NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR THE REFORM OF
MARIJUANA LAWS
1001 CONNECTICUT AVENUE NW
SUITE 1010
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20036
TEL 202-483-5500 * FAX 202-483-0057
E-MAIL natlnorml@aol.com
Internet http://www.norml.org/
... a weekly service for the media on news items related to Marijuana Prohibition.
January 20, 1995
Another Federal Judge
Declines Drug Cases and
Agrees That Marijuana Should Be Decriminalized
December 25, The Buffalo News reported, "Troubled
with three long-term sentences he felt forced to make in recent
weeks, U.S. District Judge, John T. Curtin says he will stop
hearing drug cases in the coming year rather than continue to be
part of a system of punishment that 'just isn't working.'
Curtin, citing restrictive sentencing guidelines in federal drug
cases, told The Buffalo News he will join a boycott that was
begun last year by some other judges."
Judge Curtin also told The Buffalo News
that, "He ... feels Congress should take a close look at the
decriminalization of marijuana, but not cocaine or other hard
drugs. [Emphasis added -- ed.]
Since May 1993, an estimated 50 senior federal judges (out of 849
federal judges) have begun a boycott of drug cases.
"Boycotting" judges have cited excessive punishment via
mandatory minimum and guideline sentencing as their reasons for
declining to hear drug cases.
Curtin told The Buffalo News that the bigger issue is that
today's anti-drug program isn't working. He said he would
rather see the federal government spend more money on education, counseling,
and drug prevention programs, rather than towards putting people
in prison.
"You don't even have to think of it in moral terms. In
financial terms, it just isn't working," Curtin said.
First Annual HEMP AID Benefit Concert Announced
January 11, Atlanta, Georgia, In the tradition of Live Aid and
Farm Aid, two marijuana activists have joined forces to present
HEMP AID - a Benefit for the Re-legalization of Marijuana.
James Bell (Founder of Georgia NORML) and Theresa Yarbrough,
current Director of GA NORML, hope that the First Annual event
will not only raise consciousness of the impact that marijuana
prohibition has on the lives of millions of Americans, but that
it will also raise much needed cash which will be used to fight
legal battles and help to secure the freedom of marijuana prisoners.
Bell knows the impact of the marijuana laws. He's presently
finishing a two year sentence in a Georgia Prison Work Camp (for
the sale of few ounces of marijuana).
Yarbrough learned the peculiar and excessive effects of marijuana
prohibition when she was arrested in 1993 for possession of one
pound of marijuana in her home. Later convicted, she was sentenced
to ten years probation and banished from residing in GA's
District 31 -- removed from her community for possessing
marijuana.
Both activists have been instrumental in organizing some of the
largest pro-hemp events. The two organizers want it to be
known that 1.) HEMP AID is not intended to be a 'Let's smoke pot event'
but a 'Let's help people event', 2.) negotiations are under way
to secure a national head-line rock group for the First Annual
HEMP AID Benefit.
Date: Saturday, May 20th, 1995
Contact: Theresa Yarbrough at (706)-235-3475
Location: Piedmont Park, Atlanta, Georgia
Access: FREE (donations are requested)
Actor Tim Robbins Tells Playboy He Favors Marijuana Legalization
In the February issue of Playboy magazine, actor Tim
Robbins expounds, at length, on marijuana prohibition and some of
its effects:
Playboy: If they put you in charge of the war on drugs,
what would you do?
Robbins: Legalize Marijuana.
Playboy: And then?
Robbins: And then we would save an enormous amount of
taxpayer money, specifically on the penal system, which is
overloaded with marijuana abusers. It's unbelievable.
When I did the Shawshank Redemption, every guard I talked
with who had worked in a prison had this opinion: Legalize
marijuana. There's no reason these kids should be here....
Marijuana is just like any other thing that might not be good for
you. If you do too much of it, it can screw up your
life. But it [marijuana -- ed.] can't screw up your life
like cocaine or heroin or downs or ups or LSD.
Playboy: Is this an admission that you still smoke pot --
or was that just a phase you went through as a kid?
Robbins: I take the Fifth. Considering the fact that
it's still illegal ... put it this way: Considering the fact that
I've used it in the past, and know what it is, and seen the
results of it, I don't view it as a dangerous drug....
But I don't want to advocate anything like [smoking pot] in
print, because it's a different thing for different people....
Playboy: So what would you say if your kids came to you
one day and said: "Dad, did you ever take drugs in the
Sixties and Seventies?"
Robbins: I would say, "No, it was the
Eighties." Yeah, I would be honest with them.
And I'd tell them exactly what each drug does to you.
Playboy: You realize that, having admitted these things
now, you've just disqualified yourself from being a Supreme Court
justice or the attorney general.
Robbins: Well, I didn't say I inhaled.
Police Respond To Arson Report -- Find DARE Graduate Burning Mother's Marijuana
December 15, Longmont, Colorado, The Associated Press (AP)
reported that "Police responding to reports of an arson
attempt found an 11-year old boy who told police he was burning
his mother's drugs."
AP went on to report that "The boy told an officer he had
been through the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program,
and when he found the suspected marijuana he became scared and
decided to burn it...
The mother told police she had been storing the drug for a friend
for the past eight years, the report stated."
AP reported that no charges were filed in the case and that the
family's been referred to Social Services for follow-up visits.
-END-
OVER 9 MILLION MARIJUANA ARRESTS SINCE 1965 ... ANOTHER EVERY 2 MINUTES!