How to Join the Journey
And Why You Want To Do So

From:  Al Robison
Subject:  Getting to Austin on Sept 29th
Date:  Tue 9/26/00 12:02 AM

I think we have Houston and obviously Austin taken care of, but if you need a ride to Austin from anywhere else in the state, please let us know by calling us at 713-784-3196 or 1-888-511-DPFT.  El Paso and the Big Bend area may be a slight problem, but I think we can handle it from anywhere else.  There are three things to aim for:

1. the final march to the Capitol from the Mexican American Cultural Center will start at 9:00 AM
2. the press conference and rally on the south steps of the Capitol Bldg will start at 12:00 noon; and
3. the vigil at the Governor's Mansion will start at 4:00 PM and go until sundown.

We'll have plenty of signs for you to carry and also plenty of water to drink in case it's hot.  Bring a camera if you have one, as this may be historic.  Please do everything you can to be there.  Many years from now, when your grandchildren ask you about the days when sick people could be thrown into prison for growing a herb that could help them, you'll be able to say with pride that you actually were there for the famous march to Austin that helped put an end to that shameful period of American history.

To be absolutely honest, I don't know any more than any of the rest of you when future historians will decide to date the beginning of the end of the war on drugs.  It could be as early as the famous two-page ad in the New York Times back in June of '98, or it could be, as Ethan Nadelmann and others have suggested, the Shadow Conventions which have already passed into history.  It could also be something that happens long after we've done everything we could do in Austin on Friday.  All I know for sure is that this is going to be the last chance Texans are going to have for a long while -- certainly until well after the November elections -- to let Bush and Gore and indeed the rest of the world know what Texans think of our current drug policy.  We need each and every one of you to be there to make this message heard loud and clear all over the world.  Our colleagues in New York and Washington are doing everything they can to make sure plenty of reporters will be there to record what happens, but we need you to be there to make sure it's worth reporting.

Please be there to help make it happen.  And please let us know if we can help get you there.

Thanks for your help / Al

G. Alan Robison
Executive Director
Drug Policy Forum of Texas
Houston, Texas
713-784-3196; FAX 713-784-0283
www.dpft.org

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Latest Revision 26-Sep-00