Leading Drug Policy Reform Organization Launches On-Line Lobbying Action Center

The nation’s largest independent drug policy organization, The Lindesmith Center – Drug Policy Foundation, has just launched an on-line drug reform “Action Center“. The Action Center, a part of the organization’s website, will highlight the organization’s state and federal legislative activities and provide voters with the resources they need to promote drug reform policies and influence their elected officials. Through the Center, viewers can fax their elected officials on a variety of legislative issues, keep informed on the latest legislative news, and read tips for contacting legislators and writing letters to the editors.

“We’re very excited to be able to help voters connect with their elected officials,” said Bill McColl, Director of National Affairs for the Lindesmith Center – Drug Policy Foundation. “Nearly 75% of the public thinks the drug war is not working. The Action Center will help them inform Congress of concrete ways to make our drug policies more compassionate and effective.”

With almost 40 employees, a $7 million annual budget, and six offices around the country, The Lindesmith Center – Drug Policy Foundation is the largest independent drug policy organization in the United States. Lindesmith – DPF’s guiding principle is harm reduction, an approach to drug policy that focuses on reducing the negative consequences of both drug use and misguided drug policies.

The new Action Center is designed to mobilize voters, build grassroots networks, and put unprecedented pressure on elected officials to reform current drug policies. Drug reform campaigns currently highlighted in the Action Center include the organization’s campaign to defeat President Bush’s proposed drug czar, John Walters; its national campaign to repeal the 1998 Souder-Amendment to the Higher Education Act, which denies school loans to anyone ever convicted of a drug offense; and its campaign to reform federal mandatory minimum sentences.

“We believe our new e-advocacy efforts, combined with aggressive public education and state and federal lobbying, will fundamentally alter how our nation deals with the problem of drug abuse,” said McColl.