Stories from week of December 31, 2010

COPS on the Hill
 
Year in review:
 
Here are the cold statistics of what COPs accomplished in its first fiscal year.   None of this was possible without the monetary support of COP members.   It was always a humbling moment, when the check came in or PayPal sent a report of a donation.  You believed that drug prohibition was a serious national problem & COPs was an effective vehicle to end it at the federal level.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart.  Of the 106 persons who receive this newsletter, half have become members of Citizens Opposing Prohibition. 
 
From cold stats to how does that translate into change?  The old adage is true: it is not what you know but who you know.   After five years of wearing out boot leather, the cowboy hat and anti-prohibition message have penetrated all offices of the Congress.  An aide called out this week, “Hey, I saw your picture in Reason magazine.”  Several Congressmen on judiciary will give me 1-2 minutes of their time after a hearing because they listened to me in the past make sense.  I have put together a list of 94 House offices whose aide said they he would bring a positive recommendation to the Member, when a marijuana repeal bill is submitted in a few weeks.   This is the fruit of my labor and your support.
 
Your support for COPs meant–
 
Final COP First Year Stats 2009-2010:
 443 presentations to Congressional Staffers 
7 presentations to VIPs (elected officials)
37 published Letters to the Editor (I am now 8th on the list of the most prolific writers)
Numerous conferences, hearings & briefings attended.  C-Span broadcast my question at a Senate briefing. 
12 radio shows 
8 TV interviews (Colombian TV, Fox and Univision, NBC, cable)
Since the end of our financial year, I was asked by Pulitzer prize-winning & nationally syndicated columnist talk show host Kathleen Parker to provide background information for a segment on drug prohibition.   Andre Oppenheimer whose Spanish language show reaches 60 million households in Latin America (per his website), had me on his show again.   My horse Misty and I were on television 11 times in California, 9 newspaper articles and 5 radio programs.  Reason magazine published an article on Prop 19 which started with us as a two page ‘centerfold’ while we worked a corner in Redding, California.   I have met with two Congressmen to discuss strategy in 2011.  And of course I am in the halls of Congress every week to meet with staffers from all 535 offices.
 
I hope and trust I have made you feel that your money has been well spent. 
 
If you have not yet joined, this is my once a year appeal for money.  
 
 
COPs 2nd year stats to date:
 
TV appearances: 12 (ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX, cable) 
Newspaper stories: 6 dailes, 3 weeklies
Radio appearances: 6
Published LTE: 5 (one this week)
 
36 presentations to Congressional staffers 
1 VIP (Member of Congress) presentations:  
 
Consider being a member of COPs at $30.00 or more per year.    Add your voice to those who agree that Modern Prohibition/War on Drugs is the most destructive, dysfunctional and immoral policy since slavery & Jim Crow.  Go to: www.CitizensOpposingProhibition.org and click on Donate/Join – by credit card or check.
Howard