A judge in California has struck down a federal law prohibiting public transit carriers from displaying ads advocating the legalization of drugs:

A federal law cutting off funds to any public transit agency that runs ads calling for legalization or medical use of an illegal drug was declared unconstitutional Wednesday by a federal judge. U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman of Washington, D.C., said the amendment attached to a $3.1 billion transportation measure, signed in January by President Bush, violated freedom of speech by banning messages based on their viewpoint.

The government has articulated no legitimate state interest in the suppression of this particular speech other than the fact that it disapproves of the message, an illegitimate and constitutionally impermissible reason,'' Friedman said. He prohibited the government from enforcing the funding restriction.

Totally right decision. If the Office of National Drug Control Policy can publish their anti-drug ads, the pro-legalization groups have to have the same right to publish their's.