Marijuana Policy Project

SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS — White House Drug Czar John Walters, whose lobbying in Springfield last week played a crucial role in turning a House committee against the medical marijuana bill proposed by Rep. Larry McKeon (D-Chicago), has until the close of business today to file the required lobbying disclosure with the Illinois Secretary of State, the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) noted today.

Walters' Feb. 17 lobbying visit to the state Capitol, including an appearance before the House Human Services Committee, apparently persuaded the committee to reject the bill. By traveling to Illinois in order to oppose this bill, Walters was carrying out the requirement of Title 21, Section 1703(b)(12) of the U.S. Code, which provides that the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy "shall ... take such actions as necessary to oppose any attempt to legalize" marijuana.

The Illinois Lobbyist Registration Act requires "any person who employs another person for the purposes of influencing executive, legislative or administrative action" to register with the Secretary of State "within 2 business days" after that employee engages in lobbying. Because Walters' statutory duties specifically include opposing legislation, it is clear that he has been employed by George W. Bush to influence legislative action. With the holiday intervening, the registration deadline for Walters is the close of business on Tuesday.

"The people of Illinois and the taxpayers around the country who are financing these lobbying trips have a right to know how much public money Walters is spending to make sure that patients remain subject to arrest," said Steve Fox, MPP director of government relations. "Unfortunately, the drug czar has a long history of failing to make required disclosures of campaign and lobbying expenses. We are aware of at least three states where Walters or his deputies campaigned against reform measures on the November ballot, but failed to make the required campaign expenditure reports, and we will be addressing these violations shortly."

"We appreciate that Mr. Walters is required by federal law to lobby against this bill," Fox continued, "but as an individual employed to lobby, he is under a similar obligation to disclose his expenditures to the citizens of Illinois. Nothing in state or federal law exempts him. We expect that the secretary of state will follow the law and bar Walters — and all other members of the Bush administration, for that matter — from lobbying in the state for the next three years."

With more than 17,000 members and 150,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP works to minimize the harm associated with marijuana — both the consumption of marijuana and the laws that are intended to prohibit such use. MPP believes that the greatest harm associated with marijuana is imprisonment. For more information, see http://www.MarijuanaPolicy.org.

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