McCaffery's opposition to the ACT UP initiative is stated in a letter sent to locally elected and appointed officials, including Mayor Marion Barry, newly elected Council chair Linda Cropp, and Financial Control Board head Andrew Brimmer. Officials within McCaffery's Office of National Drug Control Policy refused to provide ACT UP Washington or members of the press, with copies of the letter, suggesting that the initiative sponsors in ACT UP submit a Freedom of Information Act request.

Dave Shull, counsel for the Office of National Drug Control Policy, admitted in a telephone conversation with ACT UP's Wayne Turner that McCaffery's office had not yet reviewed the legislative text of Initiative 57, which was approved by DC's Board of Elections and Ethics in June. "Mr. Shull asked me to fax him a copy of Initiative 57. Maybe he should submit a FOIA request to me." Turner reports.

Last week, billionaire publisher Malcolm 'Steve' Forbes, Jr. launched an $150,000 media campaign against Initiative 57, calling the AIDS activists circulating petitions "twisted drug predators." William Bennett, former drug czar in the Bush Administration, has galvanized his group 'Empower America' against the DC ballot initiative, joining Gary Bauer, former domestic policy Advisor to President Ronald Reagan.

Initiative 57 sponsor, ACT UP's Steve Michael, comments "Our local ballot initiative is turning into the first Republican primary for the Presidential election in the year 2000."

AIDS activists charge that opponents are misrepresenting Initiative 57, which is strictly limited to the medical use of marijuana under the supervision and care of a licensed physician. "We've got to put an end to the current situation where seriously ill patients are forced to go to dangerous open air drug markets to obtain marijuana for medical use." states Michael, who is HIV+. "If Steve Forbes and General McCaffery are so concerned about the drug trade here in DC, they'd go after the steady flow of crack cocaine into our neighborhoods. Instead, they're targeting AIDS patients, and cancer patients. They're targeting doctors."

Michael adds that a review marijuana's medical efficacy underway at the National Institutes of Health is nothing more than "political science" noting that the review is being conducted by the National Institute for Drug Abuse.

"Marijuana can help cancer patients, so review the research at the National Cancer Institute. Marijuana helps glaucoma patients, so review the research at the Eye Institute. I have more faith in Dr. Tony Fauci at the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases than I do General Barry McCaffery."

Activists have until December to gather approximately 16,700 signatures of DC voters in order to place Initiative 57 on the September '98 ballot. The all-volunteer effort has gained the support of many prominent community organizers, including Archbishop George Augustus Stallings of the African American Catholic Congregation and NAACP/DC legislative Director Mark Thompson, in addition to the organizations the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance, the DC Green Party, the HIV Community Coalition, and the Ward Six Democrats. Several DC elected officials have signed Initiative 57.

for more information call ACT UP Washington at 202-547-9404

[Following is the release from the Forbes group. Note that they never mention AIDS or discuss the medical value of marijuana once.]

"Where's the moral outrage? Everyone in Washington seems obsessed with Joe Camel - but D.C. children are being targeted by twisted drug predators and we hear nothing but silence," says Steve Forbes

(Bedminster, New Jersey) - Americans for Hope, Growth and Opportunity - a national issues advocacy organization - today announced a radio campaign in Washington, D.C., to mobilize public opinion against Initiative Measure Number 57. The measure, which would legalize the "possession, use, cultivation, and distribution" of marijuana in the District of Columbia, needs 16,763 valid signatures by December 8, 1997, to qualify.

Steve Forbes, Honorary Chairman, called on President Bill Clinton, D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott to take a bold lead against the initiative, which would make marijuana available even to minors under the age of 18 without a doctor's prescription.

"Where's the moral outrage? Everyone in Washington seems obsessed with Joe Camel. But D.C. children are being targeted by twisted drug predators and we hear nothing but silence," said Mr. Forbes "This initiative has been in process since April and almost no one knows anything about it. "That's why AHGO is launching this radio campaign issuing a memo to congressional leaders, and working with local leaders and anti-drug coalitions to mobilize public opinion against this very serious threat."