Press Release: Marijuana Sales Begin in Oregon Thursday

For Immediate Release:                                              Contact: darby.beck@leap.cc

Wednesday, September 30, 2015                               415.823.5496                             

MARIJUANA SALES BEGIN IN OREGON THURSDAY

Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Given Head Start Before Other Stores

Oregon Becomes First State to Expunge Prior Nonviolent Marijuana Records

Oregon, which legalized marijuana in 2014 with Measure 91, is beginning sales tomorrow, Thursday October 1^st. Existing medical marijuana dispensaries were permitted to get a head start on sales before other, non-medical stores, which are expected to open in Fall 2016. This will ensure existing medical marijuana retailers have an opportunity to fairly compete in the new market as it emerges in the next several years. About 200 of the 345 medical shops have registered to expand their sales to all adults and expect a significant increase in profit margins.

“Tomorrow Oregon becomes the third state to be able to control, regulate and tax marijuana by making sales of the drug legal,” said Major Neill Franklin (Ret.), executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), a group of law enforcement officials opposed to the war on drugs. “If we were to apply this same logic to heroin and other drugs so that people with addictions knew what they were getting, we’d not only see the public safety improvements we’ve seen in Colorado and Washington, we’d see thousands of lives saved every year.”

On June 30^th, Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed into law HB 3400, which not only created specific regulations for tracking plants from seed to sale to ensure consumer safety and vendor accountability, but it will also expunge thousands of prior marijuana records for nonviolent offenders.

“Millions of Americans face lessened life opportunities because of arrest and conviction records,” said Major Franklin. “Oregonians should be proud of the strides they have made to restore justice to those who should never have been arrested or incarcerated for marijuana in the first place.”

As of July 1^st of this year, adult possession and home cultivation were permitted. The law permits adults 21 and older to grow four plants and keep eight ounces at home, and to possess one ounce. Public consumption and sales will continue to remain illegal. The Oregon Liquor Control Commission, the agency charged with regulating marijuana in the state, will begin to accept applications for cultivation, processing, testing, and retail business licenses starting January 4^th, 2016, and recreational retailers are expected to be operational later the same year.

Four states have thus far legalized and regulated adult use. Oregon’s regulatory model has been developed with Washington and Colorado’s successes and failures in mind. Alaska has not yet begun legal sales. Among the marijuana regulation priorities for the Oregon Liquor Control Commission are preventing accidental ingestion by children with the use of appropriate childproof packaging, and ensuring that extracts, concentrates, and edibles are carefully regulated, tested, and labeled.

LEAP is committed to ending decades of failed policy that have created dangerous underground markets and gang violence, fostered corruption and racism, and largely ignored the public health crisis of addiction.

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Press Release: CALIFORNIA CIVIL FORFEITURE REFORM BILL DIES IN ASSEMBLY AFTER DECEPTIVE LAW ENFORCEMENT LOBBYING

Contact: Mikayla Hellwich                                                                                                                  For Immediate Release:

Mikayla.hellwich@leap.cc                                                                                                                   September 11, 2015

240-461-3066

CALIFORNIA CIVIL FORFEITURE REFORM BILL DIES IN ASSEMBLY AFTER DECEPTIVE LAW ENFORCEMENT LOBBYING 

State, Local Law Enforcement Profit from Violating Civil Liberties

Sacramento, CA -- Last night, the California assembly voted down 24-41 civil asset forfeiture reform bill SB 443 despite overwhelming voter support and largely due to law enforcement groups’ deceptive lobbying about losing federal funding. 

Civil asset forfeiture, which enables law enforcement to seize assets and property from individuals suspected of illegal activity without having to charge them with a crime, was originally intended to cripple wealthy drug dealers and use their funds for future enforcement operations. But over the past three decades, as government funding for police has fallen, departments have used civil forfeiture to maintain their budgets. SB 443 would have required law enforcement to “seek or obtain” a conviction to make a lawful seizure. A Tulchin Research survey conducted on California residents shows an average 76% of people across racial and political lines oppose the existing civil forfeiture laws. Failure to pass SB 443 shows a significant disconnect between voters and their legislators and the power that law enforcement agencies wield in evading accountability.

“In April, The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) testified that law enforcement agencies cannot afford to give up civil asset forfeiture because the federal government has reduced funding for state and local law enforcement.” said Redondo Beach Lt. Commander Diane Goldstein (Ret.), a local speaker for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), a criminal justice group working to end the War on Drugs. “How can we possibly justify incentivizing police to be invested in criminal activity?”

“Civil forfeiture has dulled the luster of constitutional policing and leveraged local law enforcement away from its core mission of public safety,” said LAPD Deputy Chief Stephen Downing (Ret.), another local LEAP representative. “This bill would have put us back on a road of true public service and helped to rebuild community trust in these tenuous times. It is sad that 41 of our politicians could not see that opportunity.”

 Civil forfeiture often preys on average citizens and is widely abused by participating departments, particularly in California. In 2012, the Anaheim Police Department attempted to seize a $1.5 million office building from the owner after one of the owner’s tenants was accused of selling $37 worth of marijuana at a medical marijuana dispensary operating legally under state law. A report by the Drug Policy Alliance, “Above the Law: An Investigation of Civil Asset Forfeiture in California,” found “numerous breaches of federal forfeiture rules, including budgeting future forfeiture revenue, failure to submit forfeiture expenses to third party auditors, unaccounted-for expenditures in documents submitted to the Justice Department, and failure to retain records related to asset seizures.” Overall, the report points to a vast lack of oversight for an already unethical program.  

Law enforcement agencies are legally permitted to make civil forfeitures without convictions in every U.S. state except New Mexico, where it has been abolished entirely, but federal enforcement agencies, such as the Drug Enforcement Administration, still make civil forfeitures across the country. 

The Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration (FAIR) Act has been introduced to both houses at the congressional level and would reform civil asset forfeiture nationwide as well as abolish the Department of Justice’s Asset Forfeiture Fund, which allows the Attorney General to “pay any necessary expenses associated with forfeiture operations,” but has incentivized selective enforcement of laws based on monetary gain. Among the cosponsors of the FAIR Act are California State Representatives Tony Cardenas (D-San Fernando Valley), Sam Farr (D-Carmel), Tom McClintock (R-Roseville), and Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa).

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) is an organization of police, judges, prosecutors, and other criminal justice professionals dedicated to ending the drug war.

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Press Release: SENATORS INTRODUCE BIPARTISAN MARIJUANA BANKING BILL

SENATORS INTRODUCE BIPARTISAN MARIJUANA BANKING BILL

Bill Would Address Largest Logistical Obstacle to Dispensaries, Improve Public Safety

WASHINGTON, DC – Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Rand Paul (R-KY), and Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced the Marijuana Business Access to Banking Act today in a much-needed move to allow legitimate marijuana businesses to conduct legal financial operations. While the move sounds like a minor regulatory matter, the lack of clear financial guidelines represents the single greatest obstacle to state-legal marijuana businesses operating safely and profitably. Currently, dispensaries and other businesses in states that have legalized medical marijuana or that allow adult use must operate cash-only businesses because banking services fall under federal, rather than state law.

“Right now, it’s the Wild West for marijuana businesses,” said Major Neill Franklin (Ret.), executive director of LEAP. “Criminals know where the dispensaries are. They know the businesses are making thousands of dollars a day and that all of those transactions are in cash. It’s led to some horrific incidents, all courtesy of the federal government. They’re setting these businesses up to fail and, worse, they’re endangering people’s lives.”

Most dispensaries have had to hire expensive private security firms to set up elaborate safety systems and to accompany employees as the cash leaves the premises. Because of these precautions, many dispensaries, even those conducting large volume of sales, retain little profit. States are the other major losers in this scenario as the lack of accountability encourages the underreporting of taxes.

In the House, Representatives Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) and Denny Heck (D-WA) have  introduced a similar  bill, HR 2076.

LEAP is committed to ending decades of failed policy that have wreaked havoc on public safety, damaged community relations with police, fostered corruption and racism, and largely ignored the public health crisis of addiction. The War on Drugs has cost more than $1 trillion dollars, yielded no positive outcomes, and has ultimately diverted the penal system’s attention away from more important crimes.

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Press Release: OREGON MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION LAW TAKES EFFECT JULY 1st

For Immediate Release:                                                                                                                                    Contact: Darby Beck

Monday June 29, 2015                                                                                                                                      darby.beck@leap.cc

                                                                                                                                                                                     415.823.5496

OREGON MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION LAW TAKES EFFECT JULY 1st

Adult Possession, Home Cultivation Permitted Immediately

Cultivation, Retail Businesses Expected to Open Fall 2016

Measure 91, a voter-approved initiative legalizing marijuana in Oregon, takes effect July 1^st and will immediately allow for adult possession and home cultivation. The law permits adults 21 and older to grow four plants and keep eight ounces at home, and possess one ounce in public. Public consumption and sales will continue to remain illegal. The Oregon Liquor Control Commission, the agency charged with regulating marijuana in the state, will begin to accept applications for cultivation, processing, testing, and retail business licenses starting January 4^th, 2016, and businesses are expected to be operational later the same year. More time was allotted to create specific regulations for concentrates to ensure the best possible public safety outcome, so these products will likely not be available immediately when stores open.

“Expending law enforcement resources by going after nonviolent marijuana users is a shameful waste of time and tax dollars, and a distraction from what’s really plaguing neighborhoods,” said Maj. Neill Franklin (Ret.), executive director for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), a criminal justice group opposed to the drug war. “Cops in Oregon can now get into doing their jobs; protecting communities and helping victims of violent crimes get justice.”

“Oregon still has more to do to ensure marijuana legalization is done properly; lawmakers and regulators are currently working to expunge the records of many non-violent marijuana offenders as well as develop proper regulations for taxes, concentrates, and labeling for consumer and child protection,” saidInge Fryklund, former prosecutor, Oregon resident, and board member LEAP. “We must promote honest and accurate public information along with sensible regulations. Oregon can and will be a model for future states looking to consider legalization in 2016 and beyond.”

23 States and the District of Columbia have legalized some form of medical marijuana access, while 4 states have decided to legalize and regulate adult use generally. Oregon’s regulatory model will be developed with Colorado and Washington’s previous successes and failures in mind. Among the priorities of the Oregon Liquor Control Commission are preventing accidental ingestion by children with the use of appropriate childproof packaging and ensuring that extracts, concentrates, and edibles are carefully regulated, tested, and labeled.

Last Wednesday, June 24^th, the Oregon House passed HB 3400, by a vote of 52-4, which addresses several points of contention. The bill created a tracking system for monitoring plants from seed to retail sales, which will help deter the drug from the illegal market and ensure accountability for businesses with inferior or contaminated products. It also permits jurisdictions where at least 55% of voters disapproved Measure 91 to opt out of issuing marijuana related business licenses. HB 3400 also expunges many marijuana-related offenses from criminal records, which will affect tens of thousands of Oregonians. The bill will now advance to the Senate.

Tuesday, June 30 at 2pm PT U.S. Congressman Earl Blumenauer will speak at the Portland ACLU for a legalization launch event to focus on the importance of marijuana legalization nationwide and what to expect for the future of the drug policy reform. For more information, contact Nicole L’Esperance. 202-225-4811 or Nicole.lesperance@mail.house.gov.

Anthony Johnson, Chief Petitioner for Measure 91, co-wrote the measure, spearheaded the campaign, and has been working on marijuana legalization for more than a decade. He can be reached at 503-752-3966 for comments.

LEAP is committed to ending decades of failed policy that have created underground markets and gang violence, fostered corruption and racism, and largely ignored the public health crisis of addiction.

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Press Release: SIX HUNDRED CHURCHES CALL FOR END TO DRUG WAR

Contact: Darby Beck                                  For Immediate Release:

darby.beck@leap.cc                           Tuesday, June 23, 2015

415.823.5496

SIX HUNDRED CHURCHES CALL FOR END TO DRUG WAR

Conference Uses Christian Ideals to Argue for New System

MANCHESTER, NH – Last Saturday the New England Conference of United Methodist

Churches, a group representing 600 congregations in six Northeastern states, voted in

favor of Resolution 15-203, which uses Christian principles to call for an end to the War

on Drugs and endorse the work of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.

The resolution begins:



“In the love of Christ, who came to save those who are lost and vulnerable, we urge the creation of

a genuinely new system for the care and restoration of victims, offenders, criminal justice

officials, and the community as a whole. Restorative justice grows out of biblical authority, which

emphasizes a right relationship with God, self and community. When such relationships are

violated or broken through crime, opportunities are created to make things right.”



It goes on to detail how the drug war has failed to achieve its intended goal of reducing

drug abuse and has resulted in numerous unintended consequences such as the creation of

violent and dangerous underground markets, countless lost lives from gang violence and

unregulated products, increased dangers posed to law enforcement, prison overcrowding,

the rapid spread of needle-borne illnesses due to a lack of sterile syringes, and the

disparate impact that these laws have had on poor communities of color.

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition Co-founder Lt. Jack Cole (Ret.), who, along

with the group Christians Against Prohibition, worked with the assembly to pass the

resolution, recounted his experience as one of warm support and appreciation,

particularly from families who have been directly affected by drug prohibition.

“When I came off the stage I was met by many assembly members telling me how

important the resolution was,” said Lt. Cole. “One said that…I had described his family.

His daughter died ten years ago of a drug overdose and he and his wife were left to raise

her two children. That gentleman was sure that if drugs had been legal his daughter

would not have died.”

“Jesus concerned himself with the plight of the poor and marginalized in his society. In

our society, the story of the poor and marginalized is one of mass incarceration, racial

injustice, and the breakdown of families caused by the War on Drugs,” said Major Neill

Franklin (Ret.), executive director of LEAP.    

The statement ends with a declaration of support for LEAP and a commitment to work to

regulate drugs from a public health perspective:

“Be it Resolved: That the New England Annual Conference supports seeking means other than

prohibition to address the problem of substance abuse; and is further resolved to support the

mission of the international educational organization Law Enforcement Against Prohibition

(LEAP) to reduce the multitude of unintended harmful consequences resulting from fighting the

war on drugs and to lessen the incidence of death, disease, crime, and addiction by ending drug

prohibition.”

The resolution can be found here: http://www.leap.cc/united_methodist_res/

LEAP is committed to ending decades of failed policy that have wreaked havoc on public

safety, damaged community relations with police, fostered corruption and racism, and

largely ignored the public health crisis of addiction. The War on Drugs has cost more

than $1 trillion dollars, yielded no positive outcomes, and has ultimately diverted the

penal system’s attention away from more important crimes.

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Press Release: HOUSE VOTES TO PROTECT STATES WITH MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAWS, CUTS DEA BUDGET, ENDS DATA COLLECTION PROGRAM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                       Contact: Darby Beck:darby.beck@leap.cc
June 3, 2015                                                       415.823.5496

HOUSE VOTES TO PROTECT STATES WITH MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAWS, CUTS DEA BUDGET, ENDS DATA COLLECTION PROGRAM

Amendments to Spending Bill Prioritize Fighting Violent Crime, End DEA Bulk Collection Program

WASHINGTON, DC – A bipartisan amendment to the Fiscal Year 2016 Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations spending bill that prohibits DEA and Department of Justice funds from being used to interfere in states that have legalized medical marijuana passed the House today by a margin of 242-186. The amendment is a renewal of the one that passed in May of last year and was reintroduced by Representatives Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) and Sam Farr (D-CA). A similar amendment was also passed protecting states that have allowed industrial hemp. Yesterday, the House passed an amendment to ban the DEA’s bulk data collection program and slashed the DEA budget by $23 million. Instead, that money will now go to combat child abuse, improve the testing of rape kits, expand the use of body cameras on police officers, and reduce the deficit.

“Even Congress is now acknowledging the failures of the drug war and of the DEA and its invasive methods,” said Major Neill Franklin (Ret.), executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. “Conservatives believe states have the right to decide their own rules, libertarians understand prohibition infringes upon civil liberties, and liberals know the effect prohibition has had on racial minorities, families, and communities.”

A separate amendment introduced by Representatives Tom McClintock (R-CA) and Jared Polis (D-CO) that would have prevented the DEA from undermining state rights in places that have legalized marijuana narrowly failed by a vote of 206-222.

“Continued protection for medical marijuana patients is something most politicians now agree upon, and we can expect that states’ recreational marijuana laws will soon have the same level of protection against federal interference,” said Lieutenant Commander Diane Goldstein (Ret.)

In August 2013, the Justice Department released a memorandum stating that the DOJ would no longer go after states that chose to legalize and regulate marijuana, as long as those states prohibited access to children, limited the involvement of organized criminal activity in the industry, and abided by other reasonable standards.

Currently, 23 states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana and four states along with D.C. have legalized marijuana outright. According to the centrist think tank Third Way, 67% of Americans believe Congress should pass a bill to protect states from federal interference if they choose to legalize marijuana, so long as a strong regulatory system is in place.

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition is a group of law enforcement officers opposed to the War on Drugs.

Please contact Darby Beck at darby.beck@leap.cc to arrange an interview.

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