>From: "Peter McWilliams" >Subject: Hello? Senator Hatch? >Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 13:10:09 -0800 >X-Mozilla-Status: 8001 >X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000 > >PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE > >Presidential candidate Senator Orrin Hatch will be taking calls on C-Span's >Saturday Journal From 9-10 AM Eastern Time this Saturday AM. Hatch is the >co-author of The Hatch/Feinstein Methamphetamine Anti-Proliferation Act of >1999 which could easily destroy all forms of Internet activism on drug >policy on the Internet if implemented. Below is a wealth of information on >the bill and its background. It has already UNANIMOUSLY passed the senate. >Hatch is also one of the most ardent drug war hawks in the Senate. > >The bill reads as follows >"It shall be unlawful for any person-- (A) to teach or demonstrate the >manufacture of a controlled substance, or to distribute by any means >information pertaining to, in whole or in part, the manufacture or use of a >controlled substance, with the intent that the teaching, demonstration, or >information be used for, or in furtherance of, an activity that constitutes >a Federal crime." > >This is a mind boggling concept in the land of the free. To me this sort of >censorship sounds eerily like the plots in the classic books "Fahrenheit >451" in which book burning was mandated by the government or "1984" in which >the government censored talk and even thought heavily and eliminated >individual rights "for our own good." > >Please call in, email or fax C-span to challenge Hatch on this egregious >attack on the first amendment. > >C-SPAN >400 North Capitol St. NW >Suite 650 >Washington DC 20001 > >Telephone >E-Mail viewer@c-span.org > >Call these numbers from 9-10 AM ET Saturday: > >Washington Journal: Democrats (202) 624-1111 >Washington Journal: Republicans (202) 624-1115 >Washington Journal: Others (202) 737-6734 >Washington Journal: FAX (202) 393-3346 >Washington journal: Email journal@c-span.org > >Front Desk (202) 737-3220 >Hotline Scheduling info 202 628 2205 - 4 >Jobs Line (202) 626-7983 >Viewer Services: (202) 626-7963 - 0 > > > >Smashing Meth or Trashing Rights? > >Consider these statements: > >A: "If you must smoke marijuana, filter the smoke with a water pipe and >don't even think of driving afterwards." >B: "If you ever do shoot up heroin, don't use dirty needles. Clean them >with bleach or find a syringe exchange program." > >I think these statements are good advice. But if U.S. Senators Orrin Hatch >and Dianne Feinstein have their way, it will soon be a felony to publish >these statements in any book, newspaper, magazine, web site, or even to >utter them or link to a web site containing them. The Hatch/Feinstein >Methamphetamine Anti-Proliferation Act of 1999 makes these statements >illegal because they "pertain" to an act that violates federal >controlled-substance laws. > >Here's the censorship language of the Hatch/Feinstein bill (S.486): "It >shall be unlawful for any person-- (A) to teach or demonstrate the >manufacture of a controlled substance, or to distribute by any means >information pertaining to, in whole or in part, the manufacture or use of a >controlled substance, with the intent that the teaching, demonstration, or >information be used for, or in furtherance of, an activity that constitutes >a Federal crime." > >My opening statements "teach" people how to "use" criminalized drugs in a >way that reduces potential harmfulness. They are nonetheless information >that, if heeded at all, would be used "for ... an activity that constitutes >a Federal crime," namely the use of marijuana or heroin. (Don't believe for >a minute that the "intent" aspect clarifies anything: the "intent" of >suspects in federal crimes is exactly what the prosecutor says it is. >Period.) > >The penalty for my heinous utterances: 10 years in federal prison. > >You're probably thinking "Surely they didn't mean that. This is a >clamp-down on methamphetamine, isn't it?" But a law is a very literal beast. >The implications of S.486 are as broad as its language is vague. It clearly >violates the face-value meaning of the First Amendment -- guaranteed free >speech. > >Anyone who thinks the feds would use common sense and restraint when >enforcing this law hasn't been watching the Drug War for the past 20 years. >These are the same drug warriors who just paid $1 million in an out-of-court >settlement with the family of Donald Scott, who was shot to death in a "dry" >(no drugs found) raid on Scott's California ranch in 1992. Purportedly, the >feds, fearing the publicity about corrupt drug cops in LA's Rampart >precinct, thought jurors might be persuaded that enforcers really were >trying to grab Scott's property under federal drug forfeiture laws, as the >suit had alleged. On another front, drug-warring federal prosecutors are >notorious for using mandatory sentencing laws to jail the lowest-level >participants in drug cases for the longest possible terms, based on heresay >evidence and wide-reaching conspiracy laws (see the PBS documentary >"Snitch"). A study of drug case law reveals that people can be jailed on >drug crimes through a head spinning array of legal technicalities (often >convoluted, illogical, and unfair). Prosecutors essentially have the power >of accuser, judge, and jury, all rolled into one, and can effectively jail >whomsoever they please. Many use their power to seek high political >offices. > >Would S.486 be used benignly? Tell me another. > >In states that have passed compassionate-use referendums, S. 486 would >facilitate federal prosecution of doctors who tell patients about medical >marijuana. These are among the more obvious applications of this bill. The >larger implication concerns citizens who are now legally protesting the Drug >War or conducting now-legal programs that are at odds with >abstinence-enforcement ideology. > >Given the vague and inclusive interpretation of federal conspiracy laws, >almost any information about criminalized drugs and any dissent against >existing drug laws could be construed by federal enforcers as furthering >federal drug crimes. In Congressional hearings last summer, drug czar Barry >McCaffrey specifically accused two national drug reform organizations, MAP >(the Media Awareness Project) and the Drug Policy Foundation (DPF), of >distributing information to support the manufacture of criminalized drugs. >Of course, McCaffrey was lying about this. > >Check it out at the >Media Awareness Project (MAP) http://www.mapinc.org>and >The Drug Policy Foundation http://www.dpf.org > >MAP posts worldwide news related to criminalized drugs, drug policy, etc. >Both groups organize activism to end the War on Drugs policy. Neither of >them advocate drug use or offer instructions about drug manufacture. >However, in the light of the 33,000 press articles clipped by MAP, the >government's Drug War does not look good. And activists are running scared >about S.486. > >Based on McCaffrey's statements of last summer, MAP and other drug policy >leaders fear that enforcers, armed with the Hatch/Feinstein bill, would shut >down their web sites, effectively silencing dissent against the Drug War and >squelching public debate about drug policy. They fear selective enforcement >of S.486 such that any anti-Drug-War web site could be shut down directly or >indirectly because Internet service providers, fearing prosecution, would >refuse to host such sites. > >In remarks about the bill, Sen. Feinstein emphasized her intent to censor >communications about drugs on the Internet. Whether Hatch and Feinstein >know it or not, S.486 neatly fulfills the wishes of UN drug czar Pino >Arlacchi, whose global drug-war organization recommended, in a 1997 >publication, that governments should curtail civil liberties in their >pursuit of strict drug-abstinence enforcement. > >Other implications: books about criminalized drugs could be withdrawn from >Barnes-and-Noble's shelves; certain magazines would be shut down (no more >High Times). Information about industrial hemp cultivation would be >outlawed. Drug treatment and intervention programs that deviate from strict >abstinence doctrine or help non-abstainers (concerning harm reduction, >needle exchange, methadone maintenance, or medical marijuana) could be >prosecuted - because their communications, like my opening statements, >pertain to activities that are federal crimes. > >S.486 seems to be a bald-faced violation of the First Amendment. But the >opinion of Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who never saw a draconian drug >law he didn't like, is harder to predict. > >This is an extremely dangerous law, not only for drug policy and reform, but >concerning freedom of speech generally in the United States. If dissent >about this issue can be silenced, all dissent can be silenced. > >If S.486 becomes law, American speech rights become subject to the whim of >the badge-bearing guys who smash down doors carrying submachine guns and >yelling "Freeze!" like they did to Donald Scott. No matter what you think >of drugs, if you love freedom, you should hate this bill. > >-30- > >The Media Awareness Project (MAP) Inc. is a Project of DrugSense a 501(c)3 >non profit educational organization dedicated to accurate information and >reporting on drug and drug policy related matters. > >Additional resources > >Drug War Facts >http//www.csdp.org/factbook/ > >Searchable archive of more than 30,000 articles on drug policy matters >http//www.mapinc.org/drugnews/ > >The Media Awareness Project (MAP) Inc. Home page >http//www.mapinc.org > >DrugSense Home Page >http//www.drugsense.org > >Free Weekly Email newsletter on important drug policy developments >http//www.drugsense.org/hurry.htm > > >Contact Information > >The individuals below may be contacted for further information regarding >this release. > >Mark Greer >Executive Director >DrugSense (MAP Inc.) >PO Box 651 >Porterville, >CA 93258 >(800) 266 5759 >MGreer@mapinc.org >http//www.mapinc.org >http//www.drugsense.org > >Paul "Paul Bischke" > >pmb@MULTITECH.com > >Tom O'Connell M.D. >195 Warren Rd. >San Mateo >CA 94401 >650 348 6841 Ph/fax >tjeffoc@sirius.com > >Kevin Zeese >Common Sense For Drug Policy >3619 Tall Wood Terrace >Falls Church VA 22041 >(703) 354 5694 >703-354-5695 (fax) > >http//www.csdp.org > >Kendra Wright >Family Watch >3619 Tallwood Terrace >Falls Church >VA 22041 >703-354-5694 >http//www.familywatch.org/ > > > > > > >Mark Greer >Executive Director >DrugSense >MGreer@mapinc.org >http://www.drugsense.org >http://www.mapinc.org > > > > >================================================================ > >This message is sent to you because you are subscribed to > the mailing list . >To unsubscribe, E-mail to: