Law Enforcement Against Prohibition

New Poll: 56% of U.S. Voters Support Legalizing Marijuana

2012-05-22T13:28:00.003-04:00

A new poll from Rasmussen shows that marijuana legalization continues to be a mainstream, majority position among U.S. voters. The poll finds that 56% of voters support legalization, with just 36% opposed.

LEAP's Neill Franklin, a retired Baltimore narcotics cop, had this reaction:

"Polling now consistently shows that more voters support legalizing and regulating marijuana than support continuing a failed prohibition approach. Yet far too many politicians continue to act as if marijuana policy reform is some dangerous third rail they dare not touch. If the trends in public opinion continue in the direction they are going, the day is not far away when supporting a prohibition system that causes so much crime, violence and corruption is going to be seen as a serious political liability for those seeking support from younger and independent voters. Savvy forward-looking politicians are already beginning to see which way the wind is blowing."

Previously, Gallup found legalization leading 50%-46%.

Cops Slam Obama for Same Old "Drug War" Budget

2012-04-17T15:19:00.000-04:00

Despite Promises, President Continues Split Favoring Punishment Over Treatment

World Leaders Call for New Direction in Drug Policy

WASHINGTON, DC -- A group of police officers, judges and prosecutors who have waged the so-called "war on drugs" is criticizing President Obama because his federal drug control budget, released today, does not match up to his rhetoric on treating drug abuse as a health problem.

Despite the White House drug czar's office saying the administration is shepherding a "revolutionary shift" to address drug policy through a "public health approach," Obama's federal drug control budget maintains a Bush-era disparity devoting roughly 60 percent of the budget to punishment-oriented approaches and roughly 40 percent for treatment and prevention.

Since taking office, President Obama has repeatedly said things like, “We have to think more about drugs as a public health problem," which requires "shifting resources."

"The president sure does talk a good game about treating drugs as a health issue but so far it's just that: talk," said Neill Franklin, executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition and a former narcotics officer in Baltimore. "Instead of continuing to fund the same old 'drug war' approaches that are proven not to work, the president needs to put his money where his mouth is."

The release of the drug budget comes just days after President Obama returned from the Summit of the Americas meeting in Colombia, where he was pressed to open up a debate on legalizing and regulating drugs by sitting Latin American presidents like Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia and Otto Perez Molina of Guatemala.

"The chorus of voices calling for a real debate on ending prohibition is growing louder all the time," said Franklin. "President Obama keeps saying he is open to a discussion but he never seems willing to actually have that discussion. Polls show that three out of four U.S. voters think the 'war on drugs' is a failure and a majority now support marijuana legalization. The time for real change is now, but at the Summit of the Americas President Obama announced more than $130 million in aid to fund the continued effort to arrest drug traffickers in Latin America. This prohibition strategy hasn't worked in the past and it cannot work in the future. Latin American leaders know it, and President Obama must know it. Let's stop the charade and begin to bring drugs under control through legalization."

The 2012 National Drug Control Strategy, released by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, can be found online at http://www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/2012-national-drug-control-strategy

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) represents police, prosecutors, judges, prison wardens, federal agents and others who want to legalize and regulate drugs after fighting on the front lines of the "war on drugs" and learning firsthand that prohibition only serves to worsen addiction and violence. More info at http://www.CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.com.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 17, 2012
CONTACT: Tom Angell - (202) 557-4979 or media@leap.cc

Red Cross Calls for Drug Decriminalization

2012-03-30T15:02:00.000-04:00

In a little-noticed statement to the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has said that drug use should not be a crime.

Here are some key excerpts:

We often ignore the evidence that to be successful in our drug policies, health services must provide a comprehensive package known as harm reduction programmes that combine the measures we have previously mentioned.
Instead, the best people who use drugs can hope for is to be driven underground to live with the addiction in the dark back streets and abandoned buildings of our towns and cities. Or even worse, they are criminalized and jailed with little or no regard for their healthcare rights or the impact of this policy on the health of their communities.
...

Treating drug addicts as criminals, is destined to fuel the rise of HIV and other infections not only among those unfortunate enough to have a serious drug addiction, but also for children born into addicted families and ordinary members of the public who are not normally exposed to HIV risks. Injecting drug use is a health issue. It is an issue of human rights. It cannot be condoned, but neither should it be criminalized.
...

To conclude, the IFRC, on behalf of the most vulnerable people affected by drug use, strongly calls upon key stakeholders and donors to exert all possible efforts to gather knowledge on the scale of the drug use epidemic at country level and decide on the proper response accordingly.
Criminalization, discrimination and stigmatization are not such responses. Laws and prosecutions do not stop people from taking drugs.

The full text is at http://www.ifrc.org/en/news-and-media/opinions-and-positions/speeches/2012/to-the-commission-on-narcotic-drugs-55th-session/

The Fountainhead of Drug Prohibition

2012-03-28T13:54:00.000-04:00

By James E. Gierach

    I recently returned to Chicago from a week in Vienna, Austria, having attending the 55th annual session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND). Vienna is the home of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). It was quite an experience to be at the fountainhead of world drug prohibition. Fog, demons and Al Capone-ghosts circled and crowded the dark skies over the Vienna International Centre (“the VIC”) like something out of a Harry Potter novel but the demons of drug policy were real.

    A month before my UN drug trip, I was a guest speaker, among others, in Mexico City on behalf of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, an organization that is anti-drug use but even more anti-drug war. I had been invited to speak in Mexico City by a group of business and community leaders who were at their wits end over the drug prohibition corruption and violence, a group called Mexico Unido Contra La Delincuencia.

    Antonio Mazzitelli, the UNODC representative for the region including Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, spoke before me and said, fearfully, we cannot legalize drugs because legalization would make drugs more available and worsen public health. I spoke immediately after him, and I criticized the “U.N. /Al Capone Drug Policy Paradigm,” because world prohibition history and world news evidenced on a daily basis that prohibition harmed public health more than drugs.

    During my presentation, I asked Mazzitelli how public health was aided by the deaths of 50,000 people killed in Mexico in drug cartel violence since 2006 when Pres. Filipe Calderon accelerated the Mexican war on drugs, funded since 2008 with hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars via the “Merida Initiative.” I asked what was it about U.N. prohibition policy that amassed 15 tons of methamphetamines that were seized by Mexican authorities in one bust while we speakers were in town. And I asked him how such a policy helped the public health. I implored Mr. Mazzitelli to take a message back to the U.N. that Latin America, the U.S., and the world had had it with the failed drug war and the auditorium in the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City rocked with applause. The “End the drug war” message was conveyed but would it be delivered to prohibition headquarters at the UN?

    For me, the importance of the Mexico City trip was my heightened appreciation for the fact that three international UN treaties, called conventions, are at the heart of the world’s war on drugs. The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 consolidated earlier drug treaties and prohibited the production and supply of narcotic drugs, including opium, coca, heroin, morphine and marijuana, with limited exception for medical use, and empowered the World Health Organization (WHO) to add and remove drugs from the four schedules of substances appended to the treaty. Two additional international UN treaties expanded the scope and breadth of prohibition: the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1988 United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.

    Wikipedia succinctly notes that the United States and the United Kingdom enacted the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 and the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, respectively, to fulfill treaty obligations voluntarily assumed by them. Other treaty Member States did likewise, all such nations now mutually entangled and cemented in “Just say no” prohibition glue and goo. I took my new appreciation of the UN as the fountainhead of the world’s drug prohibition crisis to Vienna last week, hoping the Mazzitelli message would be delivered but neither he nor the message was anywhere to be found.

    In preparation for the Vienna trip, I read the UN documents that would provide the foundation and focal point for UN-delegate discourse and action regarding the world drug situation. My reading included the 30-page reports by the Secretariat that detailed page after page of increased drug use and escalated drug trafficking worldwide.

    Given the bloody, fertile drug prohibition soil of the world and the Secretariat reports – maybe, just maybe, the Mexico City message and Latin American calls for an end to the drug-prohibition war would be heard and discussed in committee-of-the-whole and plenary sessions of the UN.

    But maybe not. The United States sponsored a resolution celebrating a 100-year-old opium treaty (The Hague Opium Treaty), the world's first drug treaty and, in the "wherefore" conclusions of the resolution, the US called for the reaffirmation of the three prohibitionist UN-drug treaties, the rope and gallows from which the UN member states swing by the neck. The resolution would have been fine if it had called for the "repeal" rather than "reaffirmation" of the three UN drug conventions, a course error of only 180-degrees.

    The end of the story is not a happy one, for the status quo prevailed. Prohibition was reaffirmed miraculously without any dissent and without a single vote. As encouraged by 55th Session documents to present a “single voice,” the delegates moved commas and periods and labored over word-choice, but reaffirmed prohibition as the drug policy of the world without a hitch. Countervailing forces, messages, and drug-policy-reform demonstrators could not even gain admission to UN premises and prohibition ground zero. Admission was limited to those with badges and invitations. And if there was media present in the VIC “Press Room,” somehow it already knew that nothing happens there. And nothing did.

    Disturbingly, in Vienna, I watched the fate of the world and its public health, safety, and welfare steered by a roomful, or two, of delegates who effectively acted outside the scrutiny of the world, behind a translucent curtain made of world drug-policy obliviousness, boredom, and disinterest. With immunity, the process picked the pockets of the world taking peace and quiet, sobriety, freedom, human rights, good health, the Golden Rule, national sovereignty, cultural, historic and (in some cases, e.g. Bolivia) sacred tradition from them, ostensible by consent.

    Delegates only discussed the “safe” drug policy topics – treatment, prevention, education and law enforcement, and the need for more. But they did not discuss the economics of drug prohibition that made illicit drugs the more valuable than gold. Drug prohibition economics was the elephant in the room never mentioned. As I watched the delegates finish their work and seal the world’s prohibition fate for another year, I could hear the loud laugh of Al Capone, the snickers of Mexican drug cartels, and the thunderous applause of the drug-war benefactors, grantees and consultants. The drug-war gravy-train riders were secure for another year.

    Eerie, ghoulish, chilling – it was to see and hear what the delegates could not.

    Now, back home in Chicago, I again see the price we must pay around the world for our dear beloved drug-prohibition policies. This week, news that Mexican police found 10 heads severed from their bodies in Acapulco as the search for the bodies continued; news of a six-year-old shot and killed in Chicago gang violence along with six others shooting deaths here with dozens more shot and wounded. Today, Chicago police superintendent Garry McCarthy says that the “gang menace is getting worse and the city needs to fight harder” to respond to the “bloodbath of violence.”

    Society continues to choose the hell of drug prohibition over the legalization, control, and regulation of substances, and the price for that delusional choice is steep.

James E. Gierach, a former prosecutor in Cook County, IL, is a board member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (www.CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.com).

Cops And Judges Ask California Legislator to Withdraw Marijuana DUI Bill

2012-03-27T13:34:00.002-04:00

Law Enforcers Say Bill Will Criminalize Legal Medical Marijuana Patients & Distract Police

SACRAMENTO, CA -- A group of former California police officers, prosecutors and judges issued a letter today asking Assemblymember Norma Torres to withdraw a bill she has introduced that would criminalize driving with any amount of cannabinoids in the body. The criminal justice professionals, members of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), say that the standards created by the bill have nothing to do with actual impairment behind the wheel and will criminalize the state's legal medical marijuana patients.

The letter reads, in part, "Zero tolerance has a nice ring to it, but most all applications of this overused (and clichéd) concept result in harmful unintended consequences. Zero tolerance relieves the decision-maker of the burden of making sound legal judgments and routinely produces more harm than good. It is absolutely conceivable that, if passed, this bill will become the foundation for DUI checkpoint abuses where the answer to the simple question, 'are you a legal medical cannabis patient?' will result in arrest and conviction under circumstances where impaired driving never occurred. And if it happens to the same patient on three occasions, they will face a mandatory ten-year prison sentence, all while still being innocent."

Stephen Downing, a retired deputy chief of police with the Los Angeles Police Department, says, "Keeping impaired drivers off the road is one of law enforcement's most important jobs, but this bill has no basis in science. Enacting this legislation would not only be disastrous for our state's legal medical marijuana patients, but would impede public safety for all Californians by distracting police from catching actually dangerous drivers. Assemblymember Torres should withdraw this legislation immediately."

Assemblymember Torres's bill, AB 2552, was introduced on February 24 and has been referred to the Assembly Committee on Public Safety, which is chaired by medical marijuana supporter Assemblymember Tom Ammiano. The full text of the bill can be read at http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bill/asm/ab_2551-2600/ab_2552_bill_20120224_introduced.html

The letter urging Assemblymember Torres to withdraw the bill, signed by ten former law enforcement officials, is online at http://www.leap.cc/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/AB2552.pdf

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) represents police, prosecutors, judges, prison wardens, federal agents and others who fought on the front lines of the "war on drugs" and learned firsthand that punitive prohibitionist policies only serve to worsen addiction and violence. More info at http://www.CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.com.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 27, 2012
CONTACT: Tom Angell - (202) 557-4979 or media@leap.cc

Cops and Judges Endorse Washington’s Marijuana Legalization Initiative

2012-03-21T12:11:00.000-04:00

Law Enforcers Say Ending Prohibition Will Improve Public Safety 

SEATTLE, WA -- A group of police officers, prosecutors, judges and other criminal justice professionals – including Seattle’s former chief of police – is endorsing I-502, the Washington initiative to regulate and tax marijuana that voters will decide on this November.

Norm Stamper, the former Seattle chief and a spokesman for the group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), said, “Everyone knows that marijuana prohibition has failed. When even those who once worked to enforce these laws are saying this, the only logical next step is to enact a system that legalizes, regulates and controls marijuana. Doing so will not only take money away from the gangs and cartels that sell marijuana now, but will generate new, much-needed revenue that can be used to pay the salaries of police officers and teachers and for substance abuse prevention and education.”

David Nichols, a retired judge in Bellingham, added, “Replacing the criminalization of the marijuana trade with a public health approach grounded in science will allow our criminal justice system to fully focus on stopping and solving violent crimes and crimes against property. We don’t need the backs of our police cars, our courtrooms or our jails filled with people caught on marijuana charges.”

I-502 would strictly regulate the sale of marijuana to adults over 21. The initiative would not change laws regarding medical marijuana or impairment in the workplace. If I-502 is passed, there will be penalties in place to punish driving while impaired or use by persons under 21 years old.

James Doherty, a former prosecutor who lives in Seattle, added, "By regulating and controlling marijuana, we will make it less available to teenagers. Ask any high school student whether it is easier to get marijuana or alcohol. Most will say marijuana, because alcohol is regulated and controlled under the law, and marijuana is controlled by illegal dealers who don't ask for I.D."

Recent statewide polling shows a double-digit margin of support for the initiative. Other high-profile criminal justice professionals who have endorsed I-502 include former FBI special agent in charge Charles Mandigo and former US attorneys John McKay and Katrina C. Pflaumer.

More information about the initiative is online at http://www.newapproachwa.org

Coloradans will also vote on a statewide initiative to legalize and tax marijuana this November.

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) represents police, prosecutors, judges, FBI/DEA agents and others who support legalization after fighting on the front lines of the "war on drugs" and learning firsthand that prohibition only serves to worsen addiction and violence. More info at http://www.CopsSayLegalizeMarijuana.com.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 21, 2012
CONTACT: Tom Angell – (202) 557-4979 or media@leap.cc

Former Police Officers Testify for Changes to Marijuana Laws in Rhode Island

2012-03-21T10:35:00.000-04:00

Wednesday Hearing on Bills to Decriminalize Possession and to Legalize and Tax Sales

PROVIDENCE, RI -- A former Providence police officer and a former undercover narcotics detective will testify today before a Rhode Island House committee in favor of bills that would decriminalize and legalize marijuana. The bill to legalize and regulate marijuana sales (H7582/S2367), and the bill to decriminalize possession of less than one ounce of marijuana (H7092/S2253), will be heard by the House Judiciary Committee at the rise of the House (approximately 5 PM) in Room 313.

Beth Comery, who served as a Providence police officer for six years, will be testifying for the bills. "The fact is, the current marijuana laws don't enhance public safety; they threaten it," she said. "F.B.I. statistics indicate that nationally, nearly four of ten murders, six of ten rapes and nine of ten burglaries go unsolved. The criminal justice system should be focusing its limited resources in these areas, rather than on the approximately 800,000 people that police arrest every year for marijuana offenses."

Comery is a speaker for the organization Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), an international group of police officers, judges, corrections officials, border agents and other criminal justice professionals who have witnessed the failures of the so-called "war on drugs" firsthand.

The decriminalization bill is co-sponsored by 22 of of the state's 38 senators and 41 of 75 House representatives, including Republican Minority Leader Brian Newberry. A Public Policy Polling survey conducted earlier this year shows that 65 percent of Rhode Islanders support decriminalizing marijuana possession and that a majority (52 percent) support legalizing and taxing marijuana sales. In 2010, the Rhode Island Senate created a special commission to study the state’s marijuana laws. It recommended decriminalizing marijuana possession.

"Ceasing to arrest people for using small amounts of marijuana is a great step in the right direction. My home state of Massachusetts has been benefiting from such a change since 2008, when 65% of our voters passed an initiative to decriminalize marijuana," said Jack Cole, LEAP's board chairman, a retired state police lieutenant and undercover narcotics detective who is a resident of Medford, Massachusetts. "But unless and until we actually legalize and regulate marijuana sales, we'll continue to see violent gangs and cartels raking in tax-free revenue from the illegal market."

Rhode Island could bolster the state treasury by more than $48 million a year by ceasing to arrest people for marijuana and instead taxing and regulating its sales, according to Harvard University economist Jeffrey Miron.

The full text of the House versions of bills being heard today can be found at http://www.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText12/HouseText12/H7582.htm and http://www.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText12/HouseText12/H7092.htm

Polling data on support for marijuana policy reform in Rhode Island can be found at http://www.mpp.org/assets/pdfs/states/Rhode-Island-poll.pdf

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) represents police, prosecutors, judges, prison wardens, federal agents and others who want to legalize and regulate drugs after fighting on the front lines of the "war on drugs" and learning firsthand that prohibition only serves to worsen addiction and violence. More info at http://www.CopsSayLegalizeMarijuana.com.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 21, 2012
CONTACT: Tom Angell - (202) 557-4979 or media@leap.cc

Arizona Medical Marijuana Discrimination by CPS, Worse than Thought

2012-03-21T08:24:00.002-04:00

On January 6th 2012, I told you how Arizona's Child Protective Services was discriminating against me as a medical marijuana patient, but it's worst than I thought.

I hoped the voter passed Arizona Medical Marijuana Act, Arizona Child Protective Services, and DCYF's own guidelines on medical marijuana would be enough.

It wasn't, I was told by the Arizona Legislative Office of Family Advocacy that medical marijuana patients would not be given custody of children, when I ask if they could check on the status of the medical marijuana law.

This was their reply, “I can only tell you what the decision is by DES and the Governor regarding medical marijuana--CPS cannot and will not violate the federal CPS law”. “So, it doesn't matter what other state departments or cities or counties are doing but CPS will follow the federal CPS law regarding placing children with people who use marijuana no matter the reasons”.

It made no sense to me, that CPS, and DCYF would go to all the time and expense to write a manual, then, tell CPS case managers to disregard the section.

So I sent a copy of the DCYF manual, there's a whole section on medical marijuana, to the Office of Family Advocacy. See Link https://extranet.azdes.gov/dcyfpolicy/Chapter_02/Chapter_2_Section_1_Interviews_with_the_Child,_Family_and_C.htm (Chapter 2: Section 1 Interviews With The Child, Family And Collateral Contacts)

This was their reply, “Mr. Fleming: It doesn't matter what this says--BUT, every state in the US must follow what the federal law says around CPS AND because marijuana is illegal every state CPS must follow the federal law”. “So, because you use marijuana--even if under a medical prescription--the children cannot be placed with you or AZ CPS is in violation of the federal law”.

I was also told that every judge, in every county were informed of this by DES/DCYF/CPS several months ago. So it appears discrimination against medical marijuana patients is alive an well in Arizona, and people with kids should keep their mouth shut about being a legal medical marijuana patients in Arizona.

While Arizona refuses to give custody of children to medical marijuana patients, it has apparently changed it's policy on the use of Meth by parents.

I was told by a CPS supervisor, and the Arizona Child Abuse Hotline, that using/selling meth, or being involved in prostitution is a “lifestyle choice”, and is NOT a CPS problem, as long as the parents don't do it around the kids, it will not effect custody.

This CPS case is under review at a state level, and I'm hesitant to say to much about all the problems in the case, but be sure, it will be interesting.

One thing I will say, if I was the head of a state agency, and I was aware of a recording where CPS and employees from other agencies were at a minimum being incompetent, and possibly attempting to manipulate the outcome of a placement, I would want to hear the recording, not ignore it.

Please, before recording any conversions, check your state law to see if you live in a one party, or two party, consent state.

Human Rights is a Foreign Concept in the UN’s “War on Drugs”

2012-03-16T13:14:00.000-04:00

Latin American Presidents’ Calls for Legalization Debate Go Unheeded at UN Drug Policy Meeting in Vienna

VIENNA, AUSTRIA – Even while several Latin American presidents are calling for an outright debate on drug legalization, delegates at the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs meeting this week failed to even discuss a change in the global prohibitionist drug treaties, reports a group of judges, prosecutors and jailers who were at the meeting in Vienna to promote reform.

During consideration of a U.S.-sponsored resolution to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first laws banning opium, Norway’s delegation attempted to insert the phrase “while observing human rights,” but even this move encountered resistance from the US delegation, which preferred not to mention human rights.

“Fundamentally, the three UN prohibitionist treaties are incompatible to human rights. We can have human rights or drug war, but not both,” said Maria Lucia Karam, a retired judge from Brazil and a board member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP).

Richard Van Wickler, currently a jail superintendent in New Hampshire, adds, “I suppose it’s not shocking that within the context of a century-long bloody ‘war on drugs’ the idea of human rights is a foreign concept. Our global drug prohibition regime puts handcuffs on millions of people every year while even the harshest of prohibitionist countries say that drug abuse is a health issue. What other medical problems do we try to solve with imprisonment and an abandonment of human rights?”

The UN meeting, the 55th session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, comes amidst a rapidly emerging global debate on the appropriateness of continuing drug prohibition and whether legalization and regulation would be a better way to control drugs. In recent weeks, Presidents Otto Perez Molina of Guatemala, Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia, Laura Chinchilla of Costa Rica and Felipe Calderon of Mexico have added their voices to the call for a serious conversation on alternatives to drug prohibition.

“Unfortunately, none of these powerful Latin American voices were heard during the official sessions of the UN meeting,” says Judge Karam. “In the halls of the UN building in Vienna we did speak to delegates who agree that the drug war isn’t working and that change is needed, but these opinions were not voiced when they counted the most. During the meetings, all the Member States remained voluntarily submissive to the U.N. dictates that required that all speak with a ‘single voice’ that mandated support for prohibition.”

Jim Gierach, a retired Chicago prosecutor, added, “Voters in the U.S. states of Colorado and Washington will be deciding this November on measures to legalize marijuana. Already, 16 states and the District of Columbia allow legal access to medical marijuana. It is pure hypocrisy for the American federal government to hold the rest of the world hostage to its futile desire to continue drug prohibition unquestioned when its own citizens don’t even want to go along for the ride.”

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) represents police, prosecutors, judges, FBI/DEA agents and others who support legalization after fighting on the front lines of the "war on drugs" and learning firsthand that prohibition only serves to worsen addiction and violence. More info at http://www.CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.com.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 16, 2012
CONTACT: Tom Angell – (202) 557-4979 or media@leap.cc

C-10’s Mandatory Minimums Built On Ignorance, Say Cops and Judges

2012-03-12T16:08:00.000-04:00

Law Enforcers Say Government Fails To Justify Cannabis Sentences in Bill C-10

VANCOUVER, BC – Last month, a group of American members of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) warned the Canadian government to eliminate sections of Bill C-10 that create mandatory minimum sentences for minor cannabis-related crimes lest the mistakes of the U.S.’s “war on drugs” be repeated here. Now, on the eve of C-10’s being signed in to law, LEAP’s Canadian members are also speaking out.

“The good news is that government was forced to respond to our neighbors to the south who have experience with these harsh laws,” says William Vandergraaf, a member of LEAP Canada’s board and a retired Winnipeg police detective. “But the government’s reasons for these mandatory minimums are fundamentally flawed: Prohibition is a proven failure in the real world.”

John Anderson, LEAP Canada’s vice president, said, “We heard the parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Justice say that Canada has a parole system, while the US federal system doesn’t, which it clearly does. Then the government keeps saying that cannabis should be illegal because organized crime produces and sells a lot of it. Obviously, this is reasoning in the reverse: The only reason why organized crime is in the business of trafficking is because marijuana is illegal. When we legalize cannabis, legal businesses will take over the vast bulk of the market, just as they did when alcohol prohibition ended.”

“Their arguments for mandatory minimums on cannabis are inconsistent with the evidence. Making Canadian taxpayers cough up millions of dollars for new prisons seems to be a solution in search of a problem”.

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) represents police, prosecutors, judges, federal agents and others who want to legalize and regulate drugs after fighting on the front lines of the "war on drugs" and learning firsthand that prohibition only serves to worsen addiction and violence. For more information, visit http://www.CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.com.

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CONTACT: Steve Finlay – (778) 554-3267 or steve.finlay@leap.cc

Tom Angell – (202) 557-4979 or media@leap.cc

Cops Take Pro-Legalization Message to UN War on Drugs Meeting

2012-03-08T12:21:00.001-05:00

Law Enforcers Say Ending Prohibition Will Improve Global Security & Human Rights 

VIENNA, AUSTRIA – Judges, prosecutors and jailers who support legalizing drugs are bringing their message to the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs meeting next week in Vienna. At the U.N. session, which comes just days after the Obama administration stepped-up its attempts to counteract the emerging anti-prohibition sentiment among sitting presidents in Latin America, the pro-legalization law enforcement officials will work to embolden national delegations from around the world to push back against the U.S.-led failed “war on drugs.”

Richard Van Wickler, a currently-serving jail superintendent who will be representing Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) in Vienna, says, “World leaders who believe we could better handle drug problems by replacing criminalization with legal control are becoming less and less afraid of U.S. reprisal for speaking out or reforming their nations’ policies. And for good reason.” Van Wickler, who has was named 2011’s Corrections Superintendent of the Year by the New Hampshire Association of Counties, explains, “Voters in at least two U.S. states will be deciding on measures to legalize marijuana this November. It would be pure hypocrisy for the American federal government to continue forcefully pushing a radical prohibitionist agenda on the rest of the world.”

In recent weeks, Presidents Otto Perez Molina of Guatemala, Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia, Laura Chinchilla of Costa Rica and Felipe Calderon of Mexico have added their voices to the call for a serious conversation on alternatives to drug prohibition, causing U.S. Vice President Joe Biden to travel to Latin America this week in an unsuccessful attempt to quash the debate.

Former Chicago drug prosecutor James Gierach, recently a featured speaker at a conference in Mexico City last month attended by the first lady of Mexico and the former presidents of Colombia and Brazil, says, “The unending cycle of cartel violence caused by the prohibition market has turned a steady trickle of former elected officials criticizing prohibition into a flood of sitting presidents, business leaders and law enforcement officials calling for an outright discussion about legalization. It’s time for the U.S. and the U.N. to acknowledge that legal control, rather than criminalization, is a much better way to manage our drug problems. The world can have either drug prohibition, violence and corruption or it can have controlled drug legalization with safe streets and moral fabric, but it can't have both.”

The UN meeting in Vienna is an annual opportunity for nations around the world to re-evaluate drug control strategies and treaties. More information about the meeting is at http://www.idpc.net/events/55-session-of-cnd-2012

In recent years, countries like Portugal and Mexico have made moves to significantly transform criminalization-focused drug policies into health approaches by fully decriminalizing possession of small amounts of all drugs. Still, no country has yet to legalize and regulate the sale of any of these drugs. Doing so, the pro-legalization law enforcers point out, would be the only way to prevent violent transnational criminal organizations from profiting in the drug trade.  

Also attending the conference on behalf of LEAP will be former Brazilian judge Maria Lucia Karam and former UK MI5 intelligence officer Annie Machon.   

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) represents police, prosecutors, judges, FBI/DEA agents and others who support legalization after fighting on the front lines of the "war on drugs" and learning firsthand that prohibition only serves to worsen addiction and violence. More info at http://www.CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.com.  

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 8, 2012
CONTACT: Tom Angell – (202) 557-4979 or media@leap.cc

Pat Robertson Blames Liberals for Drug War and Overincarceration

2012-03-05T21:44:00.001-05:00

Pat Robertson created a firestorm when he first called for the decriminalization of marijuana in December 2010, causing even his Christian Broadcasting Network's own publicist to deny that that's what he actually meant.

Well, in a March 1 segment of "The 700 Club" that went largely unnoticed, Dr. Robertson is at it again, reiterating his call for marijuana reform and even blaming liberals for the U.S.'s overincarceration problem.

We here in America make up 5% of the world's population, but we make up 25% of jailed prisoners...

Every time the liberals pass a bill -- I don't care what it involves -- they stick criminal sanctions on it. They don't feel there is any way people are going to keep a law unless they can put them in jail.

I became sort of a hero of the hippie culture, I guess, when I said I think we ought to decriminalize the possession of marijuana.

I just think it's shocking how many of these young people wind up in prison and they get turned into hardcore criminals because they had a possession of a very small amount of controlled substance. The whole thing is crazy.

Check out Robertson's comments in this video, starting at about 20:40 and going until about 29:25. Robertson's comments begin as part of an introduction to a news story about how the NAACP and tea party activists are teaming up to push for criminal justice reform.

After the news story, Robertson's continues his tirade against overincarceration.

We've said, "we're 'conservative, we're tough on crime." That's baloney. It's costing us billions and billions of dollars.

Think of California. California is spending more money on prisons than it spends on schools. There's something wrong about that equation.

We need to scrub the federal code and the state codes and take away these criminal penalties.

Putting people in jail at huge expense to the population is insanity.

Folks, we've gotta do something about this. We've just got to change the laws. We cannot allow this to continue. It is sapping our vitality. Think of this great land of freedom. We have the highest rate of incarceration of any nation on the face of the Earth. That's a shocking statistic.

What is it we're doing that is different? What we're doing is turning a bunch of liberals loose writing laws -- there's this punitive spirit, the always want to punish people.

It's time for change!

More and more prisons, more and more crime. It's just shocking, especially this business about drug offenses. It's time we stop locking up people for possession of marijuana. We just can't do it anymore...You don't lock 'em up for booze unless they kill somebody on the highway.

Will Robertson's comments lead to more conservative politicians and elected officials speaking out for drug policy reform? Will they create room for progressives and Democrats who are sympathetic but are worried about being attacked from the right? What do you think?

U.S. Law Enforcement Officials Call on Canadian Prime Minister to Legalize Marijuana

2012-02-22T03:01:00.009-05:00

Canada Risks Repeating ‘U.S. Mistakes‘ with Mandatory Minimum Sentences in Bill C-10

WASHINGTON, DC —A high-profile group of current and former law enforcement officials from the United States is calling on the Canadian government to reconsider the mandatory minimum sentences for minor marijuana offenses proposed in Bill C-10, arguing that the taxation and regulation of marijuana is a more effective policy approach to reducing crime.

On Wednesday, the law enforcers released a letter outlining their concerns, addressed to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Canadian senators. It is signed by more than two dozen current and former judges, police officers, special agents, narcotics investigators and other criminal justice professionals, all of whom are members of the group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP). The letter strongly reinforces the failure of U.S. crime policies that those proposed in the Canadian federal government’s Bill C-10 legislation seem to be modeled on.

“Through our years of service enforcing anti-marijuana laws, we have seen the devastating consequences of these laws,” the letter states. “Among the greatest concerns is the growth in organized crime and gang violence. Just as with alcohol prohibition, gang violence, corruption and social decay have marched in lockstep with marijuana prohibition.”

“We were deeply involved with the war on drugs and have now accepted, due to our own experience and the clear evidence before us, that these policies are a costly failure,” the letter continues. “Marijuana prohibition drives corruption and violence and tougher laws only worsen the problem.”

Bill C-10, titled “The Safe Streets and Communities Act,” is currently being heard by the Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs. Among other proposals, the bill calls for stricter mandatory minimum sentences for minor marijuana offenses, including minimum six-month sentences for growing as few as six marijuana plants.

“The Canadian government believes the answer is to get tougher on criminals,” said Norm Stamper, retired chief of police in Seattle, Washington. “But as we’ve learned with our decades-long failed experiment with the ‘war on drugs,’ the stricter sentencing proposed in the bill will only serve to help fill jails. It will not reduce harms related to the illicit marijuana trade, make Canadian streets safer or diminish gang activity.”

Said retired Washington State Superior Court Judge David Nichols: “Policies similar to those in the U.S. and now under consideration in Canada have been costly failures in the United States, wasting tax dollars and bankrupting state budgets. Following our path presents obvious and significant risks to Canadians.”

Among the 28 signers of the letter are many law enforcement officials working in border areas. They pointed to the illegal cross-border marijuana trade as sustaining gang activity in the region.

“Organized crime groups move marijuana to the U.S. from British Columbia and return with cocaine and guns,” said Stamper. “Prohibition continues to fill the coffers of organized criminals, making communities on both sides of the border less safe.”

Eric Sterling, who helped the U.S. Congress write the federal mandatory minimum sentencing laws, cautions: “As counsel to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee during the 1980's, I played a major role in writing the mandatory minimum drug sentencing laws which later turned out to not only be ineffective in reducing drug use, but which directly contributed to the disastrous overincarceration problem in this country. I urge policy makers in Canada to learn from our mistakes.”

Canadian Senator Larry Campbell, a member of LEAP’s advisory board and a former member of the RCMP and its drug squad, added: “I am hopeful that my Senate colleagues will listen to the voice of experience, and take into account the advice from leading U.S. law enforcement officials to avoid mandatory minimum sentences. The U.S. and many of its citizens have suffered greatly due to the inflexible and dogmatic nature of mandatory minimum sentences, and Canada would be wise to learn from and avoid that costly and socially destructive mistake.”

U.S. Becoming More Progressive than Canada with Marijuana Policy

While Canada moves towards stricter sentencing with Bill C-10, many states in the U.S. are shifting in the opposite direction, toward control and regulation of the marijuana trade. The law enforcement officials pointed to the 16 U.S. states and the District of Columbia that have already passed laws allowing medical use of cannabis, the 14 states that have taken steps to decriminalize marijuana possession and the initiatives to fully tax and regulate marijuana that are likely to appear on statewide ballots this November in Washington State, Colorado and possibly California.

“We assume this news will not make you consider closing the borders with the United States,” the law enforcement officials write in their letter.

For a copy of the law enforcement letter, please visit http://www.leap.cc/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/regulation-in-canada.pdf

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) represents police, prosecutors, judges, prison wardens, federal agents and others who want to legalize and regulate marijuana and other drugs after fighting on the front lines of the "war on drugs" and learning firsthand that prohibition only serves to worsen addiction and violence. More info at http://www.CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.com.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 22, 2012
CONTACT: Tom Angell – (202) 557-4979 or media@leap.cc
Steve Finlay – (604) 315-5635 or steve.finlay@leap.cc

Eliot Spitzer Says Legalize Marijuana

2012-02-20T00:31:00.000-05:00

Former New York governor and attorney general Eliot Spitzer says he not only supports medical marijuana, but thinks we should replace marijuana prohibition with legalization. Speaking on Friday night on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher," Spitzer said:

"To spend prosecutorial resources on pot is ridiculous...I'd be in favor of legalized pot. Legalizing pot is the right way to go."

Check out the entire marijuana discussion by Maher's panel of guests, starting at 4:22 in to this clip:

Ep. 238: February 17, 2012 - Overtime

It's nice to see a group of people with such different political leanings all agreeing that it's time to end prohibition. Still, the joke from Stephen Moore of the Wall Street Journal at the end of the discussion about how supporting legalization might somehow hurt Spitzer's future political aspirations is particularly unfortunate...and premised on a roundly absurd notion.

While supporting legalization himself, Moore doesn't seem to realize that marijuana legalization is one rare issue that he, Spitzer and -- oh yeah -- a majority of American voters all agree on.

Come to think of it... the idea that supporting legalization would harm any future aspirations at elected office Spitzer might have, or the political pursuits of most any office seeker in 21st century America, is becoming funnier all the time. Perhaps an appropriate joke for Maher's show after all.

In the clip, even Spitzer himself only reluctantly got around to stating that he'd favor ending marijuana prohibition across the board instead of just allowing medical marijuana. It's a strange thing, this tendency of political figures to act as if they should be afraid to say something that a rapidly growing majority of American voters agree with.

Infographic Shows Effects of Drug Prohibition Violence in Mexico

2012-02-01T14:09:00.000-05:00

The Rehab International blog has an amazing new infographic that demonstrates the horrible amount of violence that has been caused by drug prohibition in Mexico. Check it out:

Via: Rehab International

YouTube Ignores Cop's First Place Marijuana Legalization Video Question for Obama

2012-01-30T18:53:00.001-05:00

Site Finds Time for Questions About Dancing, Late-Night Snacks and Playing Tennis

WASHINGTON, DC -- Today YouTube ignored a question advocating marijuana legalization from a retired LAPD deputy chief of police that won twice as many votes as any other video question in the White House's "Your Interview with the President" competition on the Google-owned site. They did, however, find the time to get the president on record about late night snacking, singing and dancing, celebrating wedding anniversaries and playing tennis.

Stephen Downing, the retired LAPD police officer and a board member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), had this to say about the site ignoring his question: "It's worse than silly that YouTube and Google would waste the time of the president and of the American people discussing things like midnight snacks and playing tennis when there is a much more pressing question on the minds of the people who took the time to participate in voting on submissions. A majority of Americans now support legalizing marijuana to de-fund cartels and gangs, lower incarceration and arrest rates and save scarce public resources, all while generating new much-needed tax revenue. The time to discuss this issue is now. We're tired of this serious public policy crisis being pushed aside or laughed off."

The top-voted video question from Downing is as follows: "Mr. President, my name is Stephen Downing, and I'm a retired deputy chief of police from the Los Angeles Police Department. From my 20 years of experience I have come to see our country’s drug policies as a failure and a complete waste of criminal justice resources. According to the Gallup Poll, the number of Americans who support legalizing and regulating marijuana now outnumbers those who support continuing prohibition. What do you say to this growing voter constituency that wants more changes to drug policy than you have delivered in your first term?" The question can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0IpiATxdR4.

Downing's question came in first place for video questions and ranked second out of all questions (with the overall top spot going to a text question about copyright infringement). Many of the other top-ranking questions were about marijuana policy or the failed "war on drugs," as has been the case every other time the White House has invited citizens to submit and vote on questions via the web.

Voting in the YouTube contest wrapped up Saturday at midnight EST. In addition to the top-voted marijuana and drug policy questions mentioned above, there were a number of other similar questions that received thousands of votes but were mysteriously deleted after being marked "inappropriate."

More information about the contest and the top-voted questions can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/whitehouse. The Gallup poll referenced in Downing's winning question can be found online at http://www.gallup.com/poll/150149/Record-High-Americans-Favor-Legalizing-Marijuana.aspx.

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) represents police, prosecutors, judges, FBI/DEA agents and others who want to legalize and regulate drugs after fighting on the front lines of the war on drugs and learning firsthand that prohibition only serves to worsen addiction and violence. More info at http://www.CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.com.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 30, 2012
CONTACT: Tom Angell - (202) 557-4979 or media@leap.cc

Cop's Marijuana Legalization Question Gets 1st Place in White House Video Contest

2012-01-29T12:00:00.003-05:00

President Obama to Answer Top-Voted YouTube Questions on Monday

WASHINGTON, DC -- A question advocating marijuana legalization from a retired LAPD deputy chief of police won twice as many votes as any other video question in the White House's "Your Interview with the President" competition on YouTube this weekend. President Obama is slated to answer some of the top-voted questions on Monday.

The marijuana question, submitted by Stephen Downing, a board member for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), is as follows: "Mr. President, my name is Stephen Downing, and I'm a retired deputy chief of police from the Los Angeles Police Department. From my 20 years of experience I have come to see our country’s drug policies as a failure and a complete waste of criminal justice resources. According to the Gallup Poll, the number of Americans who support legalizing and regulating marijuana now outnumbers those who support continuing prohibition. What do you say to this growing voter constituency that wants more changes to drug policy than you have delivered in your first term?" The question can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0IpiATxdR4.

Downing's question came in first place for video questions and ranked second out of all questions (with the overall top spot going to a text question about copyright infringement). Many of the other top-ranking questions are about marijuana policy or the failed "war on drugs," as has been the case every other time the White House has invited citizens to submit and vote on questions via the web. For example, in last year's "Your Interview with the President" competition, another LEAP member's question came in first place overall, prompting President Obama to reply that drug legalization is "an entirely legitimate topic for debate." That exchange can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB7AK76TF-k.

Voting in the YouTube contest wrapped up Saturday at midnight EST. In addition to the top-voted marijuana and drug policy questions mentioned above, there were a number of other similar questions that received thousands of votes but were mysteriously deleted after being marked "inappropriate."

More information about the contest and the top-voted questions can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/whitehouse. The Gallup poll referenced in Downing's winning question can be found online at http://www.gallup.com/poll/150149/Record-High-Americans-Favor-Legalizing-Marijuana.aspx.

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) represents police, prosecutors, judges, FBI/DEA agents and others who want to legalize and regulate drugs after fighting on the front lines of the war on drugs and learning firsthand that prohibition only serves to worsen addiction and violence. More info at http://www.CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.com.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 29, 2012
CONTACT: Tom Angell - (202) 557-4979 or media@leap.cc

Neill Franklin's visit to Hilo generating interest!

2012-01-26T21:23:00.005-05:00

We fondly remember David's Bratzer's visit to the Big Island two years ago, and we are looking forward to Neill's visit to Hilo on Friday February 3rd.

We've been working on his schedule and it is filling in nicely...it won't be an easy "aloha Friday" for Neill after his busy four days in Honolulu...

He'll start off by meeting Hawaii County Councilman Dennis "Fresh" Onishi. It is a "Furlough Friday" so we really appreciate Councilman Onishi extending his aloha.

Next up, the Rotary Club of Hilo, an organization with many conservative members. The Hawaii County Chief of Police (Harry Kubojiri) recently made a presentation before this group (mostly about the concerns of the local police regarding the state's medical marijuana program), so Neill's presentation will no doubt raise a few eyebrows. Can't wait to gauge the reaction of the attendees once the presentation is over.

Our friends at Global HOPE, Noelie Rodriguez and the students, were able to reserve the Campus Central Plaza at UH Hilo, so Neill will become the second LEAP speaker to wow the students with his message (D Bratz got there first, yo!).

Finally, a very favorable crowd is expected at 4:30pm at the East Hawaii Cultural Council. Neill will most certainly be "preaching to the choir" at this event, which is open to the public. We expect that many victims of the "War on Drugs" from this community will be in attendance, and Neill message of change and reconciliation is going to be a healing one for many.

Local blogs are picking up the story...

http://hawaiinewsdaily.com/

http://www.bigislandnewscenter.com/

And, the Big Island Weekly, which publishes on a Wednesday is looking to do a story which would hit the stands two days before Neill's arrival.

It is going to be a great day!

Corrections Superintendent and Police Chief Testify in NH for Marijuana Legalization

2012-01-25T06:30:00.001-05:00

Bill to Tax and Regulate Marijuana Sales Could Raise Millions in New Revenue

CONCORD, NH -- An active duty New Hampshire corrections superintendent will testify before a state House of Representatives committee today in favor of a bill that would allow the NH Department of Revenue Administration to license and tax the sale of marijuana to adults over 21. The bill, HB 1705, will be heard by the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee at 11:00 AM EST in Legislative Office Building Room 204.

Richard Van Wickler, the corrections superintendent for Cheshire County, NH, will appear in support of the bill. "As an active duty jail superintendent, I've seen how marijuana prohibition doesn't do anything to reduce marijuana use but does cause a host of other problems, from taking up space in already crowded jails to funding a violent black market controlled by gangs and cartels."

Van Wickler is a speaker for the organization Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), an international group of police officers, judges, corrections officials, border agents and other criminal justice professionals who have witnessed the failures of the so-called "war on drugs" firsthand.

At the hearing, Van Wickler, who was named "Corrections Superintendent of the Year" for 2011 by the New Hampshire Association of Counties, will also hand-deliver written testimony on behalf of fellow LEAP speaker and active Plainfield, Connecticut chief of police Robert Hoffman. "Of course LEAP, like other law enforcement organizations, does not endorse or condone marijuana use," Hoffman says in his testimony. "But that is not the issue here, because to regulate the manufacture and sale of marijuana is not an endorsement or condonation of its use. On the contrary, regulating the market for marijuana will take it out of the control of violent gangs and cartels."

New Hampshire spends over $17.2 million enforcing its marijuana prohibition laws every year, according to Harvard University economist Jeffrey Miron. He says the state could take in an additional $12.6 million in new revenue through legal and taxed sales of marijuana.

The full text of the bill being heard today and other information can be found at http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2012/HB1705.html

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) represents police, prosecutors, judges, prison wardens, federal agents and others who want to legalize and regulate drugs after fighting on the front lines of the "war on drugs" and learning firsthand that prohibition only serves to worsen addiction and violence. More info at http://www.CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.com.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 25, 2012
CONTACT: Tom Angell - (202) 557-4979 or media@leap.cc

Awaiting Neill's visit to Hawaii

2012-01-24T03:28:00.006-05:00

Aloha to all in LEAP Blog land...

Just a quick hello, trying to get back into the habit of updating this.

We are looking forward to Neill Franklin's upcoming visit to Hawaii the week of January 29...most of his time will be (well) spent on Oahu...he's got a debate at the UH Richardson Law School, visiting classes at UH Manoa, Chaminade and Hawaii Pacific Universities, taping two segments for "Hawaii InJustice" all in place, with other events still taking form.

And, we on the Big Island will be fortunate to have Neill with us all day on Friday February 3rd in Hilo. He'll be meeting with one of the more conservative County Council members, doing a lunch presentation for the Rotary Club of Hilo (a conservative group for sure), and he will finish the day in front of a no doubt more supportive crowd at the East Hawaii Cultural Council on Kalakaua Street in downtown.

LEAP Pushes Back Against Federal Threats to Colorado's Medical Marijuana Program

2012-01-23T12:37:00.000-05:00

Today Colorado-based and national representatives of LEAP sent a stern letter to U.S. Attorney John Walsh, pushing back against his recent threats to medical marijuana centers that operate legally under state and local law. The full text of the letter follows, and is also available as a PDF here.

January 23, 2012

Dear U.S. Attorney John Walsh:

    As fellow law-enforcement colleagues vitally interested in the health and well-being of children, we must respectfully register our fundamental objection to your recent issuance of 23 letters threatening state-legal Colorado Medical Marijuana Centers and their landlords with civil, criminal and forfeiture sanctions. That you would justify this action on the basis of the locations in question being too close to schools for your liking (compliance with state and local law notwithstanding) is ironic and highlights the failure of the very federal marijuana prohibition policy that underlies the threats in your letter, as we’ll explain.

    Certainly, you must be aware that the voters of Colorado and the Colorado legislature – like the voters and lawmakers of 16 other states – have made it abundantly clear that marijuana is medicine for many people and for many ailments, and that its use and provision to patients should be allowed under the law.

    Almost two years ago, in a bipartisan fashion, the Colorado Senate and House of Representatives enacted a strict dual licensing system for Medical Marijuana Centers that requires a license by the local and state government. All the businesses you have targeted are operating with approval from their local governments and the state of Colorado.

        For you to join maverick prosecutors in California, Montana, Rhode Island, Washington and other states in going out of your way to short-circuit the will of the people and their elected representatives and to place obstacles between patients and their medicine is short-sighted and inimical to the public health, safety and welfare. Your actions bring law-enforcement into disrepute with the spoken will of the voters and their state representatives.

    No law prohibits the location of a physician’s office, hospital or pharmacy within 1,000 feet of a school. So, why would you exercise your prosecutorial discretion in such a way so as to make life more difficult for certain patients and their caregivers in Colorado? It’s not as if these actions will do anything to reduce the illegal trade in marijuana – near schools or otherwise. Expect quite the opposite.

    Those of us who have been working on the front lines to enforce – and reform – the drug laws in this country for years have frequently heard about medical marijuana patients who had to hit the streets to find the doctor-recommended medicine they needed. The medical marijuana centers in Colorado have provided patients like this a safe alternative and have reduced marijuana distribution on the streets. You are doing a disservice to the state of Colorado by using your discretionary prosecutorial power to undermine state and local regulations in a manner that will likely increase the underground distribution of marijuana.

    You seek to put medicine outside the reach of sick people in the name of law enforcement and federal legal superiority under the guise of a minimum 1,000-foot separation between a school and medicine.

   Instead, please recognize that the longstanding policy of prohibition itself – which we, like you, were once charged with enforcing – has made schools and parks the focal point for drug distribution, drug information and drug requisition.

    We can blame marijuana prohibition for the fact that the federal Monitoring the Future study found that a whopping 82% of high school seniors say that it would be “fairly easy” or “very easy” to get their hands on marijuana. Sixty-nine percent of tenth graders report the same thing. Prohibition-empowered drug dealers within our schools are responsible, not licensed and regulated dispensaries. Studies from Brown University and elsewhere show that state medical marijuana laws have not led to increases in teenage marijuana use rates compared to states without legal medical marijuana. Any federal actions to expand the reach of marijuana prohibition and close down Medical Marijuana Centers in Colorado will not be good for public safety, they won’t be good for kids and they certainly won’t help patients.

    Prosecutorial discretion is broad but not without limits, such as good reason, thoughtfulness, judgment and a rational relationship to the public health, safety and welfare, not to mention the will of the people of the State of Colorado. Please consider the full consequences of following through on your recent letters before any further action by your office on this matter.

Sincerely,

Neill Franklin
Executive Director
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition

Leonard Frieling
Former Municipal Court Judge, Lafayette, Colorado
Practicing Criminal Defense Attorney, Boulder, Colorado

Tony Ryan
Retired Lieutenant Police Officer, Denver Colorado

Speaking out, but still silenced: Anonymous cop criticizes War on Drugs

2012-01-17T17:51:00.006-05:00

This post is the first in a new blog series by an anonymous police officer who wants to join LEAP in publicly speaking out against the “war on drugs” but is afraid to because he fears being punished by his department.

As an active duty veteran police officer, I would love to publicly join Law Enforcement Against Prohibition and freely speak out against the drug war. However, I am scared, yes scared, to join LEAP publicly. Although many active duty law enforcers are already speaking out publicly with LEAP and maintaining their careers (more on them later), I believe I would be punished by my department for my advocacy or perhaps even fired.

Despite my current silence, I believe a paradigm shift regarding the drug war is quietly occurring in every law enforcement agency in this country, thanks in large part to the efforts of LEAP. This paradigm shift is palpable— I can see it, feel it, and on occasion I hear it slip out from fellow officers and even supervisors once in a blue moon. I firmly believe things are about to change in this country, and when they do, those within law enforcement will be jumping off this drug war rat ship like it was on fire. And the jumpers will proclaim that they knew the drug war was wrong the whole time. But alas, I am not here to judge or point fingers at those wearing badges—I wear one too. I too am riding on that drug war rat ship. Gladly, I will be jumping off that rat ship with everyone else. In the meantime, I can point no fingers, except at myself.

Russ Belville of NORML SHOW LIVE reads this blog post out loud:

For those of us in law enforcement, we are quite sensitive and aware as to the consequences of publicly joining LEAP. For those not in law enforcement, a further explanation is in order. Allow me to describe why active duty cops generally do not speak out publicly regarding the harm from drug prohibition, even when they know it is wrong. Let us begin with the viewpoint of your average person in law enforcement.

We are scared that in “rocking the boat” and speaking out:

1) We will be terminated and lose everything.

2) We will get passed over for promotion, lose the position that we currently hold, or fail to be transferred to more desirable assignments within our agency.

3) Fellow officers and supervisors will blacklist us for appearing “weak” or “soft on crime”.

These are the everyday real-life reasons why I have not gone public, and why I believe active duty members of law enforcement usually remain silent about the 800 lb. “drug war” gorilla in the room.

There are also underlying psychological and personality reasons that make cops reluctant to speak out:

1. Ego

2. Ignorance

3. Denial

4. Fear

5. Lack of shame of #1-#4

I will be the first to assert the primary reason for my silence, and the silence of most cops, is an economic one (the fear of losing my job). But after 40 years of an insane drug war, is economics the only reason cops have generally remained silent? Honestly? Give me a break. This is not just about fear of losing one’s job—this is also about the character and spirit of the person wearing the uniform. Ignorance, for many cops, listed above, is a self-imposed ignorance of “not wanting” to know.

An additional reason many cops are reluctant to speak out against the drug war is a pervasive mentality that says, “We don’t make the laws, we just enforce ‘em.”

After nearly two decades of being a cop, I am disturbed by this mentality on a daily basis. I am disturbed that my fellow officers generally disassociate themselves from enforcing bad laws. I have often wondered at what point cops would voice distaste for politicians creating even more outrageous laws. Is the general silence due to the 40-year drug war political campaign? Has this made these bad laws acceptable in society? Is it because some politicians and newscasters reading teleprompters tell us these bad laws are OK? (Of course, there are more and more leading politicians speaking out loudly against the drug war these days, a trend that is likely to continue.) Is it because our churches are generally silent on this issue? Is it because your mom lied (and my mom also lied) about the drug war? My answer: all of the above. So...when a young cadet walks in to his or her first day of the police academy, all too often the hearts and minds of these future cops are well conditioned for what is to follow.

I remember the very first day of my police academy when a veteran cop came strutting in the classroom wearing the gun and badge that we all wanted so badly. I looked around the classroom and everyone, myself included, looked up to this cop with respect and reverence. We all wanted to be this guy. With bravado and feeling, this cop strolled around the classroom and eyeballed each one of us, informing us how to think and act if we wanted to be a cop. We hung on every word. One of the bullet points drilled in to us was: “We don’t make the laws, we just enforce ‘em.” No one raised his or her hand to debate this—it was a take it or leave it statement. We took it. We wanted that badge. Trust me, this exact same mentality is alive and well in virtually every police department in the U.S.

So what does this have to do with cops, myself included, failing to speak out publicly against the drug war? Because we are trained from day one to detach ourselves from the emotional aspect of the law, to simply enforce the law. In other words, we are not supposed to have an opinion on whether a law is good or bad. We are supposed to be robot drones, albeit with some discretion, and enforce the law whether we like the law or not. It is this mentality that is pervasive among the men and women in law enforcement. It is this mentality that has grown another branch on the tree of silence regarding our failed drug laws.

After doing this job for many years, I can tell you that many officers have, at least to some degree, convinced themselves that enforcing bad laws is okay because they themselves did not make these bad laws. Therefore, why would an officer publicly speak out about bad laws for which they have no control? This is the real culture within law enforcement that is nurtured and carefully taught to every class of young men and women cadets. It is time for this mentality to stop.

“But what about freedom of speech!” you ask? (Pardon me for a moment while I laugh.) One would think that law enforcement officers would have freedom of speech. But officers have been terminated for expressing their views about the failed policy in the war on drugs. Have some law enforcement officials publicly joined LEAP and kept their careers? Yes, and thank God for these exceptions.

For example, LEAP speaker, Richard Van Wickler, has worked in law enforcement for over 20 years, the last 15 as superintendent for the Cheshire County (NH) Department of Corrections. For years, Wickler has spoken out publicly against our failed drug war, yet has maintained his career, even being named “Corrections Superintendent of the Year” in 2011 by the New Hampshire Association of Counties.

Other active duty members of LEAP have faced resistance. Jonathan Wender, then a police sergeant in Mountlake Terrace, Washington, for example, was fired for his anti-prohibition advocacy. But Wender didn’t take it sitting down; he sued, and in January 2009, the department settled, reinstating Wender and giving him back pay and full benefits.

So, things are slowly getting better and, I believe, will get better thanks to organizations like LEAP. But in general, at the time of this writing, we as public servants will in many cases lose everything by publicly speaking out against this shameful war on people.

Hopefully this starts to give you a sense of why many cops who know the drug war needs to end are reluctant to say so in public. In my next post, I’ll discuss how I came to find out about LEAP and further elaborate on the reasons I want to speak out but am reluctant to.

Cops and Judges Applaud Canadian Liberal Party’s Marijuana Legalization Resolution

2012-01-16T20:18:00.001-05:00

Current and former law enforcement officers offer to meet with party officials

VANCOUVER, BC -- An international organization of police officers, judges, prosecutors and drug enforcement agents welcomes the approval of Resolution 117 at the Liberal Biennial Convention. Resolution 117 calls for the legalization and regulation of marijuana, as well as a pardon for those previously convicted of simple possession. Delegates to the convention passed Resolution 117 by an overwhelming vote of 77% to 23%.

“We do not endorse political parties or candidates,” says David Bratzer, president of the Canadian branch of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP). “However, we do support actions that lead to good drug policy. The Liberal convention delegates have done this by calling for an end to the destructive and wasteful policy of marijuana prohibition.”

Bratzer emphasizes the importance of this policy initiative: “Some commentators have suggested that the delegates wasted their time on a side issue, but nothing could be further from the truth. Prohibition costs Canadian taxpayers well over $2 billion per year, and does nothing except make organized crime rich. The delegates have proven that they are serious about using tax money responsibly and intelligently.”

Bratzer is a serving police officer in British Columbia who participates in LEAP while off-duty. His personal views do not represent those of his employer, but they are shared by many other Canadians. According to an Angus Reid poll conducted in November 2010, 50% of Canadians support the legalization of marijuana, while 44% are opposed.

“LEAP is an educational organization. In this capacity, we extend an open invitation to elected officials and party members from across the political spectrum. Please contact us if you or your organization would like to meet and learn about the failure of drug prohibition,” says John Anderson, vice-president of LEAP Canada and a former correctional officer. Dr. Anderson is also a professor of Criminology at Vancouver Island University.

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) represents police, prosecutors, judges, federal agents and others who want to legalize and regulate drugs after fighting on the front lines of the "war on drugs" and learning firsthand that prohibition only serves to worsen addiction and violence. LEAP does not endorse or support any political parties or candidates for public office. For more information, visit http://www.CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.com.

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For immediate release: January 16, 2012
CONTACT: Steve Finlay – (604) 315-5635 or steve.finlay@leap.cc

Tom Angell – (202) 557-4979 or media@leap.cc

Some changes for the New Year

2012-01-09T13:37:00.000-05:00

First, regular viewers of the Mapping Project will notice the addition of a new marker on the maps: an outline of a male or female figure in white. In the western legal tradition, a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law and it is on this basis that we map the executions in Mexico--as a red balloon marker for all civilians, regardless if they are said to be "bad guys" by the government, the military, the police or the press. However, it was raised as an issue (by some viewers) about those who are, without doubt, innocent: the weeks-old baby, the 4-year-old girl or the woman driving in her car who is caught in the crossfire of a gang shoot out. For these undeniable cases we will now include this new marker. The use of the red balloon markers, however, still does not indicate the culpability of the person who dies, that is not for us to decide, rather the marker only indicates that there was a death that was related to organized crime/narco activity.

Second, the weekly count that we have been displaying (here: www.policereform.org) has been based upon the numbers provided by La Reforma, a respected newspaper whose research is used by many academics and researchers. For the overall total (now at 54,432) We have calculated the dead from the base number provided by the last government report in January 2011 (34,612 people killed in narco-related violence since Dec 2006 -- see my blog here for details) and then adding La Reforma's weekly updates. As of January 1, 2012 this will change, as we will now provide the updated figures based upon our own research with the data available on our public maps, for all to scrutinize. The reason for this is that we cannot challenge or check La Reforma's methodology, and unless you are a subscriber to their paper (as well as able to read Spanish) you cannot even obtain access to these numbers.

Morally, it is somewhat reprehensible that such data (concerning the havoc that is occurring in Mexico) is, firstly, not collected and made widely available by the government in a transparent and timely fashion and, secondly, that private agencies tie this important data to a subscription model...making a tangential profit off of the grief and misery of others. The Mapping Project will now address both of these issues--all data collected is displayed on public maps and the count maintained and updated weekly, free for the viewing. Full Disclosure: I do maintain a database of the collected data as well, but any analysis will be fee-based (we have to pay for this service in some fashion).

For a map of the killings: click: Narco-killings
Website: WM Consulting

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Arizona Medical Marijuana Discrimination by CPS

2012-01-06T10:02:00.003-05:00

Arizona Child Protective Services is discriminating against grandparents wanting custody of their grandchildren because they have Arizona medical marijuana cards.

That's what a CPS case worker told me last night. Four of our grandchildren are in CPS custody, and we felt we were being discriminated against because of our medical marijuana use, but no one from CPS would say it out loud until last night.

The Arizona Revised Statutes Section 36-2813, Discrimination Prohibited is quite clear about this, and says, "No person may be denied custody of or visitation or parenting time with a minor, and there is no presumption of neglect or child endangerment for conduct allowed under this chapter, unless the person’s behavior creates an unreasonable danger to the safety of the minor as established by clear and convincing evidence".

I filed a complaint with the Arizona ACLU, so we'll so what happens.........