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We are still working on preventing the double posting
problem -- this one shouldn't go out twice, but please
accept our apologies if it does.)
2/10/99
Dear friend of DRCNet:
I'm writing to ask your help with a very special and
urgent need of the organization. Our 501(c)(4) lobbying
entity, the Drug Reform Coordination Network, is running
desperately low of funds, and won't be able to meet its
share of the expenses through the end of this month without
your non-deductible membership contributions. This doesn't
mean that DRCNet will close down or stop bringing you the
educational articles in the Week Online e-zine, the DRCNN
radio show, or on our web site -- that material is developed
by our 501(c)(3) educational entity, the DRCNet Foundation,
which is supported primarily by grants and major gifts and
which is doing better than ever.
What it does mean is that, without donations from new and
renewing members like yourselves, we will have to put our
legislative programs on hold. Some of these programs are
very promising and would suffer substantially if they had to
be stopped even for a few weeks. In particular, we will
have to dramatically cut back our key program of the first
half of this year, reform of the Higher Education Act of
1998. A provision in the HEA reauthorization last year bars
drug offenders from receiving student loans or any other
form of financial aid; ineligibility ranges from a year to a
lifetime, depending on the number and type of offense. No
other type of criminal conviction, even violent, results in
this type of sanction that continues even after criminal
penalties have been fulfilled.
DRCNet has circulated a resolution calling for repeal of
the HEA drug provision to nearly 100 campuses and groups
concerned with education and social justice; overall, the
HEA reform campaign has very rapidly attracted an enormous
amount of interest and excitement, opening doors to
mainstream political circles and even Congressional offices.
Read more about it on our newest site, http://www.u-net.org
or contact Kris Lotlikar at (202) 293-8340 or e-mail
[EMAIL PROTECTED] We will also have to cease or cut back
our participation in a DC-based working group putting
together comprehensive legislation covering a broad range of
important drug policy reform issues, and for which we are
spearheading sections dealing with the militarization of the
US-Mexico border, and with the undertreatment of chronic
pain and the chilling impact of DEA monitoring on physician
willingness to prescribe narcotics for pain. (See
http://www.stopthedrugwar.org/pain.html for an overview of
this important issue affecting tens of millions of elderly
and chronically ill Americans and which will be getting
major national news coverage in the very near future.)
Last but not least, we could be prevented from bringing
you important legislative alerts as they come up nationally
or in your state. The concluding of the impeachment trial
will be followed by a flurry of activity, and Congressional
drug warriors, including Speaker of the House Dennis
Hastert, have plans that will damage many, many lives if
they become law. We need to stand ready as the political
battle is joined, and we need your help, financially and
through your response to our alerts.
Many of you have been thinking about joining DRCNet or
sending in an extra donation, but haven't gotten around to
it yet, or get these bulletins at a time of day when you are
doing other things, or just haven't found the right time for
whatever reason. I hope you'll decide that now is the right
time, and that you'll take a minute to write out a check or
wire in a credit card donation through our encryption-
secured web form. It is you who will stop the drug war, by
deciding to get active, sending in your dues and writing
those letters when the time comes. Those who donate $35 or
more will receive a free copy of the book "Shattered Lives:
Portraits from America's Drug War," a gift sponsored by the
DRCNet Foundation. Or, if you donate $75, we will send you
a free videotape copy of the exciting film "Sex, Drugs &
Democracy," examining the pragmatic approach taken to social
issues in the nation of The Netherlands.
Please visit our donation/registration page at
http://www.drcnet.org/drcreg.html and print out a form to
mail in with your check or money order, or submit your
donation by credit card after following the secure
encryption link. Or just mail your check or money order to:
DRCNet, 2000 P St., NW, Suite 615, Washington, DC 20036.
Please note that contributions to the Drug Reform
Coordination Network are not tax-deductible. You can also
call in your credit card donation to (202) 293-8340.
Thank you for being part of DRCNet. With your help, a
better drug policy will soon come to pass.
Sincerely,
David Borden
Executive Director
NEWSFLASH: If you get this message early enough Thursday
morning, check out NBC's "The Leeza Show." Leeza will air a
segment, "Life for so Little," featuring interviews with
family members of some of the prisoners featured in PBS
Frontline's special, Snitch, including the family of
Clarence Aaron, who is serving three consecutive life
sentences for a minor role in a cocaine deal, and Natasha
Gaines, daughter of Dorothy Gaines, who is serving 20 years.
The segment is scheduled to air tomorrow, Thursday, 2/11, in
the mid-morning. Check your local listings for the exact
time in your location.)
To sign off this list, mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the
line "signoff drc-natl" in the body of the message (don't
include the quotes), or mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] for
assistance. To subscribe to this list, visit
http://www.drcnet.org/signup.html on our web site.
