Posted March 21st, 2010 by hiwayhowie
COPs on the Hill
Stories from the week of March 19, 2010
Is that all you have to wear? On Tuesday I needed to collect the change of staffers in the Longworth Bldg in preparation to begin my meetings there. To avoid sweating badly, I dressed in my COPs t-shirt to go into 131 offices. I had been in Congressman Hank Johnson’s (D-GA) office for just a few moments, when he came thru the door. Recall he was the Member who saw me at Christamas in my shirt, as I delivered MPP’s Christmas car and we chatted. Recall I asked him a question at the CBC (Congressional Black Caucus) seminar last fall…in my T-shirt.
Anyway, he shook my hand, asked what progress I was making, etc. We had an excellent two minute chat with 7 staffers gathered around us (I am sure in a bit of amazement). I hope Congressman Johnson knows I have more to wear than my t-shirt! Small steps.
We love pack rats:* After last week’s Senate hearing on how the Mexican Drug Cartels are corrupting federal officers, I remembered that Bob Ramsey of Texas (who recruited* me into Drug Reform 13 years ago) had given me a graph showing this type of corruption. Doug Ierley of Senator Webb’s office wanted info on corruption. Bob dug thru his many files of info and located the document, sending it to me. The document is already with Doug and will be in the hands of all the offices of Senators on the committee which held the hearing. Thanks Bob.
Don’t lose your humanity: Last Sunday afternoon I heard the news of the slaughter of innocents in Ciudad Juarez — 3 adults (one pregnant) connected to our consulate and the wounding of two of their children. For 30 seconds my mind raced to understand how this tragedy would help move and end the policy of prohibition. Then BOOM. My thinking process came to a screeching halt. I became horrified that my first thoughts had been about the policy, instead of what a tragedy of huge proportions. 3 children are now orphans, many families are weeping as they make preparations for a funeral, etc. I spoke to Karen and aired out* how I needed to keep all in perspective. Truly I have been drinking too much of the DC water. I need more time with Misty. Something.
COP stats for first year to date:
278 presentations to Congressional Staffers
8 presentations to VIPs (elected officials)
31 published Letters to the Editor (that we know of)
Numerous conferences, hearings & briefings attended. C-Span broadcast my question at a Senate briefing
8 radio shows
Two TV interviews (Colombian TV) & Fox
*pack rat = eine Person, die alles aufbewahrt, nichts weg wirft.
* recruited = hat mich überzeugt tätig zu werden
* aired out = Luft machen, auslüften, etwas wie das.. über alles sprechen und ausdrücken.
Consider being a member of COPs at $30.00 or more per year. It is tax-deductible. 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.
Detective/Officer Howard Wooldridge (retired)
Drug Policy Specialist, COP – www.CitizensOpposingProhibition.org
Washington, DC
817-975-1110 Cell
howard@citizensopposingprohibition.org
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 March 16th, 2010 by hiwayhowie
Dear Editor,
Mr. Hager and Stutman both left out the most vital reason to repeal marijuana prohibition; namely it reduces public safety.
Every hour my colleagues spend chasing a Michael Phelps and his supplier mean less time for the deadly reckless and DUI.
As detectives fly around in helicopters looking for green weeds, they are not catching child molesters and rapists.
Public safety suffers as we chase the adult marijuana smoker into their home.
The Hager/Stutman dog and pony show has been going on for years to help those gentlemen earn a living, not really inform the public.
Detective/Officer Howard Wooldridge ( retired )
Posted March 16th, 2010 by hiwayhowie
Re: “Exodus — Families and businesses alike flee the embattled city of Juárez for safer, greener pastures in the U.S.,” Sunday news story.
The excellent, depressing report by Alfredo Corchado outlines yet another unintended consequence of our wonderful drug war.
As a police officer who worked the trenches of the drug war spanning three decades, I saw it cause more pain, suffering and death than the drugs themselves.
Howard Wooldridge, Dallas
Posted March 10th, 2010 by hiwayhowie
DRUG USE DOWN SO KEEP DRUG WAR GOING
By Frosty Wooldridge
Denver Post Your Hub March 9, 2010
After the first 20 interviews with my brother Police Officer and Detective Howard Wooldridge of Lansing, Michigan (retired) concerning the “War on Drugs”, thousands of readers responded. U.S. taxpayers do not understand the incredible deception perpetrated on them by the Drug War. You might even term it a “racket” by those who stand in the power corridors of Washington, DC.
“We are winning the War on Drugs because drug use is down,” said Officer Howard Wooldridge. “That statement by hundreds of police chiefs, sheriffs and narcotics officers has been repeated thousands of times in the past 40 years of Drug Prohibition. Have you noticed that drug use, always going down, is the ONLY aspect about policy they use to convince us to pony up another $70 billion each year to keep ‘winning.’ What they never want to talk about are topics like drug overdose doubling in the past ten years, drug availability is at an all-time record for ease of buying, the funding of terrorists with drug profits, Mexico is a river of blood and dysfunction, the dramatic rise in corruption of US law enforcement at the border, etc. Why does my profession only talk about drug use? Because that is all they have. And even there, they must play with the numbers to look good.
“Ron Brooks, President of the National Narcotics Officers Association Coalition, is often on debate panels and always tells the public that law enforcement is winning the War on Drugs. How? Drug use is down 70% from 1979 he proudly trumpeted on a John Stossel (Fox News) program recently. Of course, if you look at use rates since about 1988, it has decreased only a few points. If one takes into consideration the increase in legal drugs like the heroin substitute Oxycontin, etc, drug use/abuse is steady to increasing. Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics.”
ENDLESS WINNING OF THE DRUG WAR FOR 40 YEARS: DRUGS STILL AVAILABLE TO YOUNG, OLD AND EVERYONE IN 2010
“We have all heard, read or seen how this works,” said Wooldridge. “The Drug Czar every year has proudly announced for example that marijuana use by 8th graders was down six per cent last year. The fact that 12th graders increased marijuana use by 10 per cent is buried in the back of the report. In this fashion the Prohibition Crowd distorts the real picture. It only highlights something positive, never willingly admitting for example that Ecstasy use skyrocketed a few years ago, or that crack use went up dramatically in the ‘80s and ‘90s.
“On a radio talk show this month I debated the policy of drug prohibition with States Attorney Charlie Smith (chief prosecutor of Frederick County, MD). Only a few minutes into a spirited debate where I had mentioned how easily young people could buy drugs, Smith spoke of drugs being destructive and drug use was down. When I mentioned that even the DEA admits that “drugs are readily available to America’s youth,” Smith countered that I wanted to make sex legal for seven year old children. Do you also see a pattern here? As soon as the Prohibition Crowd hears words they don’t like and can’t rebut, they use the old ‘let’s scare the heck of the audience’ with a claim that the anti-prohibition crowd wants to legalize sex with children or legalize child abuse. And it still works with some but most now see thru the tactics of the Drug Warriors.
“Last month in the hallway of the Heritage Foundation, I ran into Ron Brooks, chief lobbyist for the nation’s 69,000 narcotics officers (one cop in 12 is a narcotics officer). He smugly stated that my organization only had a few thousand members vs his 59,000 strong organization. I countered that a solid poll had just shown that 22 percent of all active duty cops would legalize, regulate and tax marijuana. This percentage meant about 225,00 cops feel like I do. Per the same poll, a majority of cops felt that marijuana should be just a ticket, not an arrest. I told him that he and the narcs favored prohibition because it was a big, overtime check and job security. He became upset and stormed off.”
YOU CAN FOOL SOME OF THE PEOPLE SOME OF THE TIME AND ALL OF THE PEOPLE FOR THE PAST 40 YEARS
“So what numbers can you ‘hang your hat on?” asked Wooldridge. “In 2005 our federal government reported these sobering numbers: One – 110 million Americans had tried an illicit drug at least once. Two – 35,000,000 had used an illicit drug the previous year. More importantly, ask yourself what is the most crucial question for you and your children. Is it how much has drug use has gone up or down or how easy is it for your kids to buy drugs from marijuana to heroin. Of course it is drug availability which is the crucial question and that is why the Prohibition Crowd never, ever wants to discuss that aspect.
“Drug Prohibition will be repealed when a majority understand its destructive effects AND tell their politicians. Help your family by re-directing police time towards public safety, not personal safety. Going after Willie Nelson smoking marijuana on his back porch is NOT making America safer. Silence here means politicians will keep voting billions to feed the police drug machine.”
Today, my brother Howard Wooldridge heads up a task force in Washington, DC to educate and enlighten congressmen at the highest levels. He works for a better future for all Americans. He can be reached at: Education Specialist, www.citizensopposingprohibition.org , Washington, DC. He speaks at colleges, political clubs, Rotary, Kiwanis and Lions Clubs across America. He engages citizens around the country to bring an end to the Drug War. Check out the web site and join. Book Wooldridge in your state! Wooldridge also presents at political conferences in Washington. Howard@citizensopposingprohibition.org
“The mission of COP is 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 ultimately ending drug prohibition.
“Envision a country which employs the principles of personal responsibility, personal freedom and limited/effective government toward marijuana,” Officer Wooldridge said. “I see a growing respect for the police, as they stop intruding into the decisions of adults, made in the privacy of their castles. Teens find it as hard to buy pot as beer. Fewer teens use it because it lost its glamour. Imagine a land where the deadly DUI and reckless drivers kill far fewer, as officers focus on them, not the next pot bust. Envision detectives arresting more child predators as they abandon the time spent arresting someone selling pot to an adult. All this becomes possible, when America becomes wiser and abandons the prohibition approach to marijuana.”
Contact: howard@citizensopposingprohibition.org
www.CitizensOpposingProhibition.org
Frosty Wooldridge has bicycled across six continents – from the Arctic to the South Pole – as well as six times across the USA, coast to coast and border to border. In 2005, he bicycled from the Arctic Circle, Norway to Athens, Greece. He presents “The Coming Population Crisis in America: and what you can do about it” to civic clubs, church groups, high schools and colleges. He works to bring about sensible world population balance at www.frostywooldridge.com He is the author of: America on the Brink: The Next Added 100 Million Americans. Copies: 1 888 280 7715
http://denver.yourhub.com/Denver/Blogs/Your-Voice/Blog~743950.aspx
Posted March 8th, 2010 by hiwayhowie
COPs on the Hill
Stories from the week of March 5, 2010
Sign of desperation: It was a radio week, as I was on three shows. The first and longest (2 hours) was on the popular talk radio station here in Frederick, Maryland. The radio guy who invited me was a strong believer in all prohibition, as was the other guest, Charlie Smith the chief prosecutor of this county of 200,000.
In the first 5 minutes the prosecutor, Charlie stated that since I wanted to legalize/regulate marijuana, I must be in favor of 7 year olds girls having sex. We went to commercial and he apologized off-microphone. The slur* was an indicator of how desperate, how lacking in rational talking points the prohibition crowd has become. On Saturday at the coffee shop a gentleman walked up and asked if I were the guy on the radio. He agreed with the COPs position and the other guys’ points were “ridiculous.”
Could you take a look?: This week I was asked by a House staffer to review and comment on a draft* letter which will later go out to all Congressional offices which have an established program for the medicinal use of marijuana. ( 146 Members)
On the flip side I met with the new health and science advisor to the Swiss ambassador to the United States. I asked him to have his colleagues back in Switzerland review my summary of their successful treatment program which includes the use of heroin to addicted patients.
Twenty more years to repeal federal MJ prohibition: This estimate/statement was made during my original presentation to the general counsel* and legislative director to one US Senator on Friday. I countered with five years after the first state repeals its state-wide MJ prohibition. That is THE reason Misty and I are spending 10 weeks in California this fall.
- Slur = Beleidigung
- Draft = erste Versuch
- General counsel = Anwalt
COPs stats for first seven months of its first year:
274 presentations to Congressional Staffers
6 presentations to VIPs (elected officials)
29 published Letters to the Editor (that we know of)
Numerous conferences, hearings & briefings attended. C-Span broadcast my question at a Senate briefing
8 radio shows
Two TV interviews (Colombian TV) & Fox
Consider being a member of COPs at $30.00 or more per year. It is tax-deductible. 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.
Thank you,
Howard
Modern Prohibition/The War on Drugs is the most destructive, dysfunctional & immoral domestic policy since slavery & Jim Crow.
