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Peter Lewis Gives ACLU $5 Million to Fight Drug Laws

July 23, 2001 – [Editor's Notes: Our thanks to Eleanor Scott, Colorado prevention leader, who sent the following editorial from the Denver Post. Mr. Lewis, along with George Soros and John Sperling, has funded all the drug-related ballot initiatives that states have passed since 1996. See http://www.nationalfamilies.org/ guide/initiative_index.html. Also, Nadine Strossen, quoted in the Denver Post editorial below, replaces ACLU outgoing president, Ira Glasser, who simultaneously chaired the Drug Policy Foundation. Robert Maginnis, Vice President of the Family Research Council; David Evans, Attorney; and Sue Rusche, Executive Director, National Families in Action debate Ms. Strossen; Timothy Lynch, director of the CATO Institute; and Karen Burstein, Attorney; in an upcoming TV show called "DebatesDebates" that will air in August on PBS stations nationwide. Check local TV listings for time.]

From the Denver Post, Saturday, July 21, 2001:

"An Odd Coincidence? "The American Civil Liberties Union issued two press releases Thursday that, taken together, seem much more than a coincidence.

"The first was the announcement that Peter Lewis, a billionaire Ohio insurance executive, has given the ACLU its largest-ever personal gift of $7 million. Lewis is one of the three billionaires who originally put up millions to pass the California medical marijuana act, a measure that was later duplicated in eight states, including Colorado. Lewis and his colleagues have made it clear they wish to legalize marijuana and that the medical marijuana acts are the first step toward that end.

"Of the Lewis gift, $5 million is to be used to finance litigation challenging drug laws. The ACLU is already involved in a number of cases intended to reduce the number of people in prison for drug offenses.

"The second press release detailed what the ACLU claims is a shift in public sentiment away from what it calls the ‘throw-away-the-key approach' to law enforcement. The ACLU says only small portions of the American public believe that drug users should always be locked up. Nadine Strossen, president of the organization, said a ‘majority of Americans have come to realize that we cannot incarcerate our way out of the drug problem.'

"The ACLU seems to have made up its mind that it wants to go where Peter Lewis wants to go. We are not so sure. The medical marijuana laws have created a major unresolved legal puzzle. States, including this one, continue to implement the laws but there is an unanswered question of when, and if, these laws will conflict with the federal statute that makes distribution and use of marijuana a crime. The states can duck and dodge all they want, but sooner or later the state laws create a situation where someone performs an act that is punishable under federal law.

"For our part, we hope a U.S. attorney in one of the affected states will soon act to clarify marijuana's legal status by filing federal charges against a defendant. The U.S. Supreme Court has said that the California law doesn't create a medical exemption to the federal act. That leaves unanswered the question of whether patients and doctors who participate in state programs can be prosecuted in federal court. We'd like to know the answer."

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