Pubdate: Wed, 03 Jan 2001
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2001 The Washington Post Company
Contact:  1150 15th Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20071
Feedback: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Author: Lyndsey Layton, Washington Post Staff Writer
Cited: Change The Climate http://www.changetheclimate.org/
Partnership for a Drug - Free America http://www.drugfreeamerica.org/
About: PDFA http://www.pdfa.net/

METRO ACCEPTS MARIJUANA AD BANNED IN BOSTON

Metro subway stations and buses -- law-and-order places where eating a
french fry can land you in jail -- began displaying advertisements this
week that suggest marijuana use should be decriminalized.

The ad campaign, rejected by Boston's subway system and the subject of a
pending lawsuit there, was funded by Change the Climate Inc., a nonprofit
organization that believes punishment for marijuana use is too harsh.

"We are business owners and parents who are increasingly concerned that the
punishment far outweighs the crime," said Joseph White, 45, a partner in a
Massachusetts-based telemarketing and opinion research firm who formed the
group last year. "We want the politicians and thousands of people who are
going to be here for inauguration month to take an interest in the issue."

Change the Climate Inc. approached both Metro and the Massachusetts Bay
Transportation Authority in Boston early last year, seeking approval for
its advertising. "We like transit agencies because we want to reach average
Americans," White said.

Metro officials initially refused the ads, citing a policy that says public
service advertising must be non-commercial, nonpartisan and "not designed
to influence legislation or public opinion on a controversial subject,"
spokesman Ray Feldmann said.

But when threatened with a lawsuit backed by the American Civil Liberties
Union arguing that Metro was violating free speech, officials relented.
Metro is also reviewing its policy, Feldmann said.

The legal challenge would have been similar to one faced by the MBTA in
Boston. Massachusetts Gov. Paul Cellucci (R) has refused to settle that
case, arguing that the ads promote marijuana use.

Change the Climate Inc. paid Metro a discounted advertising rate for
nonprofits of $2,150 in exchange for illuminated signs on 10 subway
platforms, large exterior signs for 50 buses and smaller signs for the
interiors of an additional 500 buses, Feldmann said.

The month-long campaign consists of three ads. The first, which is in the
stations -- including the one closest to the White House -- features a
young woman who asks, "Why do kids go to jail for doing what politicians
did when they were young? Tell us the truth."

Justin Cohen, a 25-year-old lawyer from Chevy Chase, was drawn to that ad
while waiting for a train at the McPherson Square station yesterday. "It's
a good ad," he said. "I was even going to check out the Web site. I'm
already leaning towards that point of view. We need to change the way we
handle marijuana. . . . Good kids just experiment, but if they get caught,
it can ruin their lives."

The second ad, inside buses, shows a business executive with cancer who
admits to smoking marijuana after chemotherapy. The third, which appears
outside the buses, features two police officers in front of an American
flag. It reads "Police are too important . . . too valuable . . . to good .
. . to waste on arresting people for marijuana when real criminals are on
the loose."

All ads carry a disclaimer that Metro does not endorse the message.

White said his group is not trying to legalize marijuana but rather reduce
the penalties so it is not in the same category as heroin and other "hard"
drugs. "Over 4 million people have been arrested since 1992, and most of
those arrested have been young people -- our own children," said White, a
father of three, who lives in Greenfield, Mass. "Most responsible parents
don't want their kids smoking marijuana, but we don't want our children
arrested, jailed and terrorized in the manufactured hysteria surrounding
marijuana."

But Howard Simon, of Partnership for a Drug Free America, called the
advertising campaign "disingenuous."

"Most people see this for what it is: an attempt by a vocal minority to
make marijuana more socially acceptable," Simon said. "One of the ads says,
'Tell us the truth.' Well, the truth is the vast majority of Americans want
marijuana to remain illegal. The truth is that medical marijuana should be
decided by the medical community. That's the truth. We don't think these
ads are going to be very effective."

Change the Climate Inc. plans to expand its transit ads to New York and
Chicago. "We think that having an ad campaign in the nation's capital will
make it easier for us in other cities," White said.
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