat though to truly inform and educate the public. Thank you kindly for showing some leadership, honesty and willingness to buck the status quo on Marijuana Prohibition. Canada has an amazing opportunity to not only demonstrate leadership in reforming our drug laws but also to send a clear signal that we will not be intimidated by the failed American "Drug War" Policies of zero-tolerance and its wasteful, shameful abuses. David d'Apollonia Dartmouth, Nova Scotia ADDITIONAL INFO to help you in your letter writing efforts Writer's Resources http://www.mapinc.org/resource/ TARGET ANALYSIS The National Post is one of two newspapers sold everywhere in Canada. Here is what their website says about their circulation (note that a Canadian dollar is worth about 63 cents in U.S. dollars today) 810,400 daily readers across 16 major Canadian markets. $76,918 average household income is 30% higher than the Canadian average. $49,346 average personal income is 40% higher than the Canadian average. National Post daily readers are 44% more likely than adults 18+ to have personally accessed a search engine in the past month. Our analysis of the published letters at http://www.mapinc.org/mapcgi/ltedex.pl?SOURCE=National+Post+(CN) shows that the National Post selects what they print based on quality - without any bias as to the location of the LTE writer. Clearly, shorter to the point LTEs are most likely to be printed. Our analysis shows that the average published letter body is only 124 words long, with a range from 56 to 258 words. TO SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE, OR UPDATE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS Please utilize the following URLs http://www.drugsense.org/hurry.htm http://www.drugsense.org/unsub.htm We wish to thank all our contributors, editors, Newshawks and letter writing activists. NOTICE In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. REMINDER Please help MAP find news articles. Details at http://www.mapinc.org/hawk.htm = NOW YOU CAN DONATE TO DRUGSENSE ONLINE AND IT'S TAX DEDUCTIBLE DrugSense provides many services to at no charge BUT THEY ARE NOT FREE TO PRODUCE. We incur many costs in creating our many and varied services. If you are able to help by contributing to the DrugSense effort visit our convenient donation web site at http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm -OR- Mail in your contribution. Make checks payable to MAP Inc. send your contribution to The Media Awareness Project (MAP) Inc. d/b/a DrugSense PO Box 651 Porterville, CA 93258 (800) 266 5759 Just DO It!! Prepared by Stephen Heath of The Drug Policy Forum of Florida DrugSense FOCUS Alert Specialist

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