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MPP Sues To Compel Investigation Of Drug Czar's Campaign Spending
Marijuana Policy Project | 07/14/2005

JUNEAU, ALASKA -- The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) filed suit today seeking to force the Alaska Public Offices Commission to investigate the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy's (ONDCP's) failure to make the legally required disclosure of campaign expenses against Ballot Measure 2 in Alaska last year.

According to the Alaska Statutes, "Every individual, person, nongroup entity, or group making an expenditure shall make a full report of expenditures" that are "made for the purpose of ... influencing the outcome of a ballot proposition or question." No such reports were filed by ONDCP. MPP brought this situation to the attention of the Public Offices Commission in February, but the complaint was dismissed in June.

Today's suit, filed in the Superior Court for the State of Alaska, Third Judicial District, seeks a declaratory judgment stating that the rejection of the complaint against the drug czar was legally erroneous, and directing the Public Offices Commission to investigate the allegations in the complaint.

"Alaska law requires those who campaign for or against an initiative to disclose their expenditures," said Steve Fox, MPP director of government relations. "ONDCP publicly and actively campaigned against Ballot Measure 2, but failed to make the campaign finance disclosures required by law. We are disappointed that Alaska officials have thus far refused to enforce the state's own laws."

Fox added, "It is beyond dispute that ONDCP Deputy Director Scott Burns actively opposed the initiative during campaign stops last October 13 and 14. Title 21, Section 1703(b)(12) of the U.S. Code states that the ONDCP director 'shall' take action to oppose reforms of laws regarding marijuana. Burns' trip and statements were in furtherance of this obligation, and ONDCP clearly spent thousands of tax dollars in the process -- expenses that unquestionably must be reported as campaign expenditures under Alaska law. Moreover, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that it is constitutional for Alaska to demand this reporting from the federal government."

MPP filed a similar suit today in Montana. Both complaints are available at http://www.mpp.org/WarOnDrugCzar/complaints.html.

With more than 17,000 members and 120,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP works to minimize the harm associated with marijuana -- both the consumption of marijuana and the laws that are intended to prohibit such use. MPP believes that the greatest harm associated with marijuana is imprisonment. For more information, see http://www.MarijuanaPolicy.org.

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