Marijuana Legalization Films and the Cops Who Love Them (And the Donors Who Love Those Cops)

Last night’s Long Beach screening of the new documentary Legalize It was a smashing success, drawing crowds from many quarters to hear the tale of a pioneering social movement and the future of drug law reform. The screening was hosted by Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), a group of law enforcement officials opposed to the war on drugs. A number of LEAP speakers appear in the documentary, which followed the narrowly defeated 2010 campaign to legalize marijuana in California, and were on hand afterward to discuss the issues raised in the film. 

“It boggles my mind that marijuana is still illegal,” said former police officer Kyle Kazan, “Few policy changes would do more to end budget deficits, increase public safety, restore community trust in the police and improve racial relations in this country than ending the prohibition of marijuana. The Prop. 19 campaign may not have succeeded in changing the law, but it did change a lot of minds. It set the stage for reform in places like Washington, Oregon and Colorado, where voters are now poised to make history by ending these ridiculous laws once and for all.”

A panel discussion featuring law enforcement, clergy and others followed the film. There was also an awards ceremony honoring the pioneering medical cannabis educators at Oaksterdam University. Many in the room remarked on the parallels with initiative campaigns to legalize marijuana currently on the ballot in three states and several localities.

LEAP speaker and retired Redondo Beach Lieutenant Commander Diane Goldstein commented, “The fact that we sold out this theater is indicative of a growing belief in the failure of current marijuana policy. Public support has never been higher. Cities and states all across the nation are instituting reforms and at this point, change is inevitable. When that change comes, we will all be indebted to those on the Prop. 19 campaign who first forged the path toward ending prohibition.”

Willie Nelson Marijuana Legalization Documentary Presented by Pro-Legalization Cops

  

Special Screening with Chance to Meet Film’s Stars at Pre-Film Wine & Appetizer Reception

Panel Discussion, Award Presentation to Follow

LONG BEACH, Calif. – Law Enforcement Against Prohibition presents a special preview screening of Willie Nelson’s Luck Films’ new documentary Legalize It on the Prop. 19 campaign to legalize marijuana in California in 2010. A discussion of the film, the campaign and similar measures currently on the ballot in Washington, Oregon and Colorado will follow the screening. Guests purchasing a Gold Status ticket will also have a chance to mingle with many of those portrayed in the film at a private reception beforehand.

What: Legalize It, a documentary about the Prop. 19 campaign

When: Wednesday, October 24, 2012 7-10pm

Where: Art Theatre of Long Beach, 2025 E. 4th Street, Long Beach

How: Tickets available online and start at $10; Reception starts at $50. Please see the website www.leap.cc/california-benefit/ or contact Diane Goldstein (diane.goldstein@leap.cc or 714.232.3722) to learn more or for information on sponsorship packages.

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) is a nonprofit organization of cops, judges, prosecutors and other law enforcement officials dedicated to ending the prohibition of marijuana. Several LEAP speakers who appear in the film, including former LAPD Deputy Chief Stephen Downing and Libertarian Vice Presidential candidate and former judge Jim Gray, will be on hand for interviews. Jeff and Dale Sky Jones and Richard Lee of Oaksterdam University will be on hand to receive a special award, and Rick Schlosser of the California Council of Churches, Producer Ravit Markus and other drug reform activists will attend the private reception and appear on the panel following the film.

Legalize It, a labor of love from award-winning filmmaker Dan Katzir and producers Ravit Markus and Lati Grobman of Campbell Grobman Films, is a sensitive and humorous behind-the-scenes look at a colorful campaign, the unlikely people running it and the disparate groups who both opposed and endorsed it. In the end, the passion and courage of the campaign leaders transformed a local ballot measure into a mainstream political topic and changed minds the world over.

“In any battle, the people who go in first are going to take one hell of a beating. In the fight to legalize marijuana, the Prop. 19 campaign folks were those people. If and when ballot measures in other states succeed, it will be because these folks cleared the way.” – LEAP Executive Director Neill Franklin

See more about the film and its Long Beach screening at www.legalizeitmovie.com/ or www.leap.cc/california-benefit/.

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) represents law enforcement officials who, after fighting on the front lines of the "war on drugs," came to believe that prohibition only serves to worsen substance abuse and violence. More info at 

www.CopsSayLegalizeMarijuana.com.

Cops and Judges Endorse California 2012 Marijuana Initiative

Law Enforcers Say Ending Prohibition Improve Public Safety

SACRAMENTO, CA -- A group of police officers, prosecutors, judges and other criminal justice professionals is announcing its support for the Regulate Marijuana Like Wine Act of 2012, a ballot initiative that would end marijuana prohibition in California. The group, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), represents criminal justice professionals who have been on the front lines of the "war on drugs" and seen its failures and dangers up close.

Stephen Downing, a retired deputy chief of police with the Los Angeles Police Department, said, "This initiative will accomplish what the drug war has failed to do by cutting off the economic engine that fuels gangs, cartels and terrorists. And, instead of wasting millions of dollars to eradicate marijuana, we will bring marijuana under strict regulation and generate billions of dollars through capturing otherwise lost sales tax. Like it or not, marijuana is California's biggest cash crop and it is time we admit prohibition isn't working and start regulating and taxing it instead."

The Regulate Marijuana Like Wine Act of 2012 would repeal prohibition of marijuana for adults aged 21 and older, strictly regulate the sale of marijuana similar to the wine industry and allow hemp agriculture and products. The initiative would not change laws regarding medical marijuana, impairment in the workplace, driving while impaired or use by persons under 21 years old.

Retired California Superior Court Judge James Gray added, "By regulating and controlling marijuana, we will make marijuana less available for our children. Don't take my word for it; ask any teenager you find whether it is easier to get marijuana or alcohol. The answer will be marijuana, because alcohol is regulated and controlled by the government, and marijuana is controlled by illegal marijuana dealers who don't ask for I.D."

More information about the initiative is online at http://www.RegulateMarijuanaLikeWine.com.

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.

#     #     #

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 14, 2011
CONTACT: Jim Gray - (714) 328-8829 or JimPGray@sbcglobal.net
                   Stephen Downing - (562) 433-4043 or steve@sonarnetworks.com

New Film Featuring LEAP to be Screened in San Francisco and L.A.

The new film, Exile Nation, which features LEAP speakers Jim Gray, Kyle Kazan and Eric Sterling, is being screened soon in San Francisco and Los Angeles.  See below for details, and stay tuned for announcements about screenings in other cities!



The Exile Nation Project
An Oral History of the War on Drugs & The American Criminal Justice System

A film by Charles Shaw

The Land of the Free punishes or imprisons more of its citizens than any other country. This collection of testimonials from criminal offenders, family members, and experts on America’s criminal justice system puts a human face on the 1 in 31 Americans subjugated by the US Government's 40 year, one trillion dollar social catastrophe: The War on Drugs; a failed policy underscored by fear, politics, racial prejudice and intolerance in a public atmosphere of "out of sight, out of mind."

Written, Produced and Directed by Charles Shaw

PREMIERE SCREENINGS 

Thursday, March 31st, 2011 - San Francisco

Jellyfish Gallery

1286 Folsom Street @ 9th

San Francisco, CA 94103

7:00pm doors, 8:00 screening

http://exilenationproject.eventbrite.com/

Friday, April 1st, 2011 - Los Angeles

Crescent Heights United Methodist Church

1296 N. Fairfax AveW. Hollywood, CA 90046

7:00pm doors, 8:00 screening

10pm Q & A with the Director and Mark Kleiman, Scott Imler, Lynette Shaw, Judge James P. Gray,  & Steve Costello.

http://exilenationhollywood.eventbrite.com/

Should LEAP publish a book?

At the Netroots Nation convention in August, I was lucky enough to be given a new copy of Marijuana is Safer by Steve Fox, Paul Armentano and Mason Tvert.

Browsing through this book got me wondering: should LEAP publish its own book? What I have in mind is a collection of essays written by LEAP speakers. Perhaps one third of the book could contain essays already published, like Jack Cole's End Prohibition Now. The remaining two thirds could focus on new content.

On the "yes" side: it would help raise money, which is important because we are a non-profit organization. It would provide a new medium for spreading LEAP's message, particularly if we could get the book into libraries and bookstores around the world. Some people may perceive LEAP to be more credible and well rounded if we had our own book. It also would provide a chance for unpublished speakers, like myself, to put our ideas and experiences into print.

On the "no" side: it takes a lot of time and effort to publish a book. Also, as Peter Moskos explains, most books don't make a lot of money. Publishing a book might distract LEAP at a critical point in our growth. (Also: does anyone actually reads books anymore?)

There is no shortage of authors at LEAP. Norm Stamper wrote Breaking Rank: A Top Cop's Expose of the Dark Side of American Policing. Judge Jim Gray wrote Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed: A Judicial Indictment of the War on Drugs. Moskos published Cop in the Hood. Many other speakers have published articles and research papers (see, for example, Hon. Maria Lucia Karam's excellent essay Prohibition Causes Most of the Harms Associated to Drugs.

It seems as though many drug policy organizations are publishing books as a means of fostering awareness about drug prohibition. Members of SAFER, as mentioned earlier, recently published Marijuana is Safer. Transform is about to release the third book in its trilogy about drug policy, titled After the War on Drugs: Blueprint for a Regulated Market.

What do you think? Should LEAP publish a book?