Thursday, January 5, 2012

Cops Who Support Legalizing Marijuana to Question Presidential Candidates

 Polls Show More Americans Support Legalizing Marijuana Than Oppose It

 CONCORD, NH -- Several active duty and retired members of law enforcement will question presidential candidates on the campaign trail in New Hampshire today and tomorrow about the failed war on drugs they've been asked to wage.

"As an active duty jail superintendent, I've seen how the drug war doesn't do anything to reduce drug abuse but does cause a host of other problems, from prison overcrowding to a violent black market controlled by gangs and cartels," said Richard Van Wickler, the serving corrections superintendent in Cheshire County, NH and a board member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP). "For a long time this issue has been treated like a third rail by politicians, but polls now show that voters overwhelmingly agree that the drug war is a failure and that a new direction is sorely needed."

WHO: Cheshire County, NH Corrections Superintendent Richard Van Wickler; Plainfield, CT Chief of Police Robert Hoffman and other law enforcement officials

WHAT: Panel discussion and questioning of presidential candidates on ending the war on drugs

WHEN: All day Thursday and Friday, January 5-6; Panel discussion at 1:00 PM Thursday

WHERE: 2012 College Convention; Grappone Conference Center; 70 Constitution Ave.; Concord, NH (1:00 PM Thurs discussion panel in Merrimack Room).

Gallup has been asking Americans about marijuana legalization for more than 40 years. This October, for the first time ever, the firm found that more Americans support legalizing marijuana than oppose it (50%-46%). The support for legalization is up from 36% five years ago and just 25% in the late nineties. According to Zogby, three out of four Americans believe the overall war on drugs has been a failure.

Among the Republican candidates, only Ron Paul has forcefully called for an end to the drug war. Gov. Rick Perry and Gov. Jon Hunstman have said that states should be allowed to legalize medical marijuana without federal interference. Newt Gingrich, when asked by a woman in New Hampshire this week whether she should be arrested for her drug use, said, "No, you shouldn't be arrested for recreational drug use but you also shouldn't do it." President Obama, while opposing legalization, has said that it is "an entirely legitimate topic for debate."

In questioning the Republican contenders after their speeches at the 2012 College Convention (http://www.nec.edu/college-convention), the pro-legalization police officers hope to get more candidates on the record about the ineffectiveness and harms of the war on drugs, and to demonstrate that advocating for an end to prohibition is an increasingly viable political 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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NEWS ADVISORY: January 5, 2012
CONTACT: Tom Angell - (202) 557-4979 or media@leap.cc

4 comments:

  1. Excellent! I wish y’all the best and hope you garner much mainstream media attention.

    Ending prohibition is the only viable strategy for rescuing the U.S. from the death spiral we’re in.

    Newt has since made reprehensible comments about marijuana, defaming the early settlers and saying they would gladly shoot half-inch and three-quarter-inch musket balls in to their fellow neighbors who grew marijuana; completely ignoring the fact that growing hemp and opium poppies was common.

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  2. I have a dream. I dream of the day when those who are marijuana (and other) policy reformers stop bashing alcohol.

    I like alcohol. Frankly I HATE drinking too much of it, it’s a horrible feeling. But the research is clear, alcohol drinkers are more healthy than teetotalers. AND all the evil “sin-tax” BS is just that, “BS.”
    http://www.AlcoholFacts.org

    Ethan Nadelmann, in fact Dr. Ethan Nadelmann, is one of the very few people I know who speak in this regard, who does not try to pit one kind of drug user against another, and in fact tries to help remove the terror and animosity among them.

    Reformers are correct to point out that excessive amounts of cannabis lead to hardly any problems while excessive amounts of alcohol can lead to more problems than the aforementioned substance. But reformers who bash alcohol and alcohol drinkers are falling in the trap the neo-prohibitionists have set and want you in.

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    Replies
    1. The only reason that alcohol users are bashed is because of their arrogance! I don't see any reason to try to prohibit it again! Thing is, those who approve of alcohol are the ones that feel sending cannabis users to jail is proper, when it is, obviously, a less dangerous drug than alcohol. The bashing will continue until the alcohol elitists see the folly of their ways.

      That should not be, our, Christian way. But, most of us have trouble "turning the other cheek" to the slap in the face from the hypocrites!

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  3. Actually, based on my own understanding as I saw someone who used such marijuana, it can't really destroy your life as long as you don't abused it, I mean you should know how much to take in in order not to get addicted with it. So, legalizing it can be good for somehow and bad as well.

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