Subject: Fwd: New Hampshire Voters Support Medical Marijuana 84% to 14% Date: Sat, 30 Aug 2003 14:11:11 -0400 To: From: Bob Armstrong --- Original Message --- From: Rob@mpp.org Sent: Sat, 30 Aug 2003 11:59:54 -0400 (EDT) Subject: New Hampshire Voters Support Medical Marijuana 84% to= 14% Dear Friend: Good news. A new Zogby poll, released on August 27, shows= overwhelming support for legal access to medical marijuana among likely New Hampshire Democratic primary voters -- and shows that= presidential candidates who support medical marijuana are likely to gain= support from the electorate. Eighty-four percent of voters said they support changing federal= law to allow patients to use medical marijuana without fear of= arrest, with only 14 percent in opposition and two percent not sure. Of= those who said the issue would affect their votes, medical marijuana supporters outnumbered opponents by nearly seven to one. To read Zogby's detailed report of the poll results on medical marijuana questions, please visit http://www.mpp.org/pdf/nh_poll_rpt.pdf . The public's overwhelming -- and growing -- support for= protecting seriously ill patients is starting to affect media coverage of= the presidential race. You may remember that, on July 17, New= Hampshire's largest newspaper, the Union Leader, referred to MPP's New= Hampshire project -- Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana (GSMM) -- as= "the most active and most visible" of any of the special interest= groups in the presidential election. Most recently, on August 28, GSMM= Campaign Coordinator Aaron Houston was interviewed about the Zogby poll= during the 5:00 p.m. newscast on WMUR, New Hampshire's only statewide television station and network affiliate. See all of the press= GSMM has been generating at= http://www.GraniteStaters.com/news/press.html . Meanwhile, we're continuing our attempt to get all of the= candidates on record as supporting medical marijuana. We've turned up the= heat on candidates who state that they are willing to let the DEA's= attacks on the sick continue. Last week, GSMM had three memorable encounters= with U.S. Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) -- who told the San Francisco= Chronicle in May that he favored continuing DEA raids in California,= simply because they are permitted by federal law. At one New Hampshire encounter, Sen. Edwards appeared to modify= his stand -- but then quickly backtracked, reiterating his support= for the raids. So we responded in our nation's democratic tradition --= with peaceful protests -- only to learn that an Edwards= administration might not tolerate dissenting opinions. In a shocking series of encounters from August 20 to 24, GSMM= members attempting to peacefully picket at Sen. Edwards' campaign events= were repeatedly met by campaign staffers who tried to block our entry= into public parks, seize our signs and flyers, and finally, when we asserted our First Amendment rights, sent campaign workers to= hold up Edwards lawn signs, blocking the press and public from seeing= our placards. Despite this harassment, we successfully gained entry= into two of the three events and slipped a GSMM member into the hall= at the one event that wasn't held on public land. When the volunteer we slipped in asked Sen. Edwards if he would stop arresting= patients, the senator responded that to do so would be "irresponsible." On August 24, Sen. Edwards' attempt to block our protest at a= public park in Keene, New Hampshire, backfired. One voter approached an Edwards staffer and asked, "What are you afraid of?" Another -- unaffiliated with GSMM -- got up during the question-and-answer= period and asked, "Are there going to be supporters with the John= Edwards signs all along the campaign trail blocking access to other= people with dissenting views?" In response to this question, Edwards= rewrote the truth in order to excuse his actions, claiming that one of= our signs said "Edwards Hates Cancer Patients." At no time has GSMM= ever displayed such a sign. The story of our encounters with Sen. Edwards and other New= Hampshire developments can be found on the GSMM Web site. Please visit http://www.GraniteStaters.com/guide regularly. If you support our New Hampshire plan, I would very much= appreciate your financial support -- see= http://www.GraniteStaters.com/donate -- so that MPP does not run a deficit because of this campaign.= Thank you in advance for anything you can do to help. Sincerely, Rob Kampia Executive Director Marijuana Policy Project Washington, D.C. P.S. Please visit http://www.GraniteStaters.com/donate to make a financial donation to MPP's New Hampshire campaign, or mail= a check to MPP at P.O. Box 77492, Washington, D.C. 20013.= Thanks again for considering this request. --=A0 =A0Bob Armstrong -- http://CoSy.com -- 212-285-1864 Pix of Armstrong CO miniRanch : http://cosy.com/home.htm Computing Environment : =A0http://cosy.com/K/CoSy.htm=A0 A WTC vision : http://cosy.com/CoSy/ConicAllConnect/ Liberty : http://cosy.com/Liberty.htm =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A02003/08/30 2:09:40 PM