Former Prosecutor Testifies for Indiana Bill to Create Marijuana Commission (Press Release)

Tuesday Hearing to Consider Marijuana Legalization and Decriminalization

INDIANAPOLIS, IN -- A former drug prosecutor will testify before an Indiana Senate committee on Tuesday in favor of a bill that would create a commission to study the state's marijuana laws and consider alternatives such as legalization with taxation, decriminalization and medical marijuana. The bill, SB 0192, sponsored by Sen. Karen Tallian, will be heard by the Senate Committee on Corrections, Criminal, and Civil Matters on Tuesday at 8:00 AM in the Senate chamber.

Jim Gierach, a former Cook County, IL prosecutor, will testify that, "Marijuana prohibition does not work now and has never worked. As alcohol prohibition showed, making a drug illegal is the single most effective way to put it in the control of violent gangs and drug cartels."

Gierach is 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.

Gierach will also tell senators that, "We can have safe streets or marijuana prohibition, but not both. We can prioritize violent crime and reserve horribly expensive and limited prison space for those who injure, kill, steal and cheat others, or we can continue to prioritize a war on drugs which has not succeeded by any measure."

Ceasing to arrest people for marijuana and regulating and taxing its sales could lead to more than $182 million a year in law enforcement savings and new revenue for Indiana, according to Harvard University economist Jeffrey Miron.

"We have limited amounts of tax dollars, and the public has told us stop spending money," Sen. Tallian told the Associated Press. "So I think we need to examine now if we want to spend our tax dollars on marijuana arrests or on public education. Do we want to spend it on marijuana arrests or infrastructure?"

The full text of Sen. Tallian's bill and other information can be found at http://www.in.gov/apps/lsa/session/billwatch/billinfo?year=2011&request=getBill&docno=0192

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

Washington Cops, Judges, Corrections Officials and Border Agents Testify for Marijuana Legalization (Press Release)

Hearing Today on Bill to Allow Marijuana Sales in Liquor Stores

OLYMPIA, WA -- A number of law enforcers who once waged the "war on drugs" submitted testimony today in support of a bill to legalize and regulate marijuana in Washington. The bill, HB 1550, sponsored by Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson, was heard by the House Committee on Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness.

Norm Stamper, a retired Seattle chief of police, wrote that legalizing marijuana "would provide a great benefit for public safety by allowing the state’s police officers to focus on the worst crimes, protecting the people of Washington from burglaries, rapes, shootings, and drunk driving. Not only would it free up police resources, it would bring in much-needed new revenue for the state." Stamper and the other criminal justice professionals that testified today are speakers for the organization Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP).

According to Rep. Dickerson, the bill could generate $400 million in new revenue for the state every two years. Seventy-seven percent of the revenues raised would be dedicated to health care and 20 percent to substance abuse and treatment. It would legalize the use of marijuana for adults age 21 and over and allow it to be sold through state liquor stores, with commercial growers applying for a license through the Liquor Control Board.

"Drug cases and marijuana cases in particular occupy an inordinate amount of money and time," testified David Nichols, a retired Whatcom County Superior Court judge. "In addition to the court resources they waste, I witnessed the damage they inflicted upon individuals and their families and communities. And for what? Marijuana laws are not keeping anyone from using marijuana."

Also submitting testimony today were retired U.S. Customs inspector Arnold James Byron, former police officer James Peet and former Washington State Department of Corrections probation officer Matt McCally.

The full text of the bill and other information can be found at http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=1550

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 8, 2011
CONTACT: Tom Angell - (202) 557-4979 or media//at//leap//dot//cc