The Media Awareness Project (MAP) is the largest single project of DrugSense a 501(c)3 non profit educational corporation.

MAP is a worldwide network of activists and sub-groups dedicated to drug policy reform. We aim to impact public opinion, and especially media coverage, on public policy related to drugs and to create a more balanced view regarding our drug policies. Our objective is the dissemination of honest, accurate, information on all aspects of drug policy, including alternatives to the criminal justice/prosecution/interdiction model. Our existing drug laws are flawed, harmful to our society, and based upon inaccurate information and false assumptions. MAPs objectives are designed to correct this situation by providing accuracy, reason and science in place of hysteria and hyperbole.

We are recruiting, training and developing a network of volunteer activists and we need your help. Each volunteer is asked to choose from a wide array of activities including writing Letters to the Editor, "NewsHawking," editing, becoming involved in specific state or issue based sub-groups and a number of other valuable and effective endeavors.

One key activity that all potential participants should engage in is subscribing to and reading the DrugSense Weekly Newsletter It is an outstanding synopsis of each weeks key news stories gleaned for hundreds of articles our NewsHawks and editors find and archive each week. It is complete with E-mail addresses for easy letter writing, insightful commentary by Dr. Tom O'Connell, and a number of interesting sections including a Feature Article and a useful "Hot off the 'Net" section.

Another basic level of involvement is participating in our weekly Focus Alerts. We select a key news item each week and encourage all participants to write a brief letter in reply. The cumulative effect of this activity in educating and influencing the media has been profound.

We use the Internet and E-mail nearly exclusively for our communications. This enables us to disseminate information with unmatched speed and to keep expenses surprisingly low.

Contacts are made with news organizations, media producers and other key decision makers in the form of Email, faxes, phone calls, postal mail, personal visits, public and on air appearances. We respond to media generated articles and programs, particularly with letters to the editor. Training is available to volunteers in each of these areas. We maintain a database of thousands of media contacts and have a searchable archive of thousands of news articles allowing for instant information and a powerful research tool for MAP participants, the public, and the press.

A good percentage of our letters get published and they often generate significant results in editorial content and influence. We essentially educate the publications over time even when our letters are not published. We search newspapers, magazines, and broadcast media nationwide to find news coverage on drug policy topics. We then add contact information, such as Email addresses and fax numbers, from our database to these articles and forward them to our volunteers based on what they tell us that they are interested in. The volunteer then takes action. In most cases the action involves writing a letter to the media organization that generated the initial coverage.

Some of our more experienced volunteers have had additional success in generating editorials, oped pieces, and magazine articles. Our volunteers have made numerous radio and TV appearances, as well. MAP volunteers include enthusiastic but inexperienced activists along with seasoned professional writers with exceptional credentials. Our "pros" readily share their skills and observations with the new less experienced in order to increase the overall impact. Great support and flexibility is made available to volunteers.

Each participant decides which issues are important to them and responds to those specific articles and issues. This provides a large pool of activists from a very wide range of interest groups helping each other towards our common objectives. The MAP network provides extensive and inexpensive media exposure on drug policy issues and insures numerous "communication events" for each major media contact in the country. We strive to build productive ongoing relationships with these opinion leaders. We seek to prioritize our contacts so that the larger and more influential will receive the most attention. The MAP Advisory Board is composed of leaders from several major drug policy organizations. The Board provides guidance and suggestions on current issues, bringing coordination and cohesion to our efforts. Through this network, MAP offers participants a range of options for drug policy activism.