Support John Stossel

The Drug Reform Coordination Network has launched the following campaign in response to scumbag drug prohibitionist attempts to force ABC to drop future reports questioning The Drug War.

Dear friend of drug reform:

On Tuesday of this week (July 30, 2002), ABC News aired a breakthrough special on the drug war and discussion of legalization by John Stossel. The one hour report, titled "Just Say No: Government's War on Drugs Fails," included interviews of California judge James P. Gray, Detroit police chief Jerry Oliver, New York priest Father Joe Kane, drug reform advocate Sanho Tree of the Institute for Policy Studies, DEA chief Asa Hutchison and others.

Drug warrior organizations like the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (which is more rabidly prohibitionist than many of its members) are now waging a letter writing campaign to ABC to pressure them against questioning drug war dogma in the future. Your help is needed to show ABC that good drug war reporting like Stossel's is not only appreciated by viewers but is needed.

Please write a letter in support of the Stossel special to:

David Westin, President
ABC News
 47 West 66th Street
 New York, NY 10023

Please fax us a copy of your letter to (202) 293-8344 or mail a copy to: DRCNet, 2000 P St., NW, Suite 210, Washington, DC 20036.

If you don't have time to write a paper letter (the most effective method for making an impression), please visit http://abcnews.go.com/service/Help/abcmail.html to submit your comments to ABC News online. You can also visit http://boards.abcnews.go.com/cgi/abcnews/request.dll?LIST&room=stossel to state and discuss your views on ABC's web board devoted to the Stossel special.

DRCNet will provide info on ordering a video of the program in the near future. In the meantime, you can read an excerpt from it at http://abcnews.go.com/onair/2020/stossel_drugs_020730.html online.

The following is a sample letter you can use (preferably modified and personalized) in your communication to ABC, provided by Marc Brandl of the Libertarian Party's Drug War Task Force: