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NEW MEXICO'S LEGISLATIVE SESSION ENDS ON FEBRUARY 16 - ACT NOW!
http://www.organicconsumers.org/aspartame1.cfm

Thanks for your calls!
Due to public pressure, a related bill - Senate bill 217 which would establish a Nutrition Council in NM - has received an executive message.
Keep calling about the Aspartame Bill.

The survival of this legislation depends entirely on Governor Bill Richardson.

Contact Governor Richardson

ALERT TEXT: Aspartame, also known as NutraSweet, is currently in 6000 food products and in over 500 pharmaceutical preparations, despite clear proof of its toxicity. In fact, in November, a study published in "Environmental Health Perspectives," a peer-reviewed journal affiliated with the National Institutes of Health, clearly demonstrated that rats consuming Aspartame had a higher incidence of tumors, Leukemia, Lymphoma, and other cancers.

In light of this evidence, health activists have introduced legislation that would ban Aspartame in the state of New Mexico. Introduced in the state Senate by Albuquerque Democratic Senator Gerald Ortiz y Pino as Senate Bill 250, and in the state House by Gallup Navajo Democratic Representative Irvin Harrison as House Bill 202, the measure draws upon statutes that allow the state to regulate poisonous and deleterious food additives in the interest of public health. A successful bill of this type could set a powerful precedent for the whole country.

The political climate in New Mexico is ripe for this kind of legislation, especially in light of Governor Bill Richardson's newly unveiled Healthy Kids initiatives - including a pledge to kick junk food out of middle and high schools - and his expressed interest in asserting the rights of states to protect public health.

However, the processed food industry is trying to kill this legislation. Governor Bill Richardson and the New Mexico Legislature must know that there is strong public support for this legislation.

Take Action: Ask Governor Richardson to Give an Executive Message on the Aspartame Ban Bill.
Individual Faxes are less easily ignored.
Use the Sample Letter Text. Please be Polite!

• Fax Governor Richardson c/o his chief of staff David Contarino at: 505-476-2226
• Fax Lt. Governor Diane Denish c/o her chief of staff Chris Cerbini at: 505-476-2250
  
• Use our online form to Email Governor Richardson.
• Send a letter to:
  Governor Bill Richardson
  Office of the Governor
  490 Old Santa Fe Trail
  Room 400
  Santa Fe, NM 87501

If you live outside New Mexico, please also ask your Governor and Legislators to support an Aspartame Ban in your state.

Sample Letter Text

Dear Governor William B. Richardson:

I want to applaud your ambitious Healthy Kids initiatives. In the spirit of these long overdue public health measures, I ask you to please give an Executive Message to Senate Bill 250 so that it may be fully considered by the Legislature. There is not one good reason to delay this medically and legally well-founded effort to free New Mexico of a proven neurotoxic carcinogen, especially in light of the new study published in "Environmental Health Perspectives" that clearly demonstrated that rats consuming Aspartame had a higher incidence of tumors, Leukemia, Lymphoma, and other cancers.
(See the Study: http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2005/8711/abstract.html)

The Chair and Vice Chair of the Judiciary Committee have signed onto this bill, indicating that this bill is legally sound, despite the usual industry cries from Ajinomoto and other purveyors of toxic chemicals that such matters are preempted by the Commerce Clause and the Supremacy Clause.

We have the 10th Amendment, very clear New Mexico statutes prohibiting poisonous food additives and harmful adulterants, the Delaney Amendment (1958) to the law that created the FDA, numerous Federal statutes preventing adulterants added to food, numerous Supreme Court decisions, and hundreds of physicians' clinical reports to back up the Aspartame Bill.

The health of millions, not just in New Mexico, but throughout the nation, depends on your leadership. Together, we can make 2006 a precedent setting year for public health.

For the rest of the story, go to http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/38198.html

Thank you for your consideration,

Contact the author of the Aspartame Ban Bills:

Stephen Fox
217 W. Water NM 87501 505 983-2002