| Little Rock - Drug policy reform hits
the state fairgrounds this week as medical marijuana advocates set up
their exhibit in the Hall of Industry.
"We're hoping for lots of
signatures on our petitions," stated Denele Campbell, executive
director for the Alliance for Reform of Drug Policy in Arkansas, Inc.
(ARDPArk), co-sponsor of the booth. "What we've found at events
like Fayetteville's Autumnfest and the Altus Grape Festival is that
people have heard a little about our effort and they are ready to give
us support. Our challenge has always been to put ourselves into places
where we can meet the public, and we're sure that the state fair is a
prime opportunity."
Campbell says that their booth will
feature educational literature which explains more about the medical use
of Cannabis (marijuana), including a new brochure entitled "Isn't
There a Pill for That?" They'll have promotional items for sale,
too, such as their popular t-shirts, notecards illustrated by an
Arkansas medical marijuana patient, and their (NOT) Medical Marijuana
Brownies.
"The brownies sell for $2 and of
course they don't actually have marijuana in them, but we thought this
was a good way to point out that in nine other states, a person with a
debilitating medical condition would be able to legally obtain marijuana
brownies, if their doctor recommended it."
Media representatives visiting the
booth will be offered a brownie at no charge, Campbell noted, explaining
that getting their story out was critical to their success.
"People have been fed a bunch of
lies and half-truths about marijuana over these last few years. We have
to educate the media in order to educate the public - and so it's worth
a few brownie giveaways if we can accomplish that," she added. The
promotional brownies are made and packaged by commercial kitchens
regulated by the state health department.
Also at the booth will be materials
provided by ARDPArk's sister organization, Drug Policy Education Group,
Inc., or DPEG. DPEG's general drug policy education materials include a
display of hemp products and a brochure "Hemp for Arkansas
Agriculture", as well as a video showing worldwide production and
manufacturing of hemp. DPEG will also feature a video of Judge James
Gray discussing his new book, "Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed and
What We Can Do About It." Appointed to the California bench in 1983
after serving as a federal prosecutor, Judge Gray indicts the war on
drugs as a failure on the model of alcohol prohibition.
Other videos will include a documentary
about five patients who receive medical marijuana supplies each month
from the federal government, as well as a series of presentations by
patients, caregivers, doctors, and researchers filmed at the April 2000
National Conference on Cannabis Therapeutics at the University of Iowa.
The booth will feature a "Cannabis Time Line" showing the long
history of human use of the plant.
Volunteers from across Arkansas will
staff the booth throughout the ten-day fair, which concludes at 10 pm
Sunday October 21. |