The Marijuana Policy Project is about to release an ad on radio stations across the country that begins this way: "Warning! The government doesn't want you to hear this ad ... Because they're embarrassed they funded research indicating marijuana doesn't cause lung cancer, and might even prevent cancer. Government research also found medical uses for marijuana, and no one has ever died of a marijuana overdose. The more research the government conducts, the more they undermine their own war on marijuana users."
The ad -- which you can hear at http://www.mpp.org/psas -- will begin airing on 141 stations nationwide on September 5. But we need your help to keep it on the air.
As the ad points out, the federal government's own research directly contradicts the false information about marijuana that the government has been issuing for the last three decades. The White House drug czar's office is still publishing ads and "fact sheets" suggesting that marijuana causes cancer, even though new research financed by the National Institute on Drug Abuse shows no link between marijuana use and cancer. In fact, the marijuana smokers in the study had a lower rate of lung cancer than the non-smokers.
Helping put this ad on the air is an easy way to educate the public about the hypocrisy of marijuana prohibition. The campaign is also generating free news coverage about the ads themselves, thereby further educating the American people. For instance, an MPP radio ad earlier this summer was covered by CNN Radio, the New York Daily News, and influential blogs such as TalkLeft, Hammer of Truth, and CommonDreams.
Would you please consider making a tax-deductible donation to this campaign today -- at http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M719075617853968233324065&af=y -- so that we can keep this provocative ad and others like it on the radio? Keeping them on the air costs MPP only $320 per day -- for the whole nationwide run of ads -- for a total of only $2,773 per month.
Thank you in advance for anything you can do to help.
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
P.S. As I've mentioned in previous alerts, a major philanthropist has committed to match the first $3.5 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in 2006. This means that your donation today will be doubled.