Flint “Leaders” Disregard Will of Voters, Say They Will Ignore Voter-Passed Marijuana Decriminalization Measure

 Law Enforcement Officials Declare Their Disapproval of City’s Undemocratic Approach

 FLINT, MI –The City of Flint has announced that despite a successful ballot measure decriminalizing the adult possession of marijuana approved by 54% of voters last week, it would continue to prosecute people for marijuana possession. Today Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, a group of law enforcement officials who support legalization of marijuana publicly condemned the city’s actions. 

“This is in direct violation of the wishes of voters who opted for a decriminalization approach similar to those successfully implemented in cities across the country,” said Executive Director Neill Franklin. “Keeping marijuana illegal benefits no one. It’s expensive, ineffective, and destroys the relationship between police and the communities they serve. The citizens of Flint spoke loud and clear in favor of change. City officials should respect the wishes of the voters who put them into office and can remove them just as easily.”

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) represents police, prosecutors, judges, corrections officials and others who, after witnessing the harms of the drug war firsthand, are now devoted to ending that war. More info at http://www.CopsSayLegalizeMarijuana.com. 

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 14, 2012

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

Red Cross Calls for Drug Decriminalization

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/

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

Two Wednesday Hearings: One to Decriminalize Possession, One to Legalize and Tax Sales

PROVIDENCE, RI -- A former Providence police officer and a former undercover narcotics detective will testify today before Rhode Island House committees in favor of bills that would decriminalize and legalize marijuana. The bill to legalize and regulate marijuana sales, HB 5591, will be heard by the House Finance Committee at 1:00 PM in Room 35 of the State House. The bill to decriminalize possession of less than one ounce of marijuana, HB 5031 will be heard by the House Judiciary Committee at the rise of the House 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 has 40 of the state's 75 representatives signed on as co-sponsors and, according to a Mason-Dixon poll, 64 percent of Rhode Islanders support decriminalizing marijuana possession. Last year, 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 bills being heard Wednesday and other information can be found at http://www.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText11/HouseText11/H5591.pdf and http://www.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText11/HouseText11/H5031.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.CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.com.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 16, 2011
CONTACT: Tom Angell - (202) 557-4979 or media@leap.cc

Former Police Chief Testifies for Bills to Decriminalize Marijuana in Connecticut (Press Release)

Judiciary Committee Will Also Consider Bills for Medical Marijuana

HARTFORD, CT -- A former chief of police will testify before a Connecticut House of Delegates committee today in favor of bills that would decriminalize marijuana possession. The bills, Raised Bill No. 953 and Governor's Bill No. 1014, will be heard by the Joint Committee on Judiciary at 10:00 AM EST in Room 2C of the Legislative Office Building.

John Lorenzo, a former chief of marine police with the Lake Lillinonah Authority, will be testifying in support of the bills. "The current law forces police officers in Connecticut to waste hour after hour chasing marijuana users, arresting them and processing their cases," he said. "If we decriminalized marijuana in this state, police could solve more burglaries, rapes and murders, and it would free up jail space and save the dollars wasted on keeping otherwise ordinary citizens incarcerated. Marijuana prohibition does nothing to protect public safety; it only threatens it."

Lorenzo 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.

In addition to the bills decriminalizing possession of marijuana, the committee will also hear bills to legalize the medical use of marijuana for people whose doctors say it can help them. In passing those bills, Raised Bill No. 6566 and Governor's Bill No. 1015, Connecticut would join 15 other states and the District of Columbia in protecting medical marijuana patients from arrest.

A Quinnipiac University poll released last week shows that Connecticut voters support decriminalizing marijuana by a 65-32 margin, and they favor medical marijuana 79-17. Both proposals have majority support across political parties and among all age groups.

Connecticut spends over $130 million enforcing its marijuana prohibition laws every year, according to Harvard University economist Jeffrey Miron.

The full text of the bills being heard today and other information can be found at http://www.cga.ct.gov/2011/JUDdata/pha/2011pha00314-R001000JUD-pha.htm

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: March 14, 2011
CONTACT: Tom Angell - (202) 557-4979 or media@leap.cc

Former Baltimore Narcotics Cop Testifies for Bill to Decriminalize Marijuana in Maryland

Tuesday Hearing on Lowering Marijuana Penalty to $100 Fine

ANNAPOLIS, MD -- A former Baltimore narcotics cop will testify before a Maryland House of Delegates committee today in favor of a bill that would decriminalize marijuana possession. The bill, HB 606, sponsored by Del. Curt Anderson (D-Baltimore City), will be heard by the House Judiciary Committee at 1:00 PM EST in Room 100.

Neill Franklin, who did narcotics work with both the Maryland State Police and the Baltimore Police Department over a 34-year career, will testify that, "The current laws force police officers in Maryland to waste hour after hour processing marijuana possession arrests. Can you imagine how many more burglaries, rapes and murders we could solve if we put these wasted man-hours toward good use? Marijuana prohibition constitutes a serious threat to public safety."

Franklin is executive director of 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 Maryland bill will lower the penalty for possessing an ounce or less of marijuana from a criminal misdemeanor to a civil offense punishable by a fine of up to $100. In addition to Del. Anderson, HB 606 has bipartisan support from 20 co-sponsors and has been officially endorsed by the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland.

Maryland spends over $236 million enforcing its marijuana laws every year, according to Harvard University economist Jeffrey Miron.

Del. Michael Smigiel (R-Cecil County), a co-sponsor of the decriminalization bill, says that many cops are privately approaching him in support of the idea. "Many police who come before the judiciary say they don't want to have to spend all that time taking someone in for less than an ounce, booking them and going through that whole process, when there are other people out there that they could be spending their time on that are committing serious crimes," he recently told WBAL-TV.

The full text of HB 606 and other information can be found at http://mlis.state.md.us/2011rs/billfile/HB0606.htm

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: February 22, 2011
CONTACT: Tom Angell - (202) 557-4979 or media@leap.cc

The Portugal Experiment

In 2001 Portugal decriminalized the possession of illegal drugs.
Did the world come to an end?
The BBC reports on the modest success story.



Perhaps this brave country will step up again, defy the United States and international treaties, and just legalize all drugs.