Intended recipient: E-Gold Discussion List ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Sent to you by: Deen Foxx ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Sender's note: Hey, I know this doesn't have anything to do with e-gold, but it is related to governmental BS and many will find it of interest. This needs to get into the public! So I hope that lots of you use the web-interface to send this out to everyone you know. To automatically receive all future articles, click here... http://lp.yourhost.com/subscribe.htm Our privacy policy can be found at the far bottom of this e-mail. Help spread this article to everyone you know by clicking here... http://drugwar.lp.yourhost.com/send.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------- Birthday in Solitary Confinement (October 07, 2000) http://drugwar.lp.yourhost.com -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- TODD MCCORMICK TO SPEND BIRTHDAY IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT LIBERTARIAN PARTY UNVEILS ANTI-DRUG WAR AD *************************** FROM LIBERTARIAN PARTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR RON CRICKENBERGER Dear Libertarian Party Supporter, Today, October 7 is Todd McCormick's birthday. He will spend his 30th birthday in a closet-sized concrete cell in solitary confinement at Terminal Island prison in California. His crime? He used medical marijuana to relieve the crippling pain and spasms of a severe spinal condition. Todd had cancer nine times before the age of ten. The top five vertebrae of his neck are fused. His hips are painfully deformed (one hip stopped growing when he was ten years old as a result of radiation treatment.) And he wrote about the miraculous relief he got from medical marijuana - the only drug that ever gave him relief. And then he tried to provide that same medicine that had saved his life and enabled him to be productive, active, and happy, to other patients in the same desperate need. He entered into a business partnership with best-selling author Peter McWilliams. They began production on a book about medical marijuana. And under Proposition 215, which Californians had passed overwhelmingly in 1996 to legalize cannabis for medical purposes, they began to produce marijuana itself. Or at least they tried to. Since what they were doing was legal under state law, they made little effort to hide their activities. They deliberately set out to define the limits of Prop 215. Peter openly spoke of becoming "the Bill Gates of Medical marijuana." They knew that, despite the legality under California law, they were taking a great chance under federal law. But they were willing to take that chance for a cause they believed worth fighting for. In late 1997, they were both arrested, and charged with "conspiracy" to produce marijuana. McWilliams, 50, had suffered from AIDS and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma since 1996, and had used medical marijuana to suppress the nausea that was a common side effect of the potent medications needed to keep him alive. After a federal judge ruled that McWilliams could not mention his illnesses at his trial -- or introduce as evidence any of the documented benefits of medical marijuana -- he pled guilty to avoid a 10-year mandatory- minimum prison sentence. While out on bail awaiting sentencing, McWilliams was prohibited from using medical marijuana -- and being denied access to the drug's anti-nausea properties almost certainly caused his death. He was found dead in his home on June 14, having choked on his own vomit. Todd is serving 5 years without parole for his part in trying to produce medicine for sick people. Unless we change the cruel system that has imprisoned him, he will face not only this birthday behind bars, but 5 more. I've attached a message from Todd's Mother to the end of this message. If you can read through it without tears, you are a stronger person than I am. I'm hoping that you will take a few minutes to send Todd a belated birthday card. It's easy to feel forgotten behind bars, and sometimes a note from the outside world is the only thing that keeps you alive for one more day. Especially when you have an extremely painful condition - and you're denied the only medicine that helps the pain. Peter McWilliams paid the ultimate price for speaking out against the insane war on drugs. Even from what became his deathbed, he never stopped speaking the truth. The government could not silence him, except by his death. I pray that Todd does not suffer the same fate from his imprisonment. He and Peter fought with all they had for the freedoms of us all. But now Peter and Todd can no longer fight for us. Now we have to fight for them. And we have to fight for the other one million prisoners of the drug war, and their families. I believe that we now have the best weapon ever to fight back against the abomination of the drug war. The Harry Browne campaign has produced what I think is the most powerful TV ad the Libertarian movement has ever seen. The ad opens with man-on-the-street sound bites denouncing the follies of the drug war. Then, as Harry speaks, we see images of young people who are imprisoned, for 10, 20, 30, and up to 99 years for non-violent drug crimes. Then Harry asks the most important question missing from the Presidential Debates - "George W. Bush and Al Gore, would you be better people today if you had spent 10 years in prison for your youthful indiscretions?" And then prison doors slam shut over the images of Bush and Gore. There's no way I can describe how strong this ad is. You have to see it for yourself. You can view the ad on-line now at http://www.lp.org/campaigns/pres/ads/ We expect that this ad is so controversial that it will garner significant media attention on its own. But there is no guarantee of that, of course, and even getting it played on nightly news a few times will not be enough to make the full use of this powerful weapon for freedom. We'll have to buy advertising time to make sure we get this message out - now while we can take advantage of the low, low, candidate advertising rates that are only available for the next 4 weeks leading up to the election. But our ability to book time on national cable networks is limited by our cash on hand -- because stations require payment IN ADVANCE for political ads. We've spent so much recently on ballot access and previous advertising, and we are already committed to matching funds for Congressional candidates. We have little in our coffers to get the ad on the air. If we want to get this ad on the air before the election, we need a QUICK influx of cash. That's where you can help. After you finish reading this letter, please: 1. Go to http://www.lp.org/campaigns/pres/ads/ to view the ad and contribute by credit card over our secure server. Contributing by credit card will get the most ads on the air the soonest. You can also call me, Ron Crickenberger directly to contribute at 202-333-0008,ext. 227. 2. If you prefer to contribute by check, WRITE A CHECK, and PUT IT IN TODAY'S OUTGOING MAIL. If you do that, we could have your check as early as noon Tuesday and be busily booking more ads right after lunch. Will you help us work for Todd's release, and for Peter's struggle to have not been in vain? They can no longer fight for us. We have to fight for them. I want Americans from coast to coast to see those prison doors slamming across the hypocritical faces of Bush and Gore. And I want to see this powerful message on national TV again, and again, and again. Don't you? When we asked our e-mail announcement subscribers for advertising help at the end of the '96 presidential campaign, you responded with more than $50,000 for TV ads. Those ads produced thousands of calls to our 800 #, and hundreds of new Libertarian Party members. Our list is three times as large now as it was then, so we could potentially raise $150,000 or more to run advertising the last weeks before the election. That much advertising would put our ad on before more than 15 million viewers, who will see our ad right before they go to the polls and vote. But only if you contribute today. Can you send $1,000 today to help get this message out? Or can you reach extra deep, and send $5,000? Or $250, or $100? Whatever you can send, we'll put it to immediate use in running more ads. So we need your contribution NOW when it will do the most good. Please -- help give us the fast infusion of cash we need to keep escalating our advertising buys right up through Election Day. The other side can never win the war on drugs. We can, by bringing in a permanent drug peace. Please help. Today. And please also send Todd a card. The address is at the end of this message. He needs to know that he's not alone, and that the fight is still being fought. Yours for Liberty, Ron Crickenberger Political Director P.S. You might reasonably ask if we're exploiting Peter McWilliams and Todd McCormick, just for the sake of advancing a political agenda. Your damned right we are! Because that's what Peter wanted. Peter told me before he died, "Ron, I want you to do everything you can to make me the poster boy for medical marijuana, in any and every way you can. And whatever I have to endure I'll endure, if I can do something to change this insane system." But now Peter is dead, and Todd is in jail, and the system, for now, is the same. Please help us complete their struggle. Please help us end the drug war, and win the drug peace. For their sake, and for the hundreds of thousands like them in prison. Thank you. P.P.S. -- Contribute by credit card at our web site and we'll get a jump start on placing ads. The URL is: http://www.lp.org/lp-tv-ads.html HERE'S THE CONTRIBUTION FORM: Please print out the form below on your computer printer, fill it in, and enclose it with your check. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ENCLOSED IS MY CONTRIBUTION OF: [ ] $10,000 to reach more than one million TV viewers. [ ] $1,000 to reach more than 100,000 viewers. [ ] $500 to put our message on 50,000 TV screens. [ ] $250 to put another nail in the coffin of the war on drugs [ ] $100 to slam prison doors across Bush and Gore 10,000 times. LIMITATIONS: Contributions to political committees are not tax-deductible. Please make your check payable to "Libertarian Party" or provide the following information for credit card payment: [ ] MasterCard [ ] Visa [ ] Amex [ ] Discover Card number________________________ Expires____________ Signature______________________________________________ Name___________________________________________________ Address________________________________________________ City_________________________ State____ Zip____________ Phone__________________________________________________ E-Mail_________________________________________________ Occupation_____________________________________________ Employer_______________________________________________ NOTE: Federal law requires political committees to report the name, mailing address, and occupation and name of employer for each individual whose contributions aggregate in excess of $200 in a calendar year. PLEASE ADDRESS YOUR ENVELOPE TO: E-mail Response Libertarian Party 2600 Virginia Avenue NW/Suite 100 Washington, DC 20037 The following is from Todd McCormick's mom, Ann. Todd has been in the 'hole' since August 15. If he is found 'guilty' by the review board (essentially, we're talking a kangaroo court) he will remain in isolation, lose all visiting privileges for a year, be restricted to a single phone call per month, and God knows what else. This is all creating tremendous stress on his health and state of mind. Todd is such a 'people person'. Being alone in a closet size room 23 hours a day and then spending the other hour alone in the exercise yard is in no way proportionate to what he has been accused of. To keep in mind that he is in prison, in the first place, for gardening, makes the whole thing even more ludicrous. So many people have written asking what can we do. I honestly don't know. When circumstances are dire, and the answer to 'what to do?' is "I don't know" there is one remaining action ... PRAY. What I am asking everyone to do throughout the day is pray, meditate, visualize -- for Todd to win his release, all together, from prison. This has been going on for 37 months now. In all, he has spent 9 months in jail. They have turned his life and his friends and families lives upside down. This has seriously damaged Todd's health. Peter is dead. Neither Renee nor Kiril can come home. Alex is on probation. For over 2 decades I fought to keep my son alive, even when his doctors felt no optimism. Now, I am expected to sit back like a 'good little citizen' and watch my government slowly kill him? Materially, they have all lost everything they have worked for during their lives and have incredible debts piled on top of that. Already, well into 7-figures have been lost fighting this insane persecution (yes, PERSECUTION). Peter McWilliams alone lost 2 homes and a successful career/business he had run for over 30 years - and died deeply in debt - not to mention the savings and assets he went through during the last 3 years of his life, fighting the charges - or the pain, suffering and illness he experienced trying to comply with the courts orders. ENOUGH. The punishment is supposed to fit the crime. Cruel and unusual punishments are against everything this nation is supposed to stand for. We are supposed to be a 'civilized' nation. We are supposed to be the "land of the free". We cherish liberty, self-determination and rugged individualism above all. At least that is what I grew up believing. It appears, now, to have been a cruel joke -- or, perhaps, just a bunch of cleverly crafted, damnable lies. None of these people are violent predators. None of them robbed, stole - or maliciously took advantage of others in any way. None were or are a threat to society. All are kind, gentle spirits, with tremendous respect and reverence for nature, the planet and mankind. Todd, Kiril, Alex and Renee are all vegan. All have lived a totally 'green' environmentally protective lifestyle. They have been dragged through this hell for nurturing a plant - an ancient healing herb - grown for the purpose of benefiting others and eliminating pain and suffering. This is the United States' interpretation of what constitutes criminal behavior? My God! What kind of nation, what kind of society have we become? ********************************************* Cards and letters may be sent to Todd at: Todd Patrick McCormick Inmate # 11071-112 F.C.I. P.O. Box 3007 Terminal Island, CA 90731 Information About the McCormick Case: http://www.levellers.org/toddtoc.htm http://www.november.org/ToddMc.html -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBOd9y5NCSe1KnQG7RAQHDaAP/XpvyNL8ulF9IBlWkutOTpKYkQVW7cWW1 rDpV0r/QYmVcbwtJmstz7hUr6+vfTNDda5MTSH/MQNFBhGggEvRUTsDHKltxrxqD Q7wsGDT57XlnhkWIlI5Qb7MwlBbiaxYpwBXsr6FznZ3kaoB1qjooPW+ENV2H7CgR f3JpvYLym2k= =0leK -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- ------------------------------------------------------------------- PRIVACY POLICY: If this e-mail originated from our web-site, every precaution has been made to prevent people from maliciously using our service to send you unsolicited mailings (SPAM). More than likely, if you have received this e-mail from someone you do not personally know, an incorrect e-mail address had been entered by accident. The e-mail address of the sender has been verified to be valid and you can reply to them personally to let them know of any errors. 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