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FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE Oct 10, 2001
Contact: Denele Campbell 479-839-2475 or 466-2282
or Wilandra Dean 501-565-2256
NOTE: Ms. Campbell will be available for interview at the
fairgrounds all day Friday Oct 12 and from 10 am til 3 pm Saturday.
All media wanting interviews should visit during these times.
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
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