CONGRESS IS NEW TARGET FOR GROUPS IN
MARIJUANA ISSUE

WASHINGTON: In the end, the Supreme Court decision on the use of medicinal marijuana was not about the drug at all - a fact that advocates are now scrambling to make clear to Congress and the media.

The decision - which focused on what happens when federal and state laws contradict - comes down as Congress prepares to vote on a bill to legalize medical marijuana.

And so even as the court ruled against Angel Raich and Diane Monson, the two California residents who were using the drug to cope with pain, advocates on both sides of the issue were taking their fight from the judicial halls to Capitol Hill.

'The first thing now is that people understand what the ruling means and what it doesn't,' said Bruce Mirken, director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP). 'It has not overturned state medical marijuana laws. The court has essentially punted the ball to Congress.'

The court ruled that even if state laws allow marijuana to be grown and used for private, medicinal purposes, federal agents could still prosecute those individuals under federal law.

The pro-marijuana group is now issuing press releases, calling editorial teams, holding press conferences, and rallying voters to put grassroots pressure on Congress ahead of the vote.

'For the past 24 hours, the media onslaught has forced us to be more reactive than proactive,' Mirken says.

The messages will focus on the drug as 'incredibly safe,' as well as on public support for medicinal use.

Fenton Communications is managing media relations for Raich, who will travel to DC to add her voice to the campaign to legalize medical marijuana.

'She will continue to collaborate with the MPP,' said Parker Blackman, deputy GM and MD of the San Francisco office. 'That is where our client's attention is going to turn.'

The agency had been tasked with painting Raich, a cancer patient, as a typical working-class mother of two teenagers, including a son who is preparing to enlist in the military.

'The media's been very good about ... telling Angel's story,' Blackman said.

He also noted that, if anything, the Supreme Court 'made a pretty compelling case for medical marijuana.'

But in an e-mail, Lana Beck, the communications director at the Drug Free America Foundation, called the ruling 'a big win for drug policy.'

'Our focus will remain the same,' she said. 'We will continue to reduce drug use and addiction through awareness and education, as well as share our resources and expertise with states being targeted by the pro-drug lobby.'

She added that outreach also would include promoting drug control policy and refuting 'misinformation being spread by the pro-drug lobby.'

In PRWEEK, June 13, 2005