LAW
ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS WRAP UP TOUR OF STATES WITH DRUG POLICY REFORM
INITIATIVES
Police
Chiefs, Former Prosecutor, Officers Lend a Hand
LEAP
Excellent Source for Midterm Results As They Come In
As the midterm election approaches, LEAP representatives are hard at work
educating voters about the need for drug policy reform in states with relevant
initiatives on the ballot. A pair of police chiefs, Retired Seattle Chief Norm Stamper
and sitting Police Chief Larry
Kirk are in Alaska, where voters are about to weigh in on an initiative to
legalize, regulate and control marijuana (Measure 2). The two went to seven
towns between them, from Anchorage to Kodiak, to educate voters on the public
safety benefits of legalization. In the meantime, a former prosecutor and a
retired lieutenant sheriff are doing a similar tour of Oregon (Measure 91) and a
former police officer and former Customs agent are speaking to Florida voters
about medical marijuana (Amendment 2). These tours have included meetings with
civic clubs, conversations with the media and debates with opponents.
“Unfortunately, mid-term elections historically have low levels of
turnout, so their results don’t reflect the will of the people as completely as
votes in presidential years,” said Major Neill Franklin (Ret.), LEAP’s
executive director. “We hope that these initiatives, so vital to public safety,
community relations and basic issues of fairness will change that – that we’ll
see greater participation from both sides of the aisle and important changes in
drug policy across the nation.”
LEAP also supports Initiative 71 in Washington DC, which would allow
residents to possess up to two ounces for marijuana for personal use and to grow
up to six plants, and Prop. 47 in California, which would defelonize low-level
nonviolent crimes such as drug possession. LEAP will be tweeting, updating our
blog, and sending out press releases as results come in
Tuesday.
“Marijuana legalization is vital to improving public safety,” says Police
Chief Larry Kirk. “Under the current system, purchases are not age-restricted,
all the profits go to criminals and thousands of people a year are being
burdened with arrest records that will haunt them the rest of their lives.
Speaking as someone who has never used marijuana, these states can do
better.”
Law
Enforcement Against Prohibition is a group of police, prosecutors, judges and
other law enforcement officials opposed to the war on drugs
