Posted March 4th, 2011 by hiwayhowie
Your Voice in the United States Congress
Not in Kansas anymore:* At Grover’s Brunch this week the possible government shutdown was discussed. When someone brought a figure of cutting 22 billion dollars as part of immediate cuts, another responded that that figure should not be hard to handle adding, “22 billion in Washington is pocket change you find in the couch.”
Forty years ago then Senator Dirksen (R-IL) was quoted about Washington money, ‘A billion here – a billion there and pretty soon you are talking real money.” I wonder what he would say today.
A breath of fresh air: For two years I have encouraged each aide to convince the Member to put a sign on their office door: ‘We don’t have any money, so please don’t ask.’ This week I saw my first sign like that at new House Member Dr. Dan Benishek, (R-MI)…
“If you are here asking for more money, You are in the wrong office.” Staffers have said it would cut their work load by 40%, if no one asked for money. NOTE: please write your Congressman to put up the same or like sign.
The Empire Strikes Back: I testified before the Maryland House’s Judiciary Comm. this week in support of two bills. (full text below) After I stated that mandatory minimums have proven useless as a deterrent, since drug dealers accept long prisons terms and death as a condition of employment, my law enforcement colleagues testified they WERE effective. However, when asked by a Member whether drug availability had gone down because of the thousands arrested, the States’s Attorney paused, hemmed and hawed,* finally said that such a thing was hard to measure. NOTE: I had read from the DEA’s brochure: “Drugs are readily available to America’s Youth…”
On the marijuana bill (reduce 28 grams or less move to a civil infraction = parking ticket) a Baltimore cop dumped 28 little packets on the table in front of the committee. ‘See.’ He said, ‘This is one ounce packaged to sell to our kids.’ It was very dramatic but from comments from Members, they did not seem too impressed.
My profession is deeply committed to keeping the lucrative overtime and job security of prohibition from changing. Plus my colleagues never want to face the day that they realize all the dead, injured and corrupted cops suffered and or died for another failed prohibition.
PS from CPAC: On Friday I did nearly back to back* interviews for foreign reporters. A French newspaper reporter and I had a 5 minute chat en français. A few minutes later a German reporter for Die Zeit and I did the same auf Deutsch. = Those Saturday morning hours spent speaking both paid off.
- Not in Kansas anymore = vom Film = ich bin doch nicht zu Hause
- Hemmed and hawed = herumdrucksen
- Back to back = Rücken an Rücken
COPs 2nd year stats to date:
TV appearances: 11 (ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX, cable)
Newspaper stories: 7 dailes, 3 weeklies
Radio appearances: 7
Published LTE: 8 ( one this week)
Other media (bloggers, cable TV, minor publications, etc): 9
74 presentations to Congressional staffers: (7 this week)
5 (Member of Congress) contacts :
5 other VIP (MD state Senator & Rep): (3 this week)
Consider being a member of COPs at $30.00 or more per year. Your support keeps the COPs voice loud and strong in the halls of the United States Congress. We 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 send a check to:
COP
POB 772
Buckeystown, MD 21717
Testimony in support of HB 606
As a retired police detective, I come from Adamstown – near Frederick to urge a yes vote on HB 606. This bill will improve public safety. Public safety is THE mission of my profession.
The Thin Blue Line is getting thinner. Where you do want us to go? Chase marijuana smokers or pedophiles? Every hour chasing the smokers equals less time for real bad guys.
During my 18 year police career in Michigan we always had the ability to handle a simple marijuana possession case in a ‘cite and release’ manner. When I discovered small amounts of marijuana, I would seize the marijuana and write the driver an appearance ticket. After placing the marijuana in my trunk, I resumed normal patrol AND ready for any 911 emergency call. HB 606 will allow my colleagues to do the same Maryland. Thus, public safety will increase with the adoption of 606.
My colleague Sheriff Chuck Jenkins and I had a conversation about this type of change a year ago. He stated his support for such a concept of ‘cite and release,’ though he thought the amount should be one half ounce. He stated that allowing his deputies to stay on the road and ready for a 911 call would improve the safety of Frederick County residents.
Currently, officers are taking one to two hours to process a simple marijuana case, taking them out of service as they transport a subject to jail. 606 will reduce that time to a mere 20 minutes. Officers and deputies will be able to arrests more reckless and DUI drivers when 606 is adopted. Thank you for your time and I am prepared to answer any questions.
Respectfully submitted,
Howard J. Wooldridge
Detective Officer Howard J. Wooldridge (retired)
2001 C Buckeystown Pike
Adamstown, MD 21710
817-975-1110
Testimony in support of HB 353
As a retired police detective, I come from Adamstown – near Frederick to urge a yes vote on HB 353. As a taxpayer, I urge you to adopt 353. Public safety and the public’s money will both be served with its passage.
As you know, the vast majority of cases involving mandatory minimums are for drug distribution crimes. Mandatory Minimums were started with great fanfare in the 1980s as a sure-fire method to bring victory to our drug prohibition policies AKA War on Drugs. 25 years later and hundreds of billions more spent, we know can admit that we were wrong. Mandatory minimums have had no impact on drug availability. This is not just my professional opinion. Allow me to read a statement from the DEA – Drug Enforcement Administration. This is their assessment of where the country is after 40 years of serious effort and the expenditure of a trillion tax dollars: “ Drugs are readily available to America’s youth… “Drugs are readily available to America’s youth!!
What law makers failed to do in the 1980s and beyond is to ask police officers questions regarding the character of drug dealers. For example, did you know that drug dealers accept, as a condition of employment, death and long prison terms? Did you know that that every drug dealer arrested or shot is immediately replaced? We knew these facts 30 years ago but policy makers failed to ask before they passed mandatory minimums.
Thus, mandatory minimums have no impact on the drug trade. No impact on whether any young person can buy drugs. Worse, due to mandatory minimums we now have close a million teens selling drugs. Why? Because they are not subject to mandatory minimums. This failed approach has caused thousands of teens to be shot and hundreds killed in the past 30 years. A policy designed to protect our children has, in fact, caused millions to become criminals at best and shot dead at worst.
Besides dead teens, taxpayers have also become victims, as we have to pay $30,000 per year to lock up hordes of drug dealers. Our society has been hurt, as we have diverted so much money into prisons, our colleges have become too expensive. Young people now graduate with loans approaching a house mortgage in size. We will never compete with China, as we divert precious tax dollars into a failed ‘lock’em all up policy.’
As a cop, I saw the horrific damage done to young people via mandatory minimums. As a taxpayer, I certainly don’t want to pay for this failed policy. Thank you for your time.
Respectfully submitted,
Howard J. Wooldridge
Detective Officer Howard J. Wooldridge (retired)
2001 C Buckeystown Pike
Adamstown, MD 21710
817-975-1110
Posted March 4th, 2011 by hiwayhowie
Drug War Folly
As a police detective, I learned that every drug dealer ever arrested was replaced within days. What Chief Justice Hunstein meant about “always having criminals” was that drug dealers are created by the job opportunity when a current dealer is arrested.
Many dealers now come from Mexico and other countries. Thus the supply is endless. Since dealers accept as a condition of employment possible death and long prison terms, nothing the courts can do will deter their actions.
Drug prohibition is the basic problem, same as it was in 1933. We need to abandon the concept that the government can fix stupid. My colleagues should not be going into homes to stop adults from putting something in their bodies. That task is best left for family and friends.
Howard Wooldridge
Albany
Posted February 26th, 2011 by hiwayhowie
Your voice in the United States Congress
Don’t need no stinkin booth: NOTE: I spent three long days (10,11,12) at CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) = 11,000 rabid conservatives come together once per year). All the stories are from the conference.
I made an appointment with Justin to discuss strategy at 3PM at the atrium = center of the hotel. An hour later he gave up, saying we would have to meet later in a more private area. Almost without pause, someone would approach me, ask why cops want to legalize pot and often wanted a foto. Even my Maryland House Delegate waited patiently five minutes to introduce himself (he had met Karen via her t-shirt late last year). Even I was impressed with the traffic/number of contacts. As Justin said, ‘Why spend $5,000 for a booth, when you can just stand in the middle of the room?’
Note: I hope to duplicate that ‘don’t need no stinking booth’ concept at the NRA (National Rifle Association) conference in April and the LULAC (League of United Latino American Conference) gathering in June.
This week at Grover’s Brunch a VIP in the conservative movement Colin Hanna www.letfreedomringusa.com came up to me and said I was “omnipresent” at CPAC. Everytime he looked across the room, he could see my Stetson hat.
Don’t go home!: Sharing a table with another couple, the Senate staffer stated he knew me from the years I had spent in the Senate. Though crime was not his issue and we had never met, nonetheless, he knew exactly who I was and my mission. Perhaps the several beers he had drunk loosened his lips. Either way, he became quite loud as he proclaimed I was winning and exhorted* me not to give up. And then repeated himself several times, as drinkers often do. Still, I believe he was speaking from the heart. I assured him I was staying until drug prohibition was over.
Special Thanks: Thank you to COPs member Ethel Rowland of Fort Pierce, Florida who attended CPAC in her LEAP ‘cape.’ (she took two shirts and nicely made them into a cape so the ASK ME WHY COPS SAY LEGALIZE DRUGS was visible front and back) Many persons asked us if we were married. J Ethel shared her dinner tickets with me, allowing me to be with the most important 400 people at two dinners. Next year I will spend the big bucks to repeat that. I believe the ‘see and be seen’ effect warrants the expense.
CPAC in review: I had just over 100 conversations with a listening audience of about 350. Numerous (about 12) interviews by radio, TV and bloggers kept me busy. Thursday and Friday were simply crazy busy. CPAC continues to grow more Libertarian & Ron Paul won the straw poll vote for President the second year in a row. Gary Johnson (R-NM and former two term governor) gave an excellent speech. I met a recently retired DEA agent who wants to do all he can to put prohibition in the history books. And many, many others.
*exhort = ermahnen oder ermutigen
Below are the major media events that I made:
Washington Post – paper edition on 2-11 on page four : { A tall, middle-aged man in a cowboy hat wore a T-shirt with the words “Ask Me Why Cops Say Legalize Pot” on his back. }
From http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-yn/content/article/2011/02/10/AR2011021007407.html
- Reason TV: in this video, FYI — http://reason.com/blog/2011/02/10/reasontv-gay-wars-what-we-saw
at the 1:55 point for 3 seconds…simply allowed the viewer to read the shirt
Technorati – first page of the blog:
CPAC attracts all sorts of unique folks. There was Howard Wooldridge, wearing a shirt that said “Cops say legalize pot. Ask me why.” He was dressed in Friday-night cowboy – sturdy, well-worn boots; a heavily tooled belt; and a wide-brimmed, cream-colored, Stetson 4X. His cell phone whinnied like a cow pony. Except for unwrinkled skin, he looked every bit the ranch hand. Nice guy too; I liked him. It turns out he was a retired cop from a Midwestern city.
http://technorati.com/politics/article/cpac-2011-was-a-carnival-of/
** As you know, this newsletter also doubles as my personal diary. The reason I have combined 3 weeks into one newsletter is due to a death in my family. On January 31 while making the rounds in the House, I learned my 50 year old brother had died after shoveling snow in Michigan. I spent the next 10 days taking care of my mom, getting her to the funeral in Michigan and back home to Georgia. I arrived back in DC to spend three, long days at CPAC. All this week as been spent catching up on mountains of emails and other such stuff. Thank you for your understanding. I will be back in ‘action’ next week beginning with testifying before the House of Delegates in Annapolis.
COPs 2nd year stats to date:
TV appearances: 11 (ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX, cable)
Newspaper stories: 7 dailes, 3 weeklies (one this week)
Radio appearances: 7 (one this week)
Published LTE: 7 ( none this week)
Other media (bloggers, cable TV, minor publications, etc): 9
67 presentations to Congressional staffers: (1 this week)
5 (Member of Congress) contacts :
2 other VIP (MD state Senator & Rep): (1 this week)
Consider being a member of COPs at $30.00 or more per year. Your support keeps the COPs voice loud and strong in the halls of the United States Congress. We 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 send a check to:
COP
POB 772
Buckeystown, MD 21717
Howard
Detective/Officer Howard Wooldridge (retired)
Drug Policy Specialist, COP – www.CitizensOpposingProhibition.org
Washington, DC
817-975-1110 Cell
howard@citizensopposingprohibition.org
Domino el español
Ich verstehe mich gut auf Deutsch
Je parle français assez bien pour un petit, timide, moyen cowboy
Citizens Opposing Prohibition – Become a Member
PO Box 772
Buckeystown, MD 21717-0772
Modern Prohibition/The War on Drugs is the most destructive, dysfunctional & immoral domestic policy since slavery & Jim Crow.
Posted February 22nd, 2011 by hiwayhowie
Regarding the article on Thursday, “Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne: Mexican cartels an ‘escalating threat’ to U.S.”: Speaking as a retired detective who fought in the trenches of the drug war, I know that this modern drug prohibition has been a spectacular, trillion-dollar failed public policy. We certainly know from our experience in 1933 that, to destroy the Mexican cartels, we simply need to repeal drug prohibition. Horne’s call for a “massive new education campaign to teach drug users about the cartels” is a solution? You have to be kidding me. That was tried after 9/11 and was a colossal failure. Drug users know full well that it is prohibition that causes money to flow to Osama bin Laden.
I challenge Horne to put pen to paper and tell us all the advantages and positive outcomes of drug prohibition. Something that says the disaster and suffering of Mexico is worthwhile. – Howard Wooldridge, Tucson
Posted February 17th, 2011 by hiwayhowie
COPs on the Hill
Your voice in the United States Congress
VIP at the other table: Saturday mornings I spend at the local coffee shop where about seven of us gather to speak French for an hour and then four us stay a bit longer to chat in German. This week one of our group noted that the newly elected state senator was at the next table. Turns out his table’s theme was for anyone in the town to chat & had been meeting every Saturday since the 1950s. I ended up with a full 30 minute chat with the state senator who agreed with COPs on marijuana policy and harm reduction in general.
I need to change my underwear! I spent Tuesday in the House Office Buildings picking up the info on the 96 new Members (got half done). The police had already shut down much of the Capitol grounds in preparation for the President’s State of the Union speech. I had to go out the last door in Cannon. I could see lots of police cars and the streets blocked off. I had almost passed thru the first of the two doors, when one of the officers ordered in that no-mistake-police-voice “Hold it!!” I froze like bird dog hitting the scent of a pheasant. I was hoping the next sensation would be a bolt of electricity from a taser and not a bullet.
“Just wanted to read your jacket…. I agree.” SOB and the price I pay for my billboard jacket.
Tell me about your shirt: While gathering the info on new offices, I wore my COPs t-shirt for comfort and I always get asked 15-20 times each day. Riding up the elevator, the newly elected R Congressman asked about the shirt. We ended up walking to his office door. During that 90 seconds he agreed that 10th amendment should apply to marijuana policy. Wa-hooo!.
It’s winter: It was bound to happen.* While gathering info on new offices, I walked into a Texas office. The receptionist asked where my felt hat was. Busted.* My beaver winter hat is too hot and being brown, does not look right with my white t-shirt…so I wore my white, straw summer hat. After my explanation we ended up having an excellent chat. LOL
*bound to happen = das muß so kommen
*busted = erwischen
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: 7 ( one this week)
66 presentations to Congressional staffers: (8 this week)
5 (Member of Congress) contacts : ( 2 this week)
1 other VIP (MD state Senator): (1 this week)
Consider being a member of COPs at $30.00 or more per year. Your support keeps the COPs voice loud and strong in the halls of the United States Congress. We 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 send a check to:
COP
POB 772
Buckeystown, MD 21717
Howard
Detective/Officer Howard Wooldridge (retired)
Drug Policy Specialist, COP – www.CitizensOpposingProhibition.org
Washington, DC
817-975-1110 Cell
howard@citizensopposingprohibition.org
Domino el español
Ich verstehe mich gut auf Deutsch
Je parle français assez bien pour un petit, timide, moyen cowboy
Citizens Opposing Prohibition – Become a Member
PO Box 772
Buckeystown, MD 21717-0772
Modern Prohibition/The War on Drugs is the most destructive, dysfunctional & immoral domestic policy since slavery & Jim Crow.
