Posted December 23rd, 2009 by hiwayhowie
Frustrations: As you can imagine, I have heard 1001 times the past three years that a staffer’s boss (the Member) may agree with repealing at least marijuana prohibition but such a vote remains “too risky.” I burn a lot of mental energy when I do NOT scream, “tell the Senator to do what is right and best for his state & country.” AKA* find some courage.
As one Senate staffer said today, ‘your issue is gaining ground, especially marijuana.’ This beats where we were just a year or two ago.
Hi, I am the Senator’s Chief Legal Counsel: The past 3 years with this very senior Dem office who has a place on the Senate’s Crime and Drugs subcommittee, I had met with a legislative aide. Today I graduated to a direct 30 minute conversation with his chief counsel & two of his aides. I had never met with three staffers at once before. Small steps.
Webb bill update: Yesterday I attended the ‘mark up’ for the bill. This is when the Senators vote to move a bill out of the original sub-committee. For the fourth time they ran out of time before it came up. Stay tuned. On a positive note in my meeting above, the chief counsel said his side was very united against the Grassley Amendment (which would prohibit a discussion on drug prohibition). He stated with great certainty that Grassley would fail. Cross your fingers/hold your thumbs.
*AKA = also known as
Posted December 5th, 2009 by hiwayhowie
Howard on the Hill
Stories from the week of November 27, 2009
Access to Power without Money 101: Which is better? When a lobbyist pays 1000 + dollars to go to a fundraiser which gives him about 2 minutes with a Senator? Or when a trusted staffer takes your message to the boss for free (well, nearly free)? This from a staffer I spoke to last week. “Mr. Wooldridge, thank you for offering your additional assistance. Please be assured I will relay your ideas and information to Senator XXXXX. Feel free to contact me at any time.
Thank you,
Daniel XXXXXX”
The cool thing about meeting these very sharp young staffers is they process the information as it tumbles* out of my mouth. They grasp the concepts, even though very few have heard the COP line of thinking (public safety is the task of law enforcement, not personal safety is one example). They are ‘flipped’* on the spot.
People are hungry for information: This incident happened several weeks ago. I was going to all 100 offices of the Senate to verify the legislative aide who handles judiciary. Since they keep the buildings at 72 degrees (22C), I begin to sweat when I walk. That fact plus I love to wear my t-shirt — I wore it all day in the Senate going office to office.
After finishing one office I stopped to collect my notes and see where I had to go next. After 30 seconds a young staffer approached me and asked if I were handing out information to answer the question (COPS SAY LEGALIZE DRUGS – Ask Me Why).. I replied no but I had a 30 second version. Sure, he responded. We ended up chatting for two minutes, leaving with the COP business card and a request he read our Vision Statement.
Personal Note: these newsletters serve several purposes. First they help me understand what I did this week. They help me see the issue evolve in the corridors of power and then adjust my tactics to reflect a new reality. Secondly they provide you a glimpse into the most important ‘sandbox’ in the world and thus help you understand what is needed to change policy. Third, this is my personal diary. As you know, I write the Good, Bad and Ugly of what goes on. If I seem to be bragging about my ability, my accomplishments, I am not. I need to know & appreciate those events where I made a personal difference. My work is all in the trenches. This is like riding a horse 23 miles per day (39/km), moving across North America. Reaching the opposite ocean seems impossible at this speed. So, to keep my spirits up, I write what put a big smile on my face that week.
And this Modern Prohibition will one day be in the history books, just as one day Misty and I splashed down in the Pacific Ocean in Oregon. Count on it.
Consider being a member of COP at $30.00 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.
Howard
*tumbles out of the mouth = wenn man spricht
*flipped = überzeugt, zu etwas bekehren
Posted December 5th, 2009 by hiwayhowie
Posted: Friday, December 4, 2009
The author of Tuesday’s letter titled “Be cautious about legalizing marijuana” defends marijuana prohibition based on the possibility it could be harmful.
I understand a liberal’s desire to protect citizens from cradle to grave against harm. But horseback riding will kill many more people this year than using marijuana. Should we make that illegal? Cigarettes kill a few people in Wisconsin every day. Should we make that illegal?
Speaking as a Michigan police officer, now retired, public safety is reduced as my profession spends tens of thousands of hours searching for and arresting adults using marijuana in their own homes. These police hours would be better spent arresting deadly drunken drivers and child molesters.
– Howard Wooldridge, Merrimac
Posted December 4th, 2009 by hiwayhowie
Howard on the Hill
Stories from the week of November 20, 2009
I have seen this film before: This week began my fourth trip to the Senate. It should take me about two months to meet with 100 offices. Returning from the DPA conference in New Mexico, I had already set up 21 meetings from Tuesday till Friday. The seven on Tuesday wore me out. I am just about getting too old to handle that many in one day.
Existential Crisis: At the end of a 25 minute meeting with two staffers from a top Dem office on the judiciary committee, she pro-offered that drug reform will come from the States, not originate at the federal level. The next day I asked four staffers with whom I have 2-3 year relationships, if they agreed. They all agreed. BOOM. My brain went into overdrive thinking of the concept that what I am doing was not worthy of my time.
“Hello Eric. Do you have sometime this afternoon? You do. Great. I will see you at 3PM.” I poured my heart out to Eric. I reminded him of his words to me shortly after my arrival in DC, “Howard, you have no idea how much good work you are doing.” Fill in the blanks for me Eric.
30 minutes later Eric Sterling had put the Howard train back on the tracks. Thank goodness for mentors. Major concept – since the staffers I present to meet hundreds of VIPs from the Congressional Districts & States, their exposure to the COP message does influence their conversations. I could not be more effective, if I went to every Rotary & Kiwnais Club in every state.
When the bell rings:* My last appointment the next day was with a woman I had met in 2007 & 2008. She said she enjoyed our little chats. Just before departing, she said, ‘when changes begin to happen at the federal level, you will be my “go to guy.”
Like a fireman, I need to be ready, to know my craft, to know the Member Offices, have long-term relationships – so when the time comes, we in reform can move the federal level quickly.
*when the bell rings = wenn ein Ereignis fängt an.
Consider being a member of COP at $30.00 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.
Howard
Posted December 2nd, 2009 by hiwayhowie
Store-Bought Pills vs. Grow-Your-Own Meds
Once upon a time in America a citizen had complete freedom (along with the personal responsibility) to discover and use anything they believed might help them with a medical problem. One such discovery was the medicinal use of cannabis. By the late 19th century its use had been widely accepted for both human and animal applications. Cannabis was virtually cost-free to grow (it is classified a weed), highly effective, low side-effect and low, nearly zero addictive properties. Cannabis was sold legally and in harmony with its more powerful shelf mates like heroin, morphine and cocaine. For religious reason Utah in 1914 became the first of many states to prohibit its sale. In the 21st century its re-introduction as a medicine is being blocked, not by religion but rather by possibly the most powerful, well-financed lobby in Washington, Big Pharma.
Why does Big Pharma spend millions to block cannabis? Simple, the money. According to industry figures, the world spends roughly 640 billion on pills. If cannabis were legally obtainable, Big Pharma would lose somewhere between 1-5% of the store-bought pill market; some 6.4 to 30 billion dollars. The Industry knows that to make a campaign contribution (aka a bribe — put money in the freezer) to a politician is much more cost-effective than to face God’s medicine on the shelf at the local pharmacy. The Industry also contributes massively to groups like Partnership for a Drug-Free America. PDFA’s title is deceptive. They take money from Big Pharma to make you very afraid of cannabis (it is xx stronger than 30 years ago, yikes!!) so use Tylenol instead (which actually kills people every year — the Washington Post just printed several, full-page ads warning consumers that too much Tylenol can lead to injury and death). Cannabis of course has never caused a death and its medicinal use has yet to cause a recorded injury. PDFA’s purpose is to force you to use the pills of Big Pharma, NOT actually drug-free.
While many across North America know the varied problems which cannabis can provide relief from, scientific research is blocked by the DEA which by law cannot provide any cannabis for a researcher who wants to see if cannabis is medically useful. In this manner Big Pharma can direct its mouthpieces to say there is no USA research to show the efficacy of cannabis (recall then Vice President Gore in the 2000 debate saying he could not support medical cannabis because of the lack of research). Nine months into the Obama administration the DEA is still not allowing medical doctors the cannabis they need to do research and double blind studies.
The four million horse owners and the million or so who raise cattle in this country might be more interested in this topic, if they knew how widely cannabis used to be applied to animals. My first rodeo as a lobbyist was in the winter of 2003 in Austin, Texas. I had the original 1919 bill which prohibited cannabis use pull and copied. The bill contained an exception for both human and animal needs. A veterinarian had to fill out a form which described the equine or bovine, the medical problem and the course of the treatment employing cannabis. As all horse owners know, an equine stomach can tolerate only small amounts of painkiller for a relatively short time (6-8 weeks of Bute). Cannabis on the other hand whether applied externally as a poultice (like on an ankle) or taken internally could be taken in massive amounts for long periods without adverse problems.
In 2007 the Swiss government called upon its farmers to stop giving cannabis to milk-producing cows. The reason was image, not safety. The Swiss farmers had learned that cows were happier and mellower when fed cannabis & thus produced more milk. As studies show about 70% of the humans use cannabis as pain medicine, others with depression, bi-polar, PTSD and other mental conditions use it effectively to treat their situation. No doubt high strung horses would probably benefit from cannabis but studies can not be done, yet. On a personal note my wife has spent over 800 dollars for doggie Prozac between the exams, blood workups and the expensive meds. Probably cannabis would have chilled out her little poodle for much, much less.
The pharmaceutical industry will continue its stranglehold on consumers as long as we allow it. When police officers resist laws allowing medical marijuana, we know they are protecting jobs and good overtime checks. When doctors testify against it, we know that some people will say anything for enough money. Big Pharma will fight this effective alternative to store-bought pills until the bitter end. It is all about money. Grow your own meds in your back yard like President Jefferson did? Forget about it!!
Copyright © 2009 Campaign for Liberty
