Pubdate: Thu, 19 Feb 2004 Source: New York Daily News (NY) Copyright: 2004 Daily News, L.P. Contact: http://www.nydailynews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/295 Cited: American Civil Liberties Union http://www.aclu.org Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) FEDS SUED IN FLAP OVER DRUG-LAW ADS WASHINGTON - A lawsuit filed yesterday accuses the federal government of illegally blocking drug-law reformers who want to deliver their message to public transit riders. The suit targets a little-noticed amendment that went into effect earlier this month as part of Congress' 2004 spending measure. It bars all ads on transit systems if they advocate reforms such as the legalization or medical use of marijuana and other drugs. "The government does not want the public to know how badly our drug policy has failed, so it is trying to silence Americans who oppose the war on drugs," said Graham Boyd, director of the ACLU Drug Policy Litigation Project, which filed the suit in Washington, D.C., federal court. "Fortunately, the First Amendment clearly prohibits this kind of blatant viewpoint-based censorship," he said. At stake are more than $3 billion in federal transit funds nationwide. New York City could lose at least $75 million if it accepts drug-reform ads on the subways or buses, according to the ACLU. The case was filed yesterday after the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority declined an ad with the headline: "Marijuana laws waste billions of taxpayer dollars to lock up nonviolent Americans." A spokeswoman for Washington Metro, which was named as a defendant with federal Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, said the system would have risked losing $85 million by accepting the ad. "Given our critical dependency on continued federal funding, we have no choice but to follow the law that Congress passed," said Lisa Farbstein. "To do otherwise would be a disservice to our customers and the region's taxpayers." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake