Law Enforcement Against Prohibition

Friday, July 30, 2010

Facts getting in the way of rhetoric (again)

The papers have been busy this last week with various reports of the violence in Mexico and the "successes" of the army in killing and/or capturing high-level cartel members. One report that struck me as noteworthy was a headline in El Universal (one of Mexico’s national newspapers) a couple of days ago. Translated, the headline stated that now only Russian and Chinese mafias are more powerful than the Mexican cartels ("Sólo mafias china y rusa superan al narco: Se expande más allá de sus mercados naturales: Buscaglia. Aumentan operaciones de cárteles aztecas en EU, Canadá, la UE y Asia" http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/primera/35298.html).

According to a study by United Nations drug policy expert, Edgardo Buscaglia, the power and influence of the Mexican cartels has increased 735% in the last 4 years, putting them in 3rd place in the world for organized crime. Oddly enough, it was 4 years ago that President Calderón launched his invasion of Iraq...oops, I mean his war on drugs. Coincidence? Not if you read the study, "Effect of Drug Law Enforcement on Drug-Related Violence: Evidence from a Scientific Review," released a couple months ago by the International Center for Science in Drug Policy (ICSDP), a group of experts based in Britain and Canada. After a comprehensive meta-analysis of studies and papers examining law enforcement efforts against drugs, the authors concluded that the harder the governments "fight" drugs and drug related activities (tougher laws, more police, more enforcement, less tolerance etc), the more violence that results.

Maybe if the various leaders of the free world, commanders-in-chief, and other decision-makers spent a little more time reading such studies and less time posturing we truly would have better security and safer communities (they need only glance quickly at Mexico to see the study in action).

For a map of the killings: click: Narco-killings

Follow on Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/wmmckay

I always thought I had a right to voice my opinion

I always thought I had a right to voice my opinion to elected officials without being called names, guess I was wrong...

It seems Arizona State Senator John Huppenthal thinks people who speak out in opposition to the $20 Luxury Tax on medical marijuana are all "dope peddlers". At least that's what he called me when responded to an email I sent him recently.

In a recent Arizona Republic article Senator John Huppenthal told a reporter that he supported both the medical marijuana tax and the $20 per ounce luxury tax. For some reason he said he hoped the luxury tax would be a "deterrent".

I couldn't imagine how our elected official's could not only add the state sales tax to medicine, but a $20 Luxury Tax too. Why would they think sick people should be deterred from getting the medicine they need?

Why would Senator John Huppenthal want to deter someone in constant pain, or who can't keep food down because of the nausea from getting the medicine they need.

So I sent Senator Huppenthal an email asking him why, and telling him that he must have a lot of hate in him to want Arizona citizens to live in constant pain.

The next day he fired back an email telling me to "quit trying to fool people" that I was a "dope peddler", and that "People should be very cautious about any pain medicince and potential addiction". He misspelled medicine, not my typo.

I was confused; did he really think that Arizona citizens who speak in support of medical marijuana are all dope peddlers? When it comes to addiction, I agree people should be cautious with pain medication, but actually if he checked the number of pain patients who become addicted to opioids is very low, but we were talking about marijuana. Does this senator really still believe marijuana is addictive?

The next day he sent another email with an apology. He said, "I owe you an apology and I do apologize. I interpreted your note as you to be solely a spokesperson for medical marijuana. I see that you are a sufferer of pain".

So if I suffer pain, and not solely a spokesperson for a patient's right to medical marijuana, I'm not a dope peddler? But if I'm solely a spokesperson for a patient's right to medical marijuana, I'm a dope peddler ....... I just don't understand.

I ask for a meeting with Senator Huppenthal, but haven't received a reply as of today.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Press Release: New Head of Pro-Legalization Police Group Praises Congressional Actions Against "War on Drugs"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 28, 2010

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

New Head of Pro-Legalization Police Group Praises Congressional Actions Against "War on Drugs"

Former Baltimore Cop Saw Colleagues Killed in "Drug War"

WASHINGTON, DC -- As the U.S. House passed separate bills this week to scale back penalties for crack cocaine and to create a commission to reconsider the entire "war on drugs," a group of pro-legalization police officers, judges and prosecutors announced that it has hired a former Baltimore narcotics cop as its new executive director.

Neill Franklin, a 33-year police veteran who led multi-jurisdictional anti-narcotics task forces for the Maryland State Police and training for the Baltimore Police Department, officially took the helm of the legalization group, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), on July 1.

"The 'war on drugs' has done nothing to reduce drug use," said Franklin. "But this failed prohibition policy has achieved some results: far too many cops killed in action, billions of tax dollars wasted, powerful and well-funded drug cartels and out-of-control violence in our cities. It's great to see our elected representatives finally beginning to address these problems, but there's still a lot more work to be done."

The pro-legalization criminal justice professionals of LEAP are working to change the current debate about the "war on drugs" to help more people understand that current drug policies harm public safety and that only by legalizing and regulating drugs can we actually control them and thereby reduce death, disease, crime and addiction.

To that end, LEAP is actively organizing cops, judges and prosecutors who are campaigning for Proposition 19, the statewide marijuana legalization initiative on California's ballot this November. Representatives of the organization's 100-member speakers bureau have also testified for drug policy reform measures in recent months in places like the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Virginia and Washington.

"When my good friend Ed Toatley was killed in the line of fire during an undercover drug purchase, Maryland lost one of the best narcotics cops in our state's history," said Franklin. "It is in his honor, and in the names of all the good cops whose lives have needlessly been lost in this failed 'drug war,' that I will work with LEAP to change these deadly drug laws."

On Tuesday the House passed H.R. 5143, which would create a blue ribbon commission to study the criminal justice system from top to bottom and recommend reforms. Sen. Jim Webb, sponsor of the Senate companion bill, said that the commission should study drug legalization. On Wednesday, the House passed S. 1789, which would lower the disparity between sentences for crack cocaine and powder cocaine from it's current 100-to-1 ratio down to 18-to-1. That bill unanimously passed the Senate in March.

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) and its 30,000 supporters represent police, prosecutors, judges, FBI/DEA agents, US marshals and others from around the world who want to legalize and regulate all 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.

# # #

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Birthday alert: LEAP blog turning one

The one year anniversary of the new LEAP blog is coming up soon (August 17th). Lots of blogs don't even last a month so I'm glad we've managed to stick around. It's hard to believe how fast the time has passed! LEAP speakers have published over 310 posts resulting in over 60,675 unique visitors. There have been over 100,000 page views.

The blog has developed a group of regular visitors who frequently leave comments. I am very grateful to you - the readers - who have helped to develop a sense of community around the LEAP organization and everything that it stands for.

I am looking for some ideas about how we can celebrate. I would like to do another book giveaway contest but I am open to other ideas as well. If anyone has any suggestions please post them in the comment section. Thanks!