http://www.drugpolicy.org/homepage.cfm

Information regarding drug laws by state plus other info-

OK Maybe I'm blind. But did anybody see Michigan over there? Why am I not shocked?!

Thanks Jen for the website. Another tool at getting info. I did read that there's a possibility they could be barred from communicating the facts with the public. What's that all about?

Stacy

FEC to Consider Ruthless New Free Speech Restrictions
April 1, 2004


The Drug Policy Alliance and other advocacy groups could be barred from communicating with supporters about the political actions of federal officials up for re-election. That's the goal of a Federal Election Commission (FEC) draft opinion to be voted on later this month. The proposal, broader and more punitive than an earlier one also condemned by the Alliance, would represent one of the worst assaults on the freedom of speech and association ever proposed in the United States. It would severely hamper our ability to communicate urgent drug policy reform messages to you in the future.

To learn how you can take action before the Friday, April 9 deadline for comments to the FEC, click here!

The chilling effect of the FEC proposal on free speech cannot be overstated. Adoption of the draft opinion (press release | full text) would rework and expand the definition of “expenditures” to include any communication that “promotes, supports, attacks, or opposes” a candidate for federal office. This would give Members of Congress who are running for re-election a green light to introduce and pass harmful drug policies right before Election Day while restricting the Alliance's ability to run advertisements in a newspaper or send out emails alerting you to their actions. The FEC draft opinion is especially nefarious because it seeks to change the rules for nonprofit advocacy in the middle of this important election year.

Even though the Drug Policy Alliance does not endorse or oppose specific candidates for any public office, the FEC policy would hamper our efforts to contact fellow reformers about drug war laws pushed through Congress by candidates up for re-election or their drug policy stances. The government would retain the right to interpret any of the Alliance’s communications that mention a candidate’s positions on a drug policy issue as “opposing” or even “attacking” that candidate, even if the communication did not mention that candidate by name!

Merely expressing an opinion about an officeholder’s policies could turn a nonprofit group overnight into a federally regulated political committee and impose crippling fund-raising restrictions. The FEC’s proposed rule changes could force the Alliance and other nonprofits to transform into political committees, which would cripple our ability to raise and spend funds in pursuit of drug policy reform and force us to cease communicating with our members about urgent drug policy reform issues entirely.

It is important to note that the FEC proposal targets nonprofits like the Alliance – and not, directly, our donors – meaning that the draft opinion would greatly harm the Alliance but not affect donations you may have made in the past or may now make.


Stacy- I really hope that this doesn't happen-