Pubdate: Sun, 05 Aug 2001 Source: Denver Post (CO) Copyright: 2001 The Denver Post Corp Contact: http://www.denverpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122 Author: Emily Whitfield ACLU Won't Sell Out Your July 21 editorial sees "an odd coincidence" in two recent ACLU announcements of a $7 million grant from an Ohio businessman and the results of an ACLU-commissioned poll showing declining public support for incarceration as an effective tool in the war on drugs. According to your conspiracy theory (which incorrectly states that the releases were issued on the same day), the donor's support of our organization's work to reform the nation's failed war on drugs, combined with his financial backing of medical marijuana initiatives in California and elsewhere, is somehow driving the ACLU's policies and priorities. You arrived at this groundless conclusion without ever bothering to contact us. In fact, the ACLU has opposed the outright criminalization of drugs since 1968. I don't know what our donor was doing back then, but I'm pretty sure he wasn't lurking behind the scenes trying to influence ACLU policy with promises of big money 33 years down the line. Even so, he wouldn't have succeeded: The ACLU has never compromised its principles for money, and, in fact, has endured the loss of contributions because of its commitment to the principles of fairness and equality enshrined in our Constitution. As ACLU President Nadine Strossen observed, a majority of Americans have come to realize that "we cannot incarcerate our way out of the drug problem." No less a radical than former Drug Czar Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey has said virtually the same thing. Not surprising that our donors and members would agree. Of greater concern is your view that U.S. attorneys should be actively prosecuting cancer patients who use medical marijuana. Should our government pursue such a unjust course (U.S. attorneys in Oregon and Washington have said that they will not), the ACLU will be there to oppose it, press releases and all. EMILY WHITFIELD New York, N.Y. The writer is media relations director for the American Civil Liberties Union. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens