Posted January 2nd, 2011 by hiwayhowie
TREAT ADDICTS LIKE PATIENTS, NOT CRIMINALS
Regarding Wednesday’s article “Heroin abuse, deaths on the rise,” as a retired police officer, I am familiar with drug overdose and death.
As a traveler, I have met with doctors and officials in Switzerland to see first-hand the success of their method of handling heroin.
Since 1994 they have treated heroin use as a medical issue and have been rewarded with dramatic decreases in crime, and no one in the program has died of an overdose in 16 years. This model has been adopted by Germany, Denmark and Holland because it works.
The American model of treating drug addicts as criminals ( except for those addicted to alcohol and cigarettes ) has not worked in decades, despite a trillion tax dollars spent.
Know that my colleagues, such as Madison Police Chief Noble Wray, will always advocate locking abusers up as it provides solid job security and overtime for his officers.
Howard Wooldridge – drug policy specialist
Citizens Opposing Prohibition
Posted January 2nd, 2011 by hiwayhowie
COPs on the Hill
Does lack of money matter?: At a general conference on Tuesday, a couple of senior House Democratic staffers told us that the issue of deficits/no money has NOT come up, as they discuss spending policies going forward. During my five presentations on Friday to Senate staffers, the two Republican staffers said lack of money has and will come up when discussing spending policies. Stay tuned to see how much the new Tea Party Republicans try to stop spending. Note: The Heritage Foundation (conservative) recently released a white paper, calling for the abolition of the Drug Czar’s office, citing the office is not effective.
Okay. Convince me and the Senator: A senior D Senator from the Northeast has always been a drug warrior. I know this from four visits over the past four years. ‘John’ his staff assistant was also a believer in prohibition, when we started our 45 minute meeting. At the end he requested two briefs. If they were good enough, he promised to have the Senator read them. Brief One: state the harms to young people caused by the prohibition of marijuana. Brief Two: state the positive outcomes of moving to a post marijuana prohibition world in general.
I immediately contacted four experts in marijuana policy to get their ideas. Below is an exemplar of what the office wants. The sheet is what I have given every office in 2010. Stay tuned.
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: 4
25 presentations to Congressional staffers (five this week)
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
BEST REASONS TO EXAMINE MARIJUANA PROHIBITION
#1A. Public safety suffers as a result of MJ Prohibition, as officers are diverted from more important cases. The detectives flying around in helicopters looking for marijuana in your backyard are not catching the pedophiles in the internet chatrooms playground nor the rapists near the jogging paths. Road officers spend as much time looking for marijuana under someone’s front seat as they do drunk drivers. And what kills12,000 Americans every year?
#1B. Personal Safety. Marijuana is safer than alcohol for the user, their family and their community. Anyone of any age who uses marijuana in place of alcohol improves the outcome of drug use i.e. no overdose deaths by drinking, far fewer homicides, suicides, rapes, assault, child/spouse abuse, car crashes, and other problems caused by drinking & not by marijuana. How many teetotalers/non-drinkers would start using MJ, when it became legal? Not many.
#2.. Improve health care and lower costs. Marijuana is the best medicine in some cases and certainly it is the least expensive. Unrestricted use by adults would improve their health, as it has few side effects, low addiction qualities and titration (dosing) improves. Since it could be grown privately for nearly free or purchased at a price approaching aspirin per dose, families could save on drug costs. That is THE reason drug companies fear marijuana as a competitive product.
#3. Prohibition causes disrespect for all laws. Everyone sees the hypocrisy of marijuana being illegal, while cigarettes, alcohol, Valium & Prozac are legal. Young adults who have their cars or persons illegally searched by over-zealous police become bitter and don’t respect the law.
#4A. Human costs. Tuition costs at colleges are much higher, as states build more prisons, instead of properly funding higher education. Thus fewer young people can attend or they are burdened with huge debts upon graduation. Prohibition increases the contact that marijuana consumers have with dealers who offer harder drugs for sale.
Prohibition sucks our kids into criminality, when they become sellers of pot. This can end up with them in prison or dead. Pot’s illegality creates glamour and rebellion factors, drawing youth to it like moths to a flame. Per federal studies, marijuana has been easier for young teens to buy than alcohol for 30 years. Per the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) “drugs are readily available to America’s youth.” How could it become worse?
#4B. Financial costs. Enforcement costs are conservatively 11 billion per year. Taxed at a dollar per dose (.8 grams), 5 billion could be added to budgets across the nation. At 30,000 per year per prisoner, those in prison for sale or probation violation chew up billions of tax dollars.
#5. Marijuana use does NOT increase use of harder drugs. In 1999, the Institute of Medicine (division of the National Institute of Health) concluded, “There is no evidence that marijuana serves as a stepping stone [to other drugs] on the basis of its particular physiological effect.”
The American College of Physicians noted in February 2008, “Marijuana has not been proven to be the cause or even the most serious predictor of serious drug abuse.”
#6. Hemp could be grown without issue. Farmers are ready to plant & harvest it now.
Posted December 30th, 2010 by hiwayhowie
COPs on the Hill
Working Vacation: Karen and I got away for a week to Puerto Rico. Between the perfect weather, friendly locals/ tourists, a lazy tempo and our t-shirts – we relaxed and enjoyed the island. Except for the day below where Karen wore a normal shirt, we both wore our COP shirts (hers = GRANDMA SAYS….) We averaged about 40 chats per day….all positive and fun. My Spanish improved with so many chats en español.
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: 4
25 presentations to Congressional staffers
Consider being a member of COPs at $30.00 or more per year. We work to repeal federal prohibition. 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
Posted December 28th, 2010 by hiwayhowie
Legalize, regulate, tax
As a retired police detective, I heartily agree with the proponents cited in community columnist John Ridley’s Dec. 21 column that we should legalize, regulate and tax marijuana. My street experience showed that marijuana, though certainly no play toy of a drug, is much, much safer than alcohol for both the user and those around him.
My profession – the thin blue line – is getting much thinner all across Wisconsin. Do you want us to keep wasting time on a green plant? We are missing child predators even now.
Howard Wooldridge
Posted December 26th, 2010 by hiwayhowie
COPs on the Hill
Big Apple for an evening: Eric Sterling of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation (www.cjpf.org) and newest COPs member of the Board put a seminar together in New York City at the NYC Bar Association on the 16th. Luckily the drive is not too long and I was able to stay with my son-in-law to keep expenses down. Experts from North America and Europe shared their vision of where to go from here. We still have a long ways to go, even as we feel the wind at our back.
Prep* work done, time to saddle up* and get back to work: The spread sheets have eliminated the 100 who either lost their vote or retired. The new Members have been put in the spreadsheets(all they need now is a room #). The Sunday cowboy hat has been brushed, the Sunday belt buckle polished and the boots look like new. Monday the 222nd COPs will again be in the halls, talking to staffers.
On a personal note, let me say it also took me a month to recover both mentally and phsyically from the California effort. Too many birthdays for sure.
Where did eveyone go?: Monday was chaotic in the halls of the three House buildings. Nearly 100 Members who lost their election or retired had to be out of their offices by Wednesday. Boxes, tables, chairs and desks cluttered the hallways. Sullen* faces of staffers indicated who did not have a job. I was able to make five presentations on Monday but only one on Tuesday. Hope your Turkey Day was a good one.
Prep = preparation
- Saddle up = wieder was im Gang setzen
- Sullen = traurig
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:
20 presentations to Congressional staffers (six this week)
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
