Free Speech on Drugs

Suzanne Wills, Drug Policy Chair

April, 2004

The protections of the Constitution have been severely eroded by the drug war. The Fourth Amendment, against unreasonable search and seizure, has become meaningless. Of all the protections freedom of speech is the most in tact but, it is continually threatened.

When California passed its medical cannabis initiative in1996 Barry McCaffrey, drug czar under Clinton, threatened physicians with the revocation of their prescription-writing privileges if they discussed marijuana with their patients. The physicians sued for their free speech rights in Conant vs. McCaffrey. The government lost in every court, but the Bush administration pursued the case. It was finally put to rest when the Supreme Court refused to hear the administration’s appeal last year.

In 1998 former congressman Bob Barr (R-GA) successfully pushed an amendment to prevent Washington, D.C. from counting the votes on its medical marijuana initiative. The American Civil Liberties Union sued and the ban was overturned in federal court. When the votes were finally tallied the initiative passed with 69% approval, just as the exit polls had indicated.

The only publicized use of the infamous RAVE Act, passed in 2003, has been to frighten event promoters into canceling fundraisers for groups that advocate changing federal law. To date no one has paid a fine levied under the Act and challenged it in court.

The latest salvo against free speech is being tested in court. Late last year, Rep. Ernest Istook (R-OK) added an amendment to the omnibus spending bill that cuts off $3.1-billion in federal funds from transit authorities nationwide if they accept ads for their bus, train or subway systems promoting reform of drug laws. Perversely, the same spending bill provides $145 million to be used by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy to buy ads promoting drug prohibition. Large transit systems could forfeit tens of millions of dollars if they do not comply with the Istook amendment. The American Civil Liberties Union, the Drug Policy Alliance and other groups filed suit against U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta and the Washington Metro after the D.C. transit system refused to accept a paid ad that proclaimed: "Marijuana Laws Waste Billions of Taxpayer Dollars to Lock Up Non-Violent Americans."

The federal government’s influence on what is said about drug prohibition reaches far beyond large, well publicized cases. Since almost all hospitals and research programs receive federal funding, health care workers are very much affected. I know one physician who lost her job for speaking her mind and several others who will not speak out about the drug war, no matter how deeply held their opinions, for fear of losing their livelihood.