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Federal Court to Hear Arguments re: Government Censorship of Marijuana Law Reform Ads
Common Dreams NewsWire |9:35 AM, APRIL 20, 2004

CONTACT: Drug Policy Alliance
Tony Newman 646-335-5384,
Anjuli Verma (203) 787-4188

WASHINGTON - April 20 - At 9:30 a.m. next Wednesday, April 28 the nation’s major drug policy reform groups will present oral arguments before Judge Paul L. Friedman in two consolidated lawsuits filed against the United States government and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) for censoring the speech of those critical of the government’s “War on Drugs.”


With more than $85 million at stake, WMATA rejected in February an advertisement submitted by the ACLU, Change the Climate, the Drug Policy Alliance, and the Marijuana Policy Project that promotes the reform of our nation’s marijuana laws. The groups are challenging Section 177 of the 2004 federal spending bill, which directs Congress to deny federal funds to local transit authorities that display advertisements promoting “the legalization or medical use of any substance listed in Schedule I…of the Controlled Substances Act.”


The lawsuits, filed on February 18, ask the court to declare the law unconstitutional because it coerces local transit authorities into censoring pure political speech protected by the First Amendment. The lawsuits name Norman Y. Mineta, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, and Richard White, the CEO of WMATA, respectively, as defendants.


The rejected advertisement, previous press releases, the plaintiff’s complaint, the United States government’s opposition brief, and the plaintiff’s reply brief can be found online at: www.aclu.org/drugpolicy, www.changetheclimate.org, www.drugpolicy.org, and www.mpp.org.

WHEN: Wednesday, April 28 at 9:30 a.m. EST

WHERE: U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

333 Constitution Avenue, N.W. / Washington, D.C. 20001 Courtroom 17 – Open to the Public


WHO: Hadrian Katz, Arnold & Porter LLP, Counsel for Plaintiffs

Arthur B. Spitzer, ACLU of the National Capital Area

Steve Fox, Director of Government Relations of the Marijuana Policy Project

Bill Piper, Director of National Affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance


WHAT: Oral arguments in challenge to government censorship of marijuana law reform advertisements. Spokespersons for the groups bringing the challenge will be available after the hearing.

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Torture Good, Healthcare Bad, Marijuana Evil.

There's no money for your issue so long as we're squandering $50 billion a year on the DrugWar. Ben Masel

OccultPizza

I got a ticket last month and I went to court for it. The cop totally lied and the judge treated me like a derelict liar because a cop's word is worth more than a citizens? I have lost all respect and hope of my government ever doing anything sensible. I continue to vote for initiatives that affect me and my family, but what more can I do? If I were rich I wouldn't even have to appear in court. My lawyer would do it for me and I wouldn't have a ticket because he would be chums or revered by the judges ~sighs~.

TurbulentHigh

This will be considered unconstitutional for sure, they cannot discriminate against the political message of the ad. The only way they could discriminate against an ad is if the ad were vulgar or obscene, in which case that particular advertisement would be blocked, not the political message.

- TH421

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Ron Paul will end the "War on Drugs"

OccultPizza

Last I heard they weren't going to show any commercials pro or con during the superbowl, but what did I see? Commercials telling people that a loving father, husband, pillar of the community and lifetime taxpayer is helping to support terrorism. About the only thing that could support terrorism would be hashish, opium and oil. I get my pot from an indoor supplier ~chuckles~ right here in the good ole US of A.

I was security on a methamphetamine lab for four years. I have shot dope with policemen. Some of them we paid off with meth. No matter what label you apply to your lifestyle there will still be good and bad.

This is clearly unconstitutional but will a heavily paid supreme court funded by the super bush's be able to decifer honestly the core principals of the abuse pandered out to pot smokers? I doubt it. If the president says make something happen, it happens. And since pot smokers are relatively peaceful people it will probably be another twenty years before humanity is mature enough to see through the propoganda machine.