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/

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May 24, 1995

Jimmy Montgomery Now Suffering In Solitary Confinement
Medical Neglect Threatens Life

        May 24, Isolated in a cell with no way even to call for help, paraplegic Jimmy Montgomery endures the stench of his untreated infections, suffers the pain of having to tear off soiled bandages without any salve or ointments, and runs the risk of life-threatening kidney and bladder infections because guards cannot find the urine bag that his mother sent him.  Meanwhile, Governor Keating's office claims to be doing everything possible.
        Governor Keating may be reluctant to look closely at the facts of the Montgomery case.  His office keeps telling callers that Montgomery must have done something far worse than the trial records indicate, because they do not want to believe that good people in a small town, serving as jurors, could have done something so terrible.  He may be reluctant to recognize that the hate propaganda fostered by the prohibitionist ideology that he espouses could result in such a great injustice.  Governor Keating should spend a few minutes reviewing the record and then go and visit Jimmy's prison cell and see and smell the stench of his lesions.  Then he might find the power and the courage to face the consequences of hatred.  The good people of Oklahoma have been the victims of a crime of unspeakable evil, but it is necessary to say that we are not damned by the evil done to us, but rather by the evil done by us.

"The world is a dangerous place to live -- not because of the people who are evil but because of the people who don't do anything about it."  --Albert Einstein

Have you called OK Gov. Keating today?
If not, please do at (405)521-2342!

San Francisco Chronicle Editorial Supports Medicinal Marijuana

        May 23, The San Francisco Chronicle opined, "What a sense of justice and relief many AIDS, cancer, glaucoma and multiple sclerosis patients felt last year when both houses of the state Legislature passed a bill allowing them to use marijuana to ease their pain and nausea."
        But their victory was short-lived.  Despite its legislative approval after substantive hearings, Gov. Wilson vetoed the bill.  Let us hope that in this non-election year, compassion and good sense rule and that an identical measure by Assemblyman John Vasconcellos, D-San Jose, passes and, this time, is signed by Wilson."
        "The measure is narrowly drawn and would ... simply allow suffering patients -- with a doctor's approval -- to possess or cultivate marijuana for personal use."
        The editorial concluded, "The patients' hopes were raised, then dashed, last year.  A repeat of that cruel outcome is not acceptable."  [emphasis added -ed.]
        [For more information about the statewide 1996 medical marijuana initiative underway in California, please contact Californians for Compassionate Use, Dennis Peron, (415) 675-9985.]

Court Clears Way For NORML Medical Marijuana Lawsuit And Rally In Anaheim

        May 24, USA Today reports "A judge temporarily restrained the city [of Anaheim] from enforcing a law that closes its parks to convicted drug offenders [Yes, even marijuana convictions! -ed.].  It allows the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws to rally at La Palma Park Thursday."
        [For more information on the lawsuit and rally, please contact either CA NORML, Dale Gieringer, (415) 563-5858 or LA NORML, (310) 652-8654.]

SPECIAL APPEAL: Help Medical Marijuana Patients In Washington State

        Earlier in the month, NORML reported that Seattle's Green Cross Cannabis Buyer's Club were arrested.  The patients and some of the principles involved in the club are now facing criminal charges for aiding the sick and dying.
        Please consider sending a donation for their legal defense as soon as possible.  The cost of their legal defense could top $75,000!  NORML National Legal Committee member Jeffrey Steinborne's law firm is handling the case.  Send desperately needed contributions to Green Cross Defense Fund, 800 5th Ave. #162, Seattle, WA 98408.]

A Classic Example Of Permissible Hate Speech With A Recent Echo

        Congressional prohibitionists brought former First Lady Nancy Reagan back to Washington in March to revive the "Just Say No" mantra.  They did not ask her to repeat her 1988 statement: "If you are a drug user, you're an accomplice to murder."  (Page 5 of the Final Report of THE WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE FOR A DRUG FREE AMERICA. -June 1988)  Perhaps this is just as well considering that page 6 of the report says "Each time we do not get outraged over senseless death and violence we are guilty."  This might suggest that they are guilty for their indifference to the suffering of Jimmy Montgomery and the recent law enforcement killings of marijuana users in Wisconsin.  These do not seem to be matters for concern -- much less -- outrage for anyone in Washington or the national media.

Cause and Effect: Imprisoning Non-violent Drug Offenders
Doubles Local Jail Populations In Just 10 Years!

        In May, the Associated Press reported, "The number of inmates in local jails across the nation reached a record 490,442 last year...  The rising number of drug offenders was the biggest reason for the increase ... with more than 105,800 of the 1993 jail inmates were charged or convicted of drug crimes."  African Americans have an incarceration rate nine times that of other races.  Presently, in the U.S. there are an estimated 1.5 million individuals incarcerated.

Drug Czar Brown Escalates Potent Pot Follies
Claims 40 Fold Increase In THC Levels!

        May 21, In an interview with the Dallas Morning News, Drug Czar Lee Brown was asked, "Why is it more dangerous for a kid to be experimenting with drugs now than when the baby boomers were in high school or college?"  Brown responded, "The major illegal drug they're experimenting with is marijuana.  Marijuana is 40 times more potent today than was the case 10, 15, 20 years ago...  I don't think that young people know that.  It is really not getting covered very well."

        In other recent statements Brown has claimed that potency has increased only 6 to 10 fold.  He did not offer any explanation for this escalation, nor did he offer any explanation for why he is contradicting Alan Leshner, the head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) who says that potency is only 3 times higher than in the past.  Brown also did not explain why the only large scale testing of contraband marijuana, sponsored by NIDA, shows no increase in potency since the early 1980's.  As for it not being reported, the potent pot myth has been repeated in almost every major publication in America.  It has become the single most accepted lie about marijuana in the mainstream media.  Recently, both NEW YORK magazine and syndicated columnist George Will have claimed that potency is 15 times higher than in the past.  Ironically, the Dallas Morning News cut that one sentence from the Will column.  NORML finds no valid evidence of any increase in average potency.

COUNTING DOWN: THE TEN MILLIONTH MARIJUANA ARREST WILL OCCUR IN JULY.  WILL IT BE YOU?
WILL LEE BROWN BE CLAIMING THAT POT POTENCY HAS INCREASED TEN MILLION TIMES?  WHICH NUMBER WILL THE MEDIA REPORT?

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ALMOST 10 MILLION MARIJUANA ARRESTS SINCE 1965 ... ANOTHER EVERY 90 SECONDS!