Since the Media Awareness Project was started as an email list over a decade and a half ago a major goal has been to empower folks who write letters to the editor in support of drug policy reform. It is with great pleasure that we announce today that Robert Sharpe is our Letter Writer of the Year for 2010. Robert had 176 letters and three OPEDs published during the year, bringing the total letters published that we know of to 2, 414. He writes to newspapers all over the world from his home. Robert writes as a volunteer for Common Sense for Drug Policy. His published letters often have versions of the title "Policy Analyst for Common Sense for Drug Policy, Washington, D.C." and sometimes a link to their website http://www.csdp.org/ [continues 159 words]
Thank you for the help you gave me when we were starting up MINORML. The advice, offer of E-mail list and news links were of great benefit to our goals. MAP has been instrumental in getting the news out to the public in a responsible way. If more of the drug policy reform groups followed your lead, I believe that much of what is happening in the movement would be better off. Again thank you for your time and effort. We look forward to working with you and your group in Michigan. Larry Bonner Lippert, Director http://www.MINORML.org [end]
Please know that you are arguably the most important segment of the drug policy reform movement. Your commitment to our common cause is unparalleled. You provide the information and resource that allows the rest of us to gain the knowledge and ability to articulate needed in this political battle. Congratulations on this remarkable milestone. Yesterday I had the privilege of debating an assistant DA from the Orange County District Attorney's office at a drug symposium at Orange Coast College produced by the United Student Sociologists and Psychology Club. Our debate was concerning marijuana decriminalization. My ability to bring a clear and rational message to the student audience was a direct result of the hard work of the MAP volunteers. The ADA left the stage quite embarrassed as he was obviously less informed of the facts and students were notably moved by information to which they had never been exposed. [continues 2122 words]
I write to add my thanks for the awesome job ya'll do...consistently. Whenever I meet people interested in our issues, I always refer them to you. The wealth of knowledge and shared thoughts at MAP is a priceless tool for activists, as well as for folks just beginning to learn the awful truth about the drug war. I'm glad that you're on OUR side! Thanks for spreading the truth and standing tall. Wage Peace, Cher http://www.letfreedomgrow.org [end]
It has been the singular privilege of my life as a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the Planet Earth, to enjoy my small association with the Media Awareness Project. Called by any name, the war on drugs, or drug prohibition, has become the human rights shame and the public health disaster of our lifetimes. Its bizarre policies and cruel laws have turned my Land of the Free into the unimaginable: The world's leading jailer, by raw number and by percentage of population, with 2,300,000 children, women and men in American prisons and jails. [continues 234 words]
Congratulations and kudos on the occasion of your 100,000th post. I am extremely proud to have been a part of MAP and to have watched the development of a powerful tool in the war against lies. The MAP archive provides the entire community with a weapon of mass instruction that even the ONDCP's 20 billion dollar budget cannot stop. Reading the articles posted on MAP opened my eyes to the evil effects of our detrimental and destructionist policies. Contributing articles made me feel like I was part of the community and a participant rather than an object. Editing for MAP was a rewarding experience that allowed me to actively fight back. [continues 53 words]
MAP is a powerful set of tools and valuable aid in our battle with the people, industries and institutions with a vested financial interest in perpetuating and expanding the war on certain (politically selected) drugs. MAP has allowed many relatively powerless individuals, to combine forces into a powerful army. Our powerful army is changing the world, thanks to MAP. I was first inspired to get involved in the anti-drug war movement by reading Peter McWilliams' outstanding book: "AIN'T NOBODY'S BUSINESS IF I DO" and by reading Mike Gray's outstanding book: "DRUG CRAZY." [continues 54 words]
I'm proud to support MAP, and urge others to learn more about this valuable organization and the services that it offers to the media and the public. Chris Conrad author, consultant, curator, court-qualified cannabis expert [end]
Congratulations on 100,000 articles archived! MAP is an essential service for our drug policy reform movement and has had enormous influence on the media and the Internet. MAP is an example of the old adage, "the truth shall set you free." By disseminating news articles and opinions on the drug war, MAP gives empowering knowledge to the masses. I am happy to have "hawked" many articles and been here since even before the beginning of MAP. I began compiling news articles on marijuana and hemp and posting them on Usenet newsgroups in 1992. In 1994 the world-wide web was born and, soon thereafter, I was contacted by a fellow named Jim Rosenfield, who asked how I obtained these hemp news stories. Jim introduced me to DRCnet, which started the first international drug policy email list, DRCtalk. When DRCtalk went down for a while, then Matt Elrod began what was at first a backup email list to DRCtalk. Later, Mark Greer and Matt Elrod started MAPinc.org, which formed and developed an international volunteer network of news compilers and people to write letters to the editor for drug policy reform, then DrugSense. [continues 52 words]
I am blessed with a good education based in communications and journalism but was not aware of how to use this education to help change drug policies until I first went cyber in the fall of 1998. I was pleased to make contact with and enjoy about an 18 month cyber and mail relationship with Peter McWilliams. Peter's writings had helped me during the early 1990s when I went through about a five year period of abusing some of the drugs I had enjoyed for over a decade, most notably alcohol and cocaine. His books and poetry were a major part of how I came to amend my behaviors to a more healthy lifestyle. He directed me to Richard Cowan and the greatness of Marijuananews.com and Dick pointed me to Richard Lake and the folks at MAP. [continues 197 words]
In 1997 my son was arrested by a Salisbury Maryland Police officer after I made speech questioning the drug war. That event possessed me to learn about the drug war, it is origins and current events. I quickly found MAP and became involved as a Newshawk, a Letter to the Editor writer, community activist and eventually candidate for public office. It is now been years since the event that triggered my activism. All through those years MAP has been my connection and source of encouragement that other people think this War against Americans has to end. Thanks for all your great efforts. Rob Ryan www.robryan.org [end]
It is difficult to put into words how much MAP has influenced my role as an activist in the drug war. It has been profound. I offer my gratitude to all involved that make MAP the website to visit everyday of the year. Letters to the editors of newspapers is a most effective means of educating the public. Chris Buors, Stan White, and Robert Sharpe are a few of the published letter writers that stand out. From Mr. Buors' poignant letters of liberty to Mr. Sharpe pointing out that some people prefer marijuana over martinis, my mind has been broadened. [continues 58 words]
You have been an incredibly valuable resource to the drug policy reform movement as a whole, and particularly to Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP). SSDP now has approximately 200 chapters nationwide. The MAP archives are a way for student activists to stay up-to-date on what is happening on other campuses around the country. It is refreshing to be reminded that we are not alone when we see articles about what other students are doing at their schools. MAP is a resource that the drug policy reform movement absolutely cannot do without. We encourage SSDP members to make sure that articles in their campus newspapers make it to the MAP archives so that we can coordinate our efforts and do our best at affecting positive change. Sincerely, Students for Sensible Drug Policy www.ssdp.org Board of Directors: Tom Angell Matt Atwood Abby Bair David Brown Dan Goldman Alex Kreit Ian Mance Aaron Marcus Valerie Vande Panne Rebecca Saltzman Charles Thomas Sanho Tree Lewis Whitten Heath Wintz Shawn Heller, National Director Darrell Rogers, National Outreach Coordinator [end]
Any hour of any day I can glimpse world news and opinion about 'drugs'... always current and always reliable. If I have a few minutes to spare and feel like writing, I know just to click on 'drug news' and see lots of choices for writing letters, with contact info and related articles. If I find news or opinion I feel strongly about, I can send my letter -- slightly edited -- to many papers. If I need a particular name, date, place for an event from the past, they are there too, and becoming more valuable as the archive grows. The archive is useful to verify facts before sending letters to my elected people, in composing talks for civic groups, things like that. Very important for me to know that what I say and write is accurate. [continues 317 words]
Without their services I would not be able to stay up-to-date on what is going on in my state and across the nation as it relates to the drug war. I would not know when my letters to editors and OpEd's got published and where. Without their press contact section on my website it would take days to write letters and lots of postage to send them across the state and nation. Because of their dedication and commitment I am able to sow the seeds of legalization nationwide in under 30 minutes for free. Thanks MAP for a job well done! Loretta Nall President, Alabama Marijuana Party http://alabama.usmjparty.com/ President, United States Marijuana Party http://usmjparty.com [end]
Thanks for working with us. Helping to put all people together and reminding the rest of the people what a mockery of freedom the war on drugs is. Yours In Liberty Hal Chiprin Chairman of The Political Prisoners Support Committee of The Libertarian Party of California [end]
I began using your service after joining the Drug Policy Forum of Oklahoma. I want to thank you for your news clipping service. It keeps me up to date on what's happening with drug policy and provides me with the information and the incentive to write letters to the editor and to my congressional representatives. I hope you can continue this service for as long as it is needed. Sincerely, Deanna Homer [end]
Thank you for reaching the milestone of archiving 100,000 news stories about the world's drug problem and drug policies. MAP Inc. is one of the most profoundly important resources available to those who do serious work in this field. I have been using the MAP Drug News Archive in my writing and research on an average of once per week since it started. Whenever I am asked to give a speech I go back to the MAP archive to increase the depth of my knowledge and to learn the latest news. [continues 153 words]
Working with the November Coalition and having an organization like yours to go to is extreme important. So many good solid articles to use. Thank you and keep up the good work. Sincerely, Marcella Perrine Regional leader for The November Coalition in Arizona [end]
Congratulations on reaching the impressive milestone of having archived over 100,000 drug policy related news clippings. MAP has surely become one of the principal engines driving the anti-drug war movement in this country. At NORML, we rely on the good services of MAP in several ways. First, we feature the top marijuana-related news stories each day on our web site, and those articles are automatically provided to us each day by a computer feed from MAP. This is a unique service that is simply unavailable from any other source, and MAP provides it for free. [continues 183 words]
