DrugSense Email Fundraiser (index)

Tools from DrugSense/MAP -- #1 -- Introduction

Dear Friend of Sensible Drug Policy,

We are contacting you because we believe that you have at one time or another utilized DrugSense resources. Perhaps you read articles about drug policy on our site or visited one of the Web sites that we host. Among others, our most used resources include the Media Awareness Project (MAP) (www.mapinc.org) and Drug Policy Central (DPC) (www.drugpolicycentral.com).

But do you know how to use these valuable tools? Say, search for the Congressional voting record on the Hinchey/Rohrabacher Amendment, or locate all pro-reform newspapers in the Washington, DC area? If it pertains to drug policy, DrugSense has it.

That's what this series is about. How to use the tools offered by DrugSense to change drug policy worldwide. We'll be sending this tutorial to you approximately every month. You may want to save these messages in a special place to refer back to later.

In addition, each DrugSense "How Do You??" will be archived in the Tutorials forum at DrugSense, which is available to registered members at /drugsense.org/html/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewforum&f=27

Our first edition will overview all of our services. In addition, we encourage you to explore these possibilities further by visiting drugsense.org/. Our next edition in this series will focus on a specific tool in detail.

Tools from DrugSense/MAP -- #1 -- Introduction

===== D O N A T E ===== Help Promote Sensible Drug Policy =====

DrugSense is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides accurate information about drug policy to heighten awareness about the expensive, ineffective, and destructive "War on Drugs."

Did you know that, since we began to promote sensible drug policies in 1996, DrugSense's has spent only 0.5% of what taxpayers paid to support just the 2003 National Anti-Drug Media Campaign sponsored by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)? In spite of being outspent by almost $800/$1, DrugSense-sponsored sites have been as much as four times more popular than opponent sites. Now that's effective!

Your contributions make this happen. Please donate today. Our secure Web server at www.drugsense.org/donate.htm accepts credit cards. If you'd prefer, you can mail your check or money or order to DrugSense, 14252 Culver Drive #328, Irvine, CA 92604-0326.

Remember, DrugSense Makes Sense. Thank you!

===== D O N A T E ===== Help Promote Sensible Drug Policy =====

Tools from DrugSense/MAP -- #1 -- Introduction

DrugSense integrates a number of projects and services to encourage online media activism with respect to drug policy. These include the DrugNews Archive, the DrugSense Weekly newsletter, Focus Alerts, MAP OnAir, the MAP Contact Database, the Drug Policy Links Database, and the Drug Policy Central Web hosting service.

The DrugNews Archive (www.mapinc.org/drugnews/). The Media Awareness Project has been electronically collecting, cataloging, and archiving news articles about drug policy from various publications since 1996. The archive now tops 125,000 fully searchable newspaper, magazine, and Web articles on all aspects of drug policy regardless of spin. You can read articles on line at the MAP website or have them delivered to you by e-mail.

DrugSense Weekly Newsletter. (www.drugsense.org/nl/2004/) Each week, approximately twenty articles are selected from the hundreds submitted to form the DrugSense Weekly newsletter. By providing a synopsis of the most important developments in the drug policy arena through the lens of these articles, DrugSense Weekly may represent the finest overview and analysis of drug policy developments.

Focus Alerts. (www.mapinc.org/focus/) Approximately once every other week, one article is chosen as a Focus Alert. Focus Alerts exert a particularly concentrated letter-writing effort on a specific newspaper article or editorial usually in a high profile publication with a relatively large circulation.

MAP OnAir. (mapinc.org/onair) In addition to text-based media sources, MAP archives broadcast media appearances and events. Groups can list and archive both their current and past media events

The MAP Contact Database. (www.mapinc.org/contact/) This online database contains over 25,000 contacts in media, government, and business. Fully searchable on a number of parameters, it may represent one of the most extensive contact resources available to drug policy reform organizations.

Drug Policy Links Database. (www.mapinc.org/dpr.htm) This database combines the power of the Google search engine with depth of the DrugSense and MAP databases to comb more than 400 Web sites on either side of this issue.

Drug Policy Central. (www.drugpolicycentral.com) DrugSense provides Web hosting, e-mail discussion lists, newsfeeds, web design, graphics, programming, and technical support to more than 150 organizations that also strive to reform drug policy. Services are offered for free or on a reasonably priced, fee-for-service basis using sliding scale that reflects the ability of each group to pay.

===== W H A T'S == N E W =====

DrugSense just launched a new look for its site at www.DrugSense.org, making it a premier "Web portal" for drug policy. Now all of the resources mentioned above are together in one convenient location. By registering at our new site, you'll be able to get the most out of these existing services, as well as access our new premium services, all for free. Here's how:

Bring up the new DrugSense site by clicking on this link: www.DrugSense.org. The heading on the box at the top right corner of your screen should say "Login." If you have already created a Nickname (also sometimes called a "username") and Password, you enter them here. If not, click on "Create One Here." On the "User Registration/Login" page, you'll need to supply a Nickname, your E-mail address, and your Zip/Postal code. You'll also need to create a password. Because some services are personalized, "Cookies" should be enabled on your Web browser. Please check your browser's Help section for information on "Cookies" and how to do activate them.

After you have entered your information and have clicked the "New User" button, you will receive an E-mail message notifying you of the account's registration and verifying your Nickname and Password. Clicking on the supplied link in the message activates your account. When you next visit the DrugSense site, you may use your Nickname and Password to "Login" and gain full access to all DrugSense resources including our new blog, forums, and audio/visual library. These will be covered in future "How Do You??" messages. Please note that some systems "remember" your Nickname and Password so you don't have to enter them again.

===== W H A T'S == N E X T =====

Do you ever wonder how to find a specific piece of information in the vast MAP archive? For our next edition, we will review the MAP search engine at www.mapinc.org/search/index.htm. Look for a message entitled, "How Do You?? -- Tools from DrugSense/MAP -- #2 -- Searching."

===== M A I N T E N A N C E =====

If you know of additional ways to encourage sensible drug policies or if you would like us to cover a particular topic in our "How Do You??" series, please place your ideas in the Suggestion Box on our Forums section at drugsense.org/html/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewforum&f=26

If you would like to be removed from this list and no longer receive the "How Do You??" series, along with other e-mail from DrugSense, please visit .

Again, if you'd like to donate to DrugSense, please visit www.drugsense.org/donate.

===== T H A N K == Y O U! =====