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A federal law barring funds
to public transit agencies that run ads calling for legalization or medical use
of an illegal drug was declared unconstitutional yesterday by a federal judge.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman of
Washington, D.C., said the amendment attached to a transportation-funding
measure enacted this year violated freedom of speech by banning messages based
on their viewpoint. "The government has articulated no legitimate state interest
in the suppression of this particular speech other than the fact that it
disapproves of the message, an illegitimate and constitutionally impermissible
reason," Friedman, said.
Bruce Mirken of the Marijuana Policy Project, noted that San Francisco bus shelters carry ads, sponsored by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, suggesting that youthful marijuana use leads to a life as a derelict. "If this amendment stood, we would be barred from putting ads in that same forum to counter that message and to engage in a political debate about the wisdom of the marijuana laws," he said. The federal measure was sponsored by Rep. Ernest Istook, who took offense at pro-marijuana ads in the Washington, D.C., subway system. One ad was headlined, "Enjoy better sex!" and called for legalizing and taxing marijuana.
Read the whole story in the San Francisco Chronicle... click on link below.