2006 Rebels with Just Cause Award
Here's a real cowboy hero, riding for freedom to save justice in America. Howard Wooldridge, from Ft. Worth originally, road his horses across the US. It took them three years to cross the county as a promotional event for LEAP. He has received an award from the Long Rider's Assoc. for his effort. He shares McCool's Rebel with Just Cause Award for 2006 with Cindy Sheehan. This award honors true patriots, those who stood for freedom and those still standing.
Back
in Saddle, Preaching Drug Legalization
By COREY KILGANNON
Published: October 5, 2005 NYTimes
The retired police officer warns, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . "Drug prohibition causes more pain, suffering and death than the drugs themselves." Seeing the need to restore Justice, COP was founded to provide the only experienced policeman's voice working daily in Washington, DC to repeal all drug prohibitions.
COPs Stories from the weeks of July 23 & July 30, 2010
I am a spy: Searching for allies on our issue is a 24/7 vigilance in Washington. As you know, drug prohibition touches upon many other issues from foreign policy to terrorism to immigration. Thus I attended a meeting at the OSI (Open Society Institute) this week, where the panel urged a policy based on open borders, amnesty, citizenship, etc. The seminar was well-attended and a Congressional staffer happened to sit next to me.
During Question and Answer I brought up the point that since the first priority of federal borders agents is drugs, the goal of a ‘secure border’ remains an elusive goal. NOTE: both liberal and conservative Members speak publicly of the need for no illegal entry i.e. a secure border. Two hours later we discovered we were both from Texas. She said she had been sent by her Texas Member to spy on the seminar to learn what the liberals were thinking. We had a short chat on my issue and parted company.
I am humbled and honored: The COP fiscal year ends on July 31. The stats below will record our first year’s efforts. So (Continue)
James Madison, the primary author of the Constitution
of the United States, said this: "We have staked the whole future of
all our political constitutions upon the capacity of each of ourselves to
govern ourselves according to the moral principles of the Ten Commandments."
"In the end, however, no constitution can be self enforcing....For the
Constitution will live only if it is alive in the hearts and minds of the
American people." Roger Pilon, senior fellow and director of CATO's Center
for Constitutional Studies.
The Cato Institute offers copies of its
popular Constitution booklet. Phone Order: 1-800-767-1241
Repeat Repeal ---------------by Howard "Cowboy"Wooldridge
Howard is our man in DC educating; stamping out ignorance about this nightmare policy. He speaks all over the country with a program to end prohibition and the “War on Drugs.” Many other former law enforcement speakers against the war are available at LEAP. If you have a drug horror story or situation in your community, please email Howard or McCool so we may bring your story to the nation.
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SWISS HEROIN-ASSISTED TREATMENT 1994- 2008: SUMMARY
Overview: Due to the severe drug problem in Switzerland in the early 1990s, (rising number of injection drug users, visibility of open drug scenes, AIDS epidemic, rising number of drug related deaths, poor physical health, high criminality) the Swiss made a fundamental shift in approaching the problems caused by heroin addiction. The Swiss offer treatment-on-demand. Of an estimated 22,000 addicts, 16,500 are in treatment and 92% are given daily doses of methadone at conventional clinics. The Swiss treat about 1300 addicts with maintenance doses of heroin via 23 special clinics operating in cities and two prisons. The Swiss approach has resulted in lower rates of crime, death, disease, a drop in expected new users as well as an improvement in mental and physical health, employment and housing. The program has been copied by six countries: Germany, Holland, Belgium, England, Spain and Canada.
* To qualify for a heroin prescription: 1) at least 18 years old; 2) been addicted (daily use) for at least two years; 3) present signs of poor health; 4) two or more failed attempts of conventional treatment (methadone or other); 5) (Continue below)
by those who serve in the War on Drugs
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(SWISS HEROIN-ASSISTED TREATMENT continues)
Surrender drivers license; 6) Heroin can only be obtained at the clinic and must be consumed on site (oral or injection). (Note: Under strict control and specific criteria [for example full employment] a few are allowed to take one oral dose daily away)
Patients can receive up to three doses of
heroin per day. 60% take the heroin via needle injection, the rest via pill.
The use of the oral pill is increasing.
Patients average about three (3) years in this plan. However, they may stay
in treatment indefinitely. 20% of original patients are still in the program.
The vast majority of patients are satisfied or very satisfied with the program.
Average age of patient: 38 years.
*Crime Issues: 60% drop in felony crimes by patients. 82% drop in patients selling heroin.
*Death Rates: No one has died from a heroin overdose since the inception of the program. The heroin used is inspected for purity and strength by technicians.
*Disease Rates: New infections of Hepatitis and HIV have been reduced for patients in the program.
*New Use Rates: Lower than expected. 1) As reported in the Lancet June 3, 2006, the medicalisation of using heroin has tarnished the image of heroin and made it unattractive to young people. 2) Most new users are introduced to heroin by members of their social group and 50% of users also deal to support their habit. Therefore, with so many users/sellers in treatment, non-users have fewer opportunities to be exposed to heroin, especially in the rural areas.
*Cost Issues: 48 dollars/day: Patients pay from zero to 12 per day depending on their ability. Note: About 30% of patients work for a living and pay part of the costs. Note: The Swiss save about 30 dollars per day per patient mostly in lowered costs for court and police time, due to less crime committed by the patients.
** This summary was taken from five published reports. The Swiss Federal Office of Public Health reviewed and approved its release. Additional questions should be directed to Dr. Dora Fitzli, the science and health advisor to the Swiss Ambassador at the Embassy. Her English is near native fluency. Tel: 202-745-7954
NOTE: This summary was researched and written by Howard J. Wooldridge of LEAP.
Who Supports the Drug War?
Ossama Bin Laden, President George Bush, The Ochoa Brothers, Congressman Mark Souder, Mexican Drug Cartels, DEA, FARC, National Association of Narcotics Officers, Canadian Cannabis Growers Association, Pharmaceutical Industry, Al Qaeda, Private Prison Association, Meth Makers of Mexico Association, John Walters (USA’s Drug Czar), MS-13 drug gang, California Narcotic Officers’ Association, Crips & Bloods, Deputy Chief Thomas Gorman of California, Pablo Escobars’ Amigos, Congressman Duncan Hunter, Columbian Coca Growers Association, Senator John McCain et al, Fundamentalist Christian Association, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Newsweek, Time
See a pattern here? Ever wondered why it has been so difficult to make even small changes in our policy of prohibition AKA War on People? The 10 major organizations which are trying to end the New Prohibition have a total budget of about 25 million dollars. The drug companies which fear God’s medicine, AKA marijuana, put that much in the freezers of politicians to stifle competition. Does Al Qaeda contribute to the Republican Party? If opposition to the Drug War continues to grow, Al Qaeda would be advised to funnel cash to prohibition politicians. Prohibition puts 3 billion in OBL’s hands every year. Putting 100,000 into a freezer is chump change compared to losing billions.
The California Narcotic Officers Association fears the loss of their paychecks, knowing that the sensible People of California would legalize, regulate and tax marijuana the day after the feds end the National Prohibition. Even if they did not lose their paychecks, they would be reassigned to go after drunk drivers, child predators and other public safety threats. That type of work is boring compared to kicking in a few doors a week, waving their guns around and arresting people. Heaven forbid they would have to take a stolen bicycle report!
MS-13 gang makes billions selling illegal drugs in the USA. They would not be happy to see the end of Prohibition. They would have to go back to landscape jobs! President Bush supports the Drug War to keep his Pharma Industry lobbyists happy. He views the weekly deaths of young teens who die selling these drugs on the sidewalk as ‘God’s Will.’ So no problem there. Mexican drug cartels enjoy the finest tequila and tacos in Mexico on the money they are making. As a bonus, their narco-dollars buy them influence at the Presidential Palace in Mexico City. The private prisons in the USA lobby for more mandatory drug sentences in order to keep their cash flow coming. The Meth Makers of Mexico make billions exporting their product into the US and Canada.
Congressman Mark Souder supports the Drug War because he uses it to get re-elected. “I am getting tough on drugs!” He has convinced the voters in Indiana that the 2nd trillion dollars spent on this policy will result in drugs being slightly less available to their kids. Ditto Congressman Duncan Hunter who has convinced his California constituents of the same thing. Our Drug Czar John Walters simply likes his government job with all the perks of flying around the world saying how much progress was made this year. He reminds me of General Westmoreland during the Vietnam War and body counts.
The growers of BC Bud are making billions exporting to the US the most potent pot on the continent. That industry now employs more people in British Colombia than mining or forestry. The Crips and Bloods make billions as a vertical monopoly buying in bulk and employing their members for the retail sales. Experts say that the economy of several large cities would collapse without the cash that the dealers generate for their home neighborhoods. FARC (guerrillas of Colombia) have been making billions protecting the Coca Growers of Colombia Association. FARC uses their profits to wage war on the Bogotá government.
Fundamentalist Christians are adamant that God believes the Drug War is just and righteous and that Jesus would also support it. Right. Jesus would put a cocaine user in the hell hole of a Texas prison for two years. NOT. ‘But it is immoral to use these drugs’ they say with indignation. When confronted with the fact that young teens die every week because the policy employs a million teens, they usually blame the parents for the deaths, not their support for the policy. Native Americans have used mind-altering substances for centuries. Is the Christian religion superior to their beliefs to the point that Indians should go to jail? NOT! WWJD?
The Washington Post, the New York Times, Newsweek, Time and US News & World Report all support prohibition. Could it be they do not want to upset the drug makers who take out 3-4 full page ads for their drugs? Money talks.
As you can see, the supporters of Prohibition Two are numerous and well-funded. Nonetheless, I will use my one-eyed horse Misty and my Stetson to promote the end of the most dysfunctional, immoral policy since slavery until it is in the history books, or I draw my last breath.
written by Howard J. Wooldridge
If you have 47 minutes: go to PRESSTV.
Click on ‘Programs’ located on the left side of the homepage near the top.
Click on ‘American Dream’
Click on 21 February: Human Rights in the US
US Representative Barney Frank has reintroduced a bipartisan federal bill to legalize "small amounts" of marijuana (cannabis) and make room for serious criminals. Representative Ron Paul is a cosponsor. This Texas straight talker says we are "politicizing pain." "The Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults Act of 2009"- H.R. 2943.
“Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act”- H.R. 2835 which would allow the medical use of marijuana in states that have chosen to make its use for medical purposes legal with a doctor's recommendation. The debate over medical marijuana or cannabis is really a scandalous controversy over whether this very safe, effective, easy-to-grow herb should be allowed to compete with expensive dangerous pharmaceuticals
Harassing the sick and dying is an un-American activity.
Commissioned Art - Paintings and Sketches
"Once upon a time you or someone you love was a shining star! Commission a painting or sketch to commemorate that occasion! You can rest assured, it will not be forgotten! "
Dear Colleen:
The scene is a familiar one. A young African-American man is pulled over and, after he responds derisively to the officer's requests, finds himself in handcuffs.
This is not an episode of "Cops," though. It's a scene from the new film "10 Rules for Dealing with the Police," a project of the nonprofit group Flex Your Rights that seeks to educate both the public and police officers about how to avoid disproportionate reactions in what should be routine encounters. (From Roll Call, April 5, 2010)
Flex Your Rights' 10 Rules For Dealing With The Police is narrated by famed Baltimore trial lawyer, former circuit court judge and LEAP speaker Billy Murphy. LEAP's incoming executive director, retired Maryland State Police and Baltimore Police veteran Major Neill Franklin, served as a technical advisor for the film. Drawing from 33 years of law enforcement experience, Neill believes that the majority of police officers stay within the boundaries of the law, but the film (Continue)
Click here to purchase a copy of 10 Rules for Dealing With The Police.
LEAP is at the forefront of drug policy reform, and our speakers have a credibility that cannot be ignored. Recently, an anonymous donor pledged to match, dollar for dollar, all donations made to LEAP up to $50,000. We are very pleased to announce that, thanks to the generosity of our supporters, we have matched the challenge grant. All of us at LEAP would like to express our deep appreciation to everyone who contributed during this critical time in our fundraising efforts. Your continued support allows us to carry forward in our efforts and continue putting our speakers in front of audiences. To make a contribution to LEAP, please click here.
Here are some of the issues LEAP speakers addressed in April…
Sincerely,
LEAP Staff
Please view “The New Slavery”a video created by
LEAP Administrative Director Bill Fried which makes a dramatic link between
slavery and the war on drugs. The video is featured on our website and on You Tube.
Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010
Dear LEAP Supporter,
LEAP supports the California initiative Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis
Act of 2010. I earnestly and unconditionally urge you to do so as well. As
you know, the war on drugs is a colossal failure which causes exactly what
it was intended to prevent: crime, violence and addiction. The only groups
that benefit from continuing to keep marijuana illegal are the violent gangs
and cartels that control its distribution and reap immense profits from it
through the black market. As law enforcement professionals, we especially
want voters to understand that legalization will allow us to do our jobs more
effectively and safely. I urge LEAP's California friends to pledge to vote
for the California proposition. LEAP salutes Californians for their courage
in blazing the trail to end what Steven Duke, Yale law professor and author,
has called "America's Longest War."
Thank you for your support and please spread the word among your friends, relatives and co-workers, residing in California. And you Californians mark your calendars for November 2nd, when you can cast a vote that will remove marijuana profits from the pockets of criminals, help keep marijuana out of the pockets of our children and eventually make positive changes across the entire United States. Vote to "Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis." Visit http://www.taxcannabis.org/pledge to pledge your vote!
To read LEAP Board Member and former Cook County, Illinois prosecutor Jim Gierach's letter in its entirety, please click here.
"I'm glad California is considering legalizing drugs. That could be one answer…. Imagine a world where you will go here in Philadelphia and you have 10 stores where you can go and buy drugs. You're going to pay high prices, because there's going to be a 100% taxation on it. That revenue could be used by the government to educate [and] enhance programs in schools.... That would be a good answer to this problem, but it is a debate that has to be carried out in both nations. We cannot do it in Mexico without the United States." -- Former President of Mexico Vicente Fox, in a recent speech at Wharton
Brazilian Judge Says Legalize All Drugs Worldwide
LEAP Board Member Judge Maria Lucia Karam speaks to Al Jazeera English about the need to end drug cartel violence by legalizing and regulating all currently illegal drugs.
LEAP's Ottawa Tour
This is a critical time in the history of Canadian drug policy: if the government is able to pass legislation imposing mandatory minimum sentencing for drug offenses, the results will be devastating. Politicians need to be made aware of the negative consequences that will result from the passing of Bill C-15, and from prohibition in general. Retired Vancouver police officer and LEAP speaker Tony Smith, who served in the Vancouver Police Department for 28 years, recently toured Ottawa to meet with Canadian Members of Parliament and educate them about the failure of drug prohibition. During his brief tour, Tony was able to schedule private meetings with five legislators, and LEAP supporters donated $340 toward the cost of the tour. To read more about Tony Smith and his trip to Ottawa, please click here.
Police Captain Says Legalize All Drugs
Retired Tonawanda, New York Police Captain and LEAP co-founder Peter Christ speaks to Fox 23 in Maine about the need to legalize and regulate all drugs during his recent tour of Maine.
To view more videos featuring LEAP speakers, please visit our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/copssaylegalizedrugs
Stop The Murder of Animals During Drug Raids
A
graphic video just released of a SWAT team raid in Columbia, MO shows
officers storming into a house and firing shots. The team knocks down the
door of Jonathan Whitworth and shoots both of his dogs, killing his pit bull
and wounding his Welsh corgi in front of his 7-year-old son. After the raid,
the police arrested Whitworth after finding a grinder, a pipe, and a small
amount of marijuana. This video was released, ironically, in the midst of
Be Kind to Animals Week.
Just one video is hard to watch, but sadly, over 100 raids like this happen every day in America. Far too many of them end with the loss of family pets. From the erroneous raid resulting in the murder of a Maryland mayor's black labs to the puppy burned alive during an Arizona drug raid, our drug policies create unnecessarily violent situations for both people and animals.
If you think the current drug policies need to change so that this type of tragic violence can end, please add your name to this petition.
Cops and Clergy Initiative
Launched early in 2010, LEAP's Cops and Clergy Initiative features an unstoppable alliance of representatives of the faith and law enforcement communities collaborating to make speaking appearances at places of worship and in the media across the country. Here, LEAP's incoming executive director, retired Maryland State Police and Baltimore Police veteran Neill Franklin, speaks about the human costs of the War on Drugs at Govans Presbyterian Church in Baltimore.
Join LEAP at AIDS Walk New York
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition has formed
an official team to participate in the 2010 AIDS WALK NEW YORK on Sunday,
May 16 in Central Park. AIDS
WALK is a great cause and the event will be an opportunity to make people
with an interest in harm reduction aware of LEAP, as well as a chance for
LEAP's New York supporters to gather for a powerful event. If you are interested
in joining LEAP's AIDS WALK team, click here and select Law Enforcement Against
Prohibition (Team 3135) on the dropdown menu. Please contact Program Manager
Kristin Daley at kristin.daley@leap.cc
for more information.
Click
here to donate to the LEAP AIDS Walk team
E-mail us at kristin.daley@leap.cc
LEAP is a nonprofit educational organization
with Tax Exempt Status under United States tax code 501(c)3, Federal EIN:
16- 1645758.
AMAZING VIDEO EVERY PARENT SHOULD WATCH:
The ADHD Fraud: How Psychiatry Makes "Patients" of Normal Children Beware, psychiatrists earn more money from drug makers than doctors in any other specialty and there is a link between psychotropic drugs and violence including school violence!
COPS on the HILL (continues)
many of you have become members of COPs and given generously. Each time I found a check in the post office box or received a notice from PayPal, I was grateful and energized by the support. Your support kept a police voice/perspective in Washington, DC and to carry the message of anti-prohibition to all the Member offices . Thank you. Thank you so much.
The wine is sweeter today: This week the House passed by voice vote (no one heard a nay) the Webb Criminal Justice Commission bill. The commission will study drug prohibition and make recommendations to the Congress on whether to keep all of it, some of it, none of it, etc. The Senate is expected (but don’t hold your breath) to pass it in September. Medium sized step..
As a bonus the House passed and it now goes for Obama’s signature a bill to reduce the disparity between crack and powder cocaine from 100:1 to 18:1. This an 82% improvement not based in science (in which case it would be 1:1). Still this will allow thousands to dealers to go free and act as a model for the states to adopt the federal standard. Some states have already gone 1:1.
As my LEAP colleague Tom Angell pointed out, it was very significant that the Republicans did not demand a roll call vote on either bill. “Soft on drugs/soft on crime” has been used by the Rs for decades to hurt the Dems. On this day, they allowed good legislation to go forward without a recorded vote.
Karen and I start a week long vacation today, so no letter next week.
LETTER OF THE WEEK
LOST WAR ON DRUGS AND ITS CASUALTIES
When you lie down with dogs, often you will get up with fleas. Yet another in my profession (Megan Mattingly) has been tainted by the enforcement of drug prohibition. Add her to the many, many thousands who have been corrupted or killed, or who have committed suicide after being corrupted. And for what? We in law enforcement know that every drug dealer arrested is replaced within days. The nine suspects released (or even if they had gone to prison) are meaningless.
A trillion tax dollars spent and 40 years of serious effort have resulted in a Maryland free of drugs? No. Quite the contrary. Drugs are cheaper, stronger and readily available to our teens.
Please tell this reader again why you support this Bridge to Nowhere policy.
Howard Wooldridge
retired detective/officer
Buckeystown
Source: Frederick News Post (MD) Pubdate: Mon, 21 Jun 2010 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n000/a017.html
·COP's stats since August 2009:
443 presentations to Congressional Staffers
7 presentations to VIPs (elected officials)
37 published Letters to the Editor
Numerous conferences, hearings & briefings attended. C-Span broadcast my question at a Senate briefing.
12 radio shows
8 TV interviews (Colombian TV, Fox and Univision, NBC, cable)
Consider being a member of COP at $30.00 per year. Add your voice to those agree that Modern Prohibition/War on Drugs is the most destructive, dysfunctional and immoral policy since slavery & Jim Crow.
Drug War: A Destructive, Immoral Domestic
Policy
In regard to the Wall Stree Journal 3/17/2010 editorial "Murder in Mexico":
As a police detective who worked the trenches of our failed modern Prohibition-like war on drugs, I experienced firsthand the fact that the strategy has been the most destructive, dysfunctional and immoral domestic policy since slavery and Jim Crow. Americans are loathe to admit this policy has been a mistake, even after 40 years of failure and a trillion tax dollars spent. However, Rep. Ron Paul favors repealing drug prohibition and he was a candidate for president (and raised a ton of money). He is now a force in Republican politics.
You state that drug use would rise with a legal, regulated market. Besides a business and finance expert, are you also a doctor, board-certified in addiction psychiatry? I have spoken to eight such doctors and they state that almost no one would start using heroin, crack or methamphetamines just because it became legal. Most Americans are not that stupid.
Howard Wooldridge, Drug Policy Specialist, Citizens Opposing Prohibition, Washington
Your assertion that the cost of drug legalization would be "far higher addiction rates as cocaine and heroin became routinely available and their price fell dramatically" ignores what has occurred since the early 1970s when the drug war began. The percentage of Americans who have used an illegal drug has gone from less than 5% to about 40%. The cost of one dose of street heroin has gone from $6 to 80 cents while purity has gone from about 1.5% to nearly 40%. The only drug that has decreased in use during the drug war is tobacco. The percentage of tobacco users has decreased from about 65% during World War II to about 20% today. Tobacco has never been illegal. Americans quit using it for personal reasons. They decide whether to use other drugs for the same reasons.
The drug war continues unabated for political and economic reasons. It has never reduced drug use or addiction.
Suzanne Wills, Drug Policy Forum of Texas, Dallas
Polyglot – short story: at 19 spent 3 months in Europe in 70…felt like illiterate ‘cause only spoke English. Came back to U and began German – became my minor. After 6 more months (2 trips) to mostly Germany = fluent German: Before starting LIFE, I wanted to be an average European which means 3 languages…so after graduation from Mich. State, made bunch of $$ driving a semi for United Van Lines, in Switzerland took intensive 3 month course in French and poof…tri-lingual…..police work needed Spanish = took junior college courses at night and then 3 months in Spain…poof…4 languages.
My 3 months of Arabic studies in Egypt resulted in being semi-fluent but have lost nearly all of it.. I could still piss off a terrorist on an airplane but not really carry on a conversation.
BTW, I also speak ‘horse.’…for that I needed to ride my pony across North America twice…13 months in the saddle. Okay- now I am bragging. LOL
Howard attended the 912 march on DC.
PO Box 772
Buckeystown MD 21717-0772
One
Lone Ranger Rides Again To Legalize Dope
by Howard "Cowboy" Wooldridge
By Kathleen Parker
Friday, February 13, 2009
Drink and drive and it's grrrrrrrr-eat! Smoke pot and your flakes are frosted, dude. So seems the message from Kellogg's, which has decided not to renew its sponsorship contract with Michael Phelps after the Olympian was photographed smoking marijuana at a party in South Carolina.
That's showbiz, of course, but the cereal and munchie company had no problem signing Phelps despite an alcohol-related arrest. In 2004, Phelps was fined and sentenced to 18 months probation and community service after pleading guilty to driving while impaired. The silliness of our laws -- and the hypocrisy of our selective attitudes toward mood enhancers -- needs no further elaboration. Even so, things are getting sillier by the minute.
Sheriff Leon Lott in South Carolina's Richland County has now made eight pot-related arrests based on the snap that shot around the world. Seven were for possession and one for distribution, after deputies used warrants to enter the house where Phelps allegedly was photographed.
Phelps may be next.
In an earlier column, I gave Lott the benefit of the doubt, suggesting that his hands were tied given the laws of the land and South Carolina's political climate. I retract the benefit.
Sheriffs, though elected and therefore political, have great latitude as to what crimes they pursue. In a state that recently ranked among the most dangerous in the nation, one would think South Carolina's law enforcement officials have better things to do.
Indeed, they do. In our peculiar obsession to track down the Willie Nelsons, the Rush Limbaughs and now the Michael Phelpses of society -- nonviolent, victimless imbibers of drugs -- we've actually made society less safe. That's the conclusion of 10,000 cops, prosecutors, judges and others who make up the membership of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.
Howard Wooldridge, LEAP's Washington representative, is a former cop and detective who lectures civic clubs and congressional staffers on the futility of drug laws that reduce public safety by wasting time and money. He points to child pornography as just one example.
As of last April, he says, law enforcement had identified 623,000 computers containing child pornography, including downloadable video of child rape. Only a fraction of those have been pursued with search warrants, thanks to limited resources and staff shortages. What's worse, Wooldridge says, is that three times out of five a search warrant also produces a child victim on the premises.
Another example: Last year, Human Rights Watch reported that as many as 400,000 rape kits containing evidence were sitting unopened in criminal labs and storage facilities. Between the Los Angeles Police Department and the L.A. County sheriff's office, nearly 12,000 kits were unopened, according to an NPR report in December.
Arguments against prohibition should be obvious. When you eliminate the victimless "crime" of drug use, you disempower the criminal element. Neutering drug gangs and cartels, not to mention the Taliban, would be no small byproduct of decriminalization. Not only would state regulation minimize toxic concoctions common on the black market, but also taxation would be a windfall in a hurting economy.
No one's saying that drugs aren't dangerous. Alcohol and tobacco are also dangerous.
And no one thinks children should have access to harmful substances, though they already do. Parents who recoil because their child became an addict should note that prohibition didn't help.
What prohibition did was criminalize what is essentially a health problem -- and overcrowd prisons. In 2007, there were 872,720 marijuana arrests in the United States. Of those, 775,137 were for possession. South Carolina just added eight to this year's roster.
The greatest obstacle to drug law reform is public fear and politics, says Wooldridge, as he set off to give eight presentations on Capitol Hill yesterday. "I've had staffers tell me that to even call a hearing will get you un-elected."
Which, perhaps, explains why Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) -- the only member of Congress to even approach the subject recently -- has tackled the drug problem through the issue of prison overcrowding. Webb has held two hearings before the Joint Economic Committee on U.S. drug policy and incarceration costs. This year, he has promised to push for a blue-ribbon commission to study why the United States has more people in jail than any other country. The answer -- and the solution -- seems clear.
I'm not convinced that all drugs should be legalized, but we should at least put prohibition on the table to take another look. In the meantime, Sheriff Lott has some 'splainin' do to.
Testimony for the Joint Economic Committee
June 19, 2008
Assessing U.S. drug policy
and providing a base for future decision
Howard J. Wooldridge
Bath Township, MI Police Detective Howard J. Wooldridge, (retired)
At the hearing of the Joint Economic Committee which Senator Webb chaired on June 19, 2008 two questions asked by the Members were not fully answered. Therefore, I would like the following information be included as part of the record for that hearing.
Regarding Senator Webb’s question on how the expenditure of time to arrest some 845,000 persons per year on marijuana charges impacts other areas of law enforcement: During my fifteen (15) years of police service I learned that my profession often searches and does not find anything illegal. Thus, one can not simply extrapolate the number of arrests times X hours of time per arrest. An average of ten (10) vehicle searches must be conducted in order to find one containing marijuana. Conservatively, 7-8 million hours of patrol time are spent enforcing marijuana prohibition laws. This results in less time for effective DUI, reckless driving and other traffic enforcement priorities.
Regarding Congressman Hinchey’s question of the percentage of prisoners whose crime touches in someway drug prohibition laws: My experience as a detective and in speaking with colleagues show 70-75 % of felony crime touches drug prohibition policy.
Whether crimes committed go up or down, drug prohibition continues to be the engine driving the vast majority of felony crime in America.
focuses on officers who are "getting it wrong" by violating basic freedoms such as the Fourth Amendment's prohibition of unreasonable search and seizure. He describes a degradation of proper enforcement in lower-income communities, such as those he patrolled in Baltimore, which he says were typically related to enforcing prohibitionist drug laws.
The solution, Franklin said, is to ensure
that people are aware of their rights and exercise them properly, which he
sees as a safeguard against police abuse. He also noted that continually educating
officers on not exceeding the limits of their powers is essential.
To view Jack Cole’s blog on the United Nations Conference in its entirety, including photos from the conference, please click here.
Ask the DOJ to release more current stats: askdoj@usdoj.gov