Marijuana Policy Project E-Mail Alert
From: "Rob Kampia" <Rob@mpp.org>
Marijuana TV Ads Debut in Nevada
posted at DrugWar.com Sept 13, 2002
Dear Friend:
This morning, we took our opponents by surprise
by launching the
first wave of TV ads in Nevada. Please see http://www.NRLE.org
to
view the two ads.
The first ad features the state government's
official explanation of
what our initiative would do. It then concludes with the tag line:
"In
the privacy of a home, or under the care of a doctor, vote YES
on
Question 9."
The second TV ad features people openly smoking
marijuana in public,
then explains that this kind of activity would remain banned under
our
initiative. We felt the need to demonstrate this because our opponents
have been lying by saying that our initiative would let people
smoke
pot anytime, anywhere, all the time and everywhere. The ad goes
on to
explain that our initiative removes penalties for people who use
marijuana in private, as well as giving patients greater access
to
medical marijuana. It shows images of a private home and a physician
talking to a patient. The ad concludes with the same tag line
as the
first commercial.
Why have we produced the first two ads in
this way? Our campaign team
has found that when Nevada voters understand what the initiative
would
actually do, they by and large support it. As a result, the purpose
of
the first round of ads is to provide solid information to the
voters.
We took the calculated risk of releasing
the ads at this early stage
in order to build momentum so that even if our opponents start
running
their own ads at a later date, they will not be able to overtake
us
because our message will already be firmly planted in the minds
of the
voters. (The handful of sheriffs and district attorneys who are
speaking out against our initiative have not even formed an opposition
campaign committee, which means they have yet to raise any money!)
=================
Things have been fairly quiet for the past
week-and-a-half, but there
have been two very positive developments:
* The Washington Post ran a front-page article
about our initiative
that was quite favorable. In the article, a spokeswoman for the
Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority -- which has not taken
a position on the initiative -- was quoted as saying, "This
is a
place where people come to do things they don't do at home. I
can't say that the news this might happen is jaw-dropping to
people here." Please see http://www.NRLE.org/news/wp090702.html
for the full article.
* The state government released the language
that will actually
appear on the ballot, and it is eminently reasonable. Please visit
http://www.NRLE.org/ballot_lang.html
to see what Nevadans will be
voting on.
There is only one way that we will prevail
on Election Day. We need to
run informative and persuasive TV ads in Las Vegas and Reno every
day
from now until the end of the campaign -- 54 days in all.
==================
This initiative to end the arrest of all
marijuana users -- which
Nevadans will vote on in only 54 days -- is by far the best
opportunity we have ever had to end marijuana prohibition anywhere
in
the country.
Since this bold campaign was publicly announced:
* 2,621 subscribers on this e-mail list
have donated a total of
$102,791, including one donation for $2,000 and nine for $1,000
* 553 subscribers said they cannot afford
to donate
* 291 people unsubscribed from this e-mail
list
....
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
P.S. Our first-ever national conference will
begin two days after
Election Day in Anaheim, California. To join us for what will
hopefully be a victory celebration, please register at
http://www.mpp.org/conference.
