On Sunday, February 27th, the Drug Policy Foundation ran a full page advertisement in the New York Times, asking readers "Will the Next $150 Billion Make You Safer?". Signatories to the ad include Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman, Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner, and many others. Response has been highly positive, and DPF is now planning to place this ad again, in the LA Times. Donations to DPF's outreach campaign, or requests for membership information, may be sent to:

Drug Policy Foundation
4455 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite B-500
Washington, DC 20008-2302
(202) 537-5005
(202) 537-3007 (fax)
Compuserve: 76546,215 ([email protected] from internet)

The Drug Policy Foundation will provide 11x17 copies of their ad free of charge, to anyone who is interested in distributing them. One DPF member has gone so far as to run this advertisement in two local and university papers in his area, using his own money, with the help of other donors. You too can help the Drug Policy Foundation draw more people into the reform movement by redistributing the DPF ad; contact DPF for copies, or find it in the latest issue of the Drug Policy Letter.

Some other DPF info:

1. The 8th International Conference on Drug Policy Reform will be held Nov. 16-19 at Loews L'Enfant Plaza Hotel in Washington, DC. The annual DPF conference is the largest forum for the debate of a wide range of drug policy reforms, including expanding treatment methods, implementing sterile needle exchange programs, and evaluating European models of drug control. This year's conference, which is called Drug Policy, the Crucial Next Stage: Human Rights and Health Care, promises to set new standards in the field.

The conference has four specialty tracks: (1) general policy, (2) a legal track, (3) a medical track, and (4) a track for city officials from around the world. The legal and medical tracks offer continuing legal/medical education credits. Featured speakers include: William Wilkins Jr., chairman of the U.S. Sentencing Comm'n, Colombian Attorney General Gustavo de Greiff, Kristine Gebbie, National AIDS Policy Coordinator, US Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), the Hon. Michael Kirby, president of the Australian Court of Appeals and chairman of the Internat'l Comm'n of Jurists, and Peter Beilenson, MD & MPH, Director of Baltimore's Dept. of Health.

The Foundation is accepting proposals for papers to be considered for publication in the conference manuals. The deadline for proposals, which can be submitted electronically, is Tue, May 31. Proposals should include an abstract of the paper topic, a list of collaborating authors, and should say whether the paper is submitted for publication, for presentation at the conference or both.

Register before Aug. 31 at the special early bird rate of $150. Contact Whitney Taylor or Kendra Wright for information on conference package rates and special events, including the Anti-Prohibitionist Ball, the luncheon and the awards banquet.

2. The next Drug Policy Letter will include the Foundation's 1994 book and video catalog. Members of the Foundation will receive their copy in late June; others still have time to get on the mailing list. A one-year subscription is $25 ($35 overseas). Donations of $50+ include a free copy of an anthology of writings on drug policy by Milton Friedman and Thomas Szasz.

The Drug Policy Foundation is a non-profit, independent think tank that researches and publicizes altneratives to the war on drugs. Since 1986, the Foundation has represented a range of reform ideas -- from allowing medical access to banned drugs (such as marijuana and heroin) to full legalization for adults. The Foundation exists to make discussion of drug policy reform more respectable and more thorough. The first step is recognizing that the drug war -- that is, drug prohibition -- is not a form of drug control, it is worsening what many perceive as the drug problem.