Date: Mon, 7 Aug 1995 14:09:51 -0700 (PDT)
From: Floyd Ferris Landrath <[aal 01] at [teleport.com]>
Subject: "POT-PUSHING PROTESTER..."


                     AMERICAN ANTI-PROHIBITION LEAGUE
              3125 SE Belmont Street, Portland, Ore., 97214
     phone 503-235-4524, fax 503-234-1330, email: [aal 01] at [teleport.com]
                     Floyd Ferris Landrath - Director

                              August 7, 1995

    Source: Statesman Journal, Salem, Oregon (503-399-6739)
    Dated: August 5, 1995

                       POT-PUSHING PROTESTER MAKES
                      POINT IN ARREST FOR POSSESSION
                            by Alan Gustafson

      Michael Miller sauntered into busy lunch-time traffic on State 
    Street on Friday, carrying a packet of pot and holding a sign 
    reading "Marijuana for Sale."
      The self-described civil libertarian said he wanted to get 
    arrested to protest marijuana laws.
      Police obliged him.
      a state trooper handcuffed Miller in front of the Oregon Supreme 
    Court building, then took him away in the back of a squad car.  
    Sgt. Loren Laird said Miller, 26, probably would be charged with 
    disorderly conduct and possession of less than an once of 
    marijuana.
       It was nothing new for Miller.  About a year ago, he staged a 
    similar stunt in front of the Clatsop County courthouse.  He 
    subsequently was fined $500 for possessing less than an once of 
    pot.
      Miller refused to pay the fine, saying nonpayment represented 
    continuation of his protest.  He refuses to pay taxes, too, 
    because he doesn't want his money to go for drug prosecutions or 
    military spending.
      As for his involvement with drugs, Miller said he had used 
    marijuana just once.  "It had no effect on me," he said.  "I just 
    went to sleep."
      His opposition to marijuana laws stems form a conviction that 
    all illegal drugs should be decriminalized to "to take them out of 
    the hands of unscrupulous people."
      Taking his cardboard sign into State Street, Miller drew 
    assorted comments from motorists.
      "What grade is it?" asked one.
      "You've go to be joking, right?" said another.
      Yet another flashed a thumbs-up and said, "Right on!"
      Nobody bought Miller's pot.  Some passers-by didn't even seem to 
    notice his sign.  One driver stopped his car and asked, "What's 
    the fastest way to get to Eugene?"
      Miller said his protest activities wouldn't stop here.  He plans 
    a yearlong series of civil disobedience acts at public buildings 
    throughout the state.
      Next stop for the pot-peddling protester: Portland.

    [2 photos: 1) "State Trooper Michael Oja searches Michael Miller 
    for marijuana Friday on State Street.  Miller is expected to be 
    charged with disorderly conduct and possession of less than an 
    once of marijuana."  2)"FOR SALE: Michael Miller tries selling 
    marijuana Friday on State Street in front of the State Supreme 
    Court building."]

                           *** WAR IS HELL ***

                     *** DRUG WAR, or DRUG PEACE? ***