COP on the Hill:  Stories from the week of May 24, 2024

This Week:

This week I wrapped up my 6 week running task of giving all offices info on how to arrest a driver for DUI Marijuana  All fairly routine chats.

Better Late than Never:  Back in 2016 when California finally legalized marijuana, the major CA police association opposed the change and urged the public to continue MJ prohibition.

In a 180 change in thinking:  this last week from the Executive Director of my old org, LEAP of which I am a Co-Founder.

Here is a link to an article in Marijuana Moment Two police associations endorsed a great bill that the Cannabis Freedom Alliance (we are on as coalition partners also supports). But critically we need to keep this when we discuss our historical work and how we influence policing. In 2016 PORAC donated 25K in opposition to Proposition 64 which legalized adult consumption. We actively worked on the campaign that helped it pass. In 2024 they are supporting a bill that also supports interstate commerce and ending federal marijuana prohibition. PORAC for those not familiar with the CA policing association is the largest police association in CA as most CA LE agencies belong to them. I am still a PORAC member.

But kudos to our (LEAP) founders and all those that I can’t tag in this email who should be acknowledged for being visionaries in the prohibition wilderness. This language in the article is exactly what we have messaged for years, with the exception of the words illicit substances at the end. They just can’t bring themselves to recognize that its all drug prohibition that is the issue, but baby steps.

“The STATES 2.0 Act will facilitate law enforcement’s focus on diminishing those illegal markets and the bad actors taking advantage of the growing legalization movement occurring in a majority of states throughout the country. This will also enable law enforcement agencies, many of whom are understaffed and underfunded, to focus their limited resources on addressing more serious crimes and illicit substances.”

1 meeting: Grover Norquist  :

6015 Presentations to Congressional staffers… 06  this week

473 chats with other elected officials, state reps, senators, VIPs,   … 03 this week..2 R candidates running for the US House.  1  Member of the German Parliament.  He told us the only accomplishment of Berlin the past year was to legalize cannabis. And Germany is seriously considering bringing back the military draft.  He and I discussed in German how the legalization is proceeding.

COP stats since inception: August 2009

400 personal chats with a Member of Congress… 00

117 Appearances/Interviews on major TV/Radio/Print media. 0 this week

245 interviews and reports in minor media … 0 this week –

102 Radio Interviews:  01 this week

34 major conferences attended – CPAC 2024, (3 UN drug conferences in Vienna, Austria),  LULAC, NRA, CBC, ASA, DPA, Dem & Repub. Presidential conventions., National Review, Republican Annual Retreat etc.) 0 this week

Media:  Blaze TV {new, popular right-wing}, (Fox, ABC, CBS, NBC, Univision, BBC, CNN, NPR, OAN, German, Swiss, French, Spanish TV and radio) Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, Grand Rapids Press + 9 other MI papers. Chicago Tribune, Honolulu Star Advertiser {foto and caption}, Reason Magazine, Reuters, Stern

* Consider being a member of COP at $40 or more per year. All contributions are tax-deductible. 40 dollars buys all the copy paper COP uses in one year. Law Enforcement’s voice in opposition to current policy is vital on the Hill to achieve a repeal of federal drug prohibition. COP provides that voice. www.citizensopposingprohibition.org ( to donate by Internet)

To send a check:

COP

POB 543

Buckeystown, MD  21717

COP on the Hill:  Stories from the week of May 17, 2024

Stuff Happens:  I was leaving a Senator’s office, as the Swedish ambassador was walking in with some aides..He had a flag on his lapel which I incorrectly guessed was Denmark…oops..despite that we engaged.  He gave me a minute to explain how Norway next door had adopted a pro-life position in order to help their heroin addicts survive the problem.  Later, I sent him the 6 minute summary of the Swiss program via email.

This Makes my day and month:  “old soldiers never die.  They just fade away.” General MacArthur 1953

One day when I no longer go up and down the corridors of the Congress, my belief is that I leave 1000s of Congressional assistants with a few nuggets of wisdom regarding police work and the intersection of the prohibition of some drugs.  This from a Utah Senator Mike Lee’s office.

Hi Howard,

I appreciate the information you dropped off and your advocacy in this area. I clerked for the United States Attorney’s Office in Utah and for two separate District Attorney’s offices during my time in law school, and I saw many such cases like what you described. Thank you for your service. Dedicated officers like yourself are the thread holding the fabric of our society together.

Keep me informed on issues you think Senator Lee could be helpful with.

Best,
Sean

Chief Legal Counsel

Senator Lee

This Week:

1 meeting: Grover Norquist  :

6009 Presentations to Congressional staffers… 07  this week

470 chats with other elected officials, state reps, senators, VIPs,   …spoke to 01 this week..R candidate running for the US House

COP stats since inception: August 2009

400 personal chats with a Member of Congress… 00

117 Appearances/Interviews on major TV/Radio/Print media. 0 this week

245 interviews and reports in minor media … 0 this week –

102 Radio Interviews:  01 this week

34 major conferences attended – CPAC 2024, (3 UN drug conferences in Vienna, Austria),  LULAC, NRA, CBC, ASA, DPA, Dem & Repub. Presidential conventions., National Review, Republican Annual Retreat etc.) 0 this week

Media:  Blaze TV {new, popular right-wing}, (Fox, ABC, CBS, NBC, Univision, BBC, CNN, NPR, OAN, German, Swiss, French, Spanish TV and radio) Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, Grand Rapids Press + 9 other MI papers. Chicago Tribune, Honolulu Star Advertiser {foto and caption}, Reason Magazine, Reuters, Stern

* Consider being a member of COP at $40 or more per year. All contributions are tax-deductible. 40 dollars buys all the copy paper COP uses in one year. Law Enforcement’s voice in opposition to current policy is vital on the Hill to achieve a repeal of federal drug prohibition. COP provides that voice. www.citizensopposingprohibition.org ( to donate by Internet)

To send a check:

COP

POB 543

Buckeystown, MD  21717

COP on the Hill:  Stories from the week of May 10, 2024

Cowboy is Qualified:

From out of the blue this week I received a request from META (Facebook) to help them improve their AI and algorithms to combat a growing problem of FB users  selling coke, heroin, fentanyl on line.

Somehow, I had been selected as one of twenty drug policy experts in the world to help META.

I am not at liberty to disclose what was said.

This Week:

2  meetings: Grover Norquist  : META

6002 Presentations to Congressional staffers… 08 this week

469 chats with other elected officials, state reps, senators, VIPs,   …spoke to 01 this week..R candidate running for the US House

COP stats since inception: August 2009

400 personal chats with a Member of Congress… 00

117 Appearances/Interviews on major TV/Radio/Print media. 0 this week

245 interviews and reports in minor media … 0 this week –

102 Radio Interviews:  01 this week

34 major conferences attended – CPAC 2024, (3 UN drug conferences in Vienna, Austria),  LULAC, NRA, CBC, ASA, DPA, Dem & Repub. Presidential conventions., National Review, Republican Annual Retreat etc.) 0 this week

Media:  Blaze TV {new, popular right-wing}, (Fox, ABC, CBS, NBC, Univision, BBC, CNN, NPR, OAN, German, Swiss, French, Spanish TV and radio) Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, Grand Rapids Press + 9 other MI papers. Chicago Tribune, Honolulu Star Advertiser {foto and caption}, Reason Magazine, Reuters, Stern

* Consider being a member of COP at $40 or more per year. All contributions are tax-deductible. 40 dollars buys all the copy paper COP uses in one year. Law Enforcement’s voice in opposition to current policy is vital on the Hill to achieve a repeal of federal drug prohibition. COP provides that voice. www.citizensopposingprohibition.org ( to donate by Internet)

To send a check:

COP

POB 543

Buckeystown, MD  21717

COP on the Hill: Stories from the week of May 3, 2024

 Expert and Experienced:  this week i had a long chat with an assistant from a Texas, R office.  He had worked in a for-profit company which dealt with opioid addicts. He not only knew methadone assisted treatment forwards and backwards, he later stated he was a 5-year free heroin addict.  Whoa!  He has become my Go-To guy for all such matters. Any question comes up and he can answer it from both directions.

His clinic charged $20,000 a month..if you relapse, you go back to the clinic and pay for at least one month, to receive methadone and other drugs like Valium to help you thru the personal crisis…yes, Virginia, it is all about the Benjamins

This Week:

1 meeting: Grover Norquist

5194 Presentations to Congressional staffers… 11 this week

468 chats with other elected officials, state reps, senators, VIPs,   …spoke to 01 this week..R candidate running for the US House

102 Radio Interviews:  01 this week

COP stats since inception: August 2009

400 personal chats with a Member of Congress… 00

117 Appearances/Interviews on major TV/Radio/Print media. 0 this week

245 interviews and reports in minor media … 0 this week –

34 major conferences attended – CPAC 2024, (3 UN drug conferences in Vienna, Austria),  LULAC, NRA, CBC, ASA, DPA, Dem & Repub. Presidential conventions., National Review, Republican Annual Retreat etc.) 0 this week

Media:  Blaze TV {new, popular right-wing}, (Fox, ABC, CBS, NBC, Univision, BBC, CNN, NPR, OAN, German, Swiss, French, Spanish TV and radio) Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, Grand Rapids Press + 9 other MI papers. Chicago Tribune, Honolulu Star Advertiser {foto and caption}, Reason Magazine, Reuters, Stern

* Consider being a member of COP at $40 or more per year. All contributions are tax-deductible. 40 dollars buys all the copy paper COP uses in one year. Law Enforcement’s voice in opposition to current policy is vital on the Hill to achieve a repeal of federal drug prohibition. COP provides that voice. www.citizensopposingprohibition.org ( to donate by Internet)

To send a check:

COP

POB 543

Buckeystown, MD  21717

Policing For Profit AKA Civil Asset Forfeiture

Scope of the issue:  in this century the police are averaging 5 billion per year, 500 or 1000 dollars at a time.

Police and their unions fight changes tooth and nail.  It is a true slush fund for their departments.  Many prosecutors take 10% of all the seizures, so they fight change also

Bath Story:  From my own experience:  colleague stopped a guy for speeding; given consent to search the pickup; found $2200 in a bank bag; officer seized the cash and the truck; Prosecutor said you can have Half the Money today and your truck back, or wait 18 months ( and no truck) for the judge to hear the case…the barber who was en route to the bank with his weekly cash payment, took the deal..Legal Theft

TN…per un-rebutted investigation..in the 00s…. 91% of traffic stops with searches were made on I – 40 in the WB direction. Only 9% EB, where the cars carry the drugs between Memphis and Nashville.  TN law enforcement wanted the money, much more than stopping drugs.

Maine now joins Nebraska, New Mexico, and North Carolina as the fourth state that ended civil forfeiture and replaced it with criminal forfeiture.  All states retain criminal forfeiture.

At the federal level in 2024 –  U.S. Representatives Tim Walberg (R-MI) and Jamie Raskin (D-MD) reintroduced the Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration Act (FAIR Act), a comprehensive reform to our nation’s civil asset forfeiture laws,” the two lawmakers announced in March.

2024. “Gov Stitt of Oklahoma said….”We need to address civil asset forfeiture,” Stitt said. “It’s crazy to me that somebody can be pulled over and have their cash and truck taken for an alleged crime, get acquitted of that crime, but they still never get their property back.
2025. Gov. Ducey: “Arizonans can stand strong in combating organized crime and criminal activity, without sacrificing the rights guaranteed under our Constitution for law abiding citizens. He signed legislation to make it harder for the police to just seize/steal money.

Kansas will sign legislation this week to move from preponderance to ‘clear and convincing ‘ evidence.

34 states now require more than: ‘51% – clear & convincing evidence Versus—-Preponderance of the evidence…Utah, Az, Florida are strict…Ga, Alabama, Tennessee, OK are NOT.

.

 COP on the Hill: Stories from the week of April 26, 2024

IPI – Impress, Persuade, Inspire:

I had another great experience at the Grover Norq​uist center-right meeting this week..we had 4 young guests from the Munich area (very conservative).  We began auf Deutsch with  German defense spending​, then how they legalized cannabis last month (and how we waste time chasing God’s green plant in USA).. After a few minutes one of them noticed my name plate with the 3 flags.  Without warning he asked me a question in French.  He and I chatted for two minutes en francais..leaving the other 3 with mouths agape​ (it was a smooth, fluent transition).  Another asked about the buckle and a couple more minutes about riding ​the pony from GA to OR…I love that kind of stuff.

Those Germans will not soon forget the cowboy, nor his message.  Bonus:  these encounters are one reason I have had this invitation for 14 years now.

​the House was in recess this week.

This Week:

1 meeting: Grover Norquist

5183 Presentations to Congressional staffers… 14 this week

COP stats since inception: August 2009

400 personal chats with a Member of Congress… 00

467 chats with other elected officials, state reps, senators, VIPs,   …spoke to 0 this week

117 Appearances/Interviews on major TV/Radio/Print media. 0 this week

101 Radio Interviews:  0 this week

245 interviews and reports in minor media … 0 this week –

34 major conferences attended – CPAC 2024, (3 UN drug conferences in Vienna, Austria),  LULAC, NRA, CBC, ASA, DPA, Dem & Repub. Presidential conventions., National Review, Republican Annual Retreat etc.) 0 this week

Media:  Blaze TV {new, popular right-wing}, (Fox, ABC, CBS, NBC, Univision, BBC, CNN, NPR, OAN, German, Swiss, French, Spanish TV and radio) Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, Grand Rapids Press + 9 other MI papers. Chicago Tribune, Honolulu Star Advertiser {foto and caption}, Reason Magazine, Reuters, Stern

* Consider being a member of COP at $40 or more per year. All contributions are tax-deductible. 40 dollars buys all the copy paper COP uses in one year. Law Enforcement’s voice in opposition to current policy is vital on the Hill to achieve a repeal of federal drug prohibition. COP provides that voice. www.citizensopposingprohibition.org ( to donate by Internet)

To send a check:

COP

POB 543

Buckeystown, MD  21717

Policing For Profit AKA Civil Asset Forfeiture

Scope of the issue:  in this century the police are averaging 5 billion per year, 500 or 1000 dollars at a time.

Police and their unions fight changes tooth and nail.  It is a true slush fund for their departments.  Many prosecutors take 10% of all the seizures, so they fight change also

Bath Story:  From my own experience:  colleague stopped a guy for speeding; given consent to search the pickup; found $2200 in a bank bag; officer seized the cash and the truck; Prosecutor said you can have Half the Money today and your truck back, or wait 18 months ( and no truck) for the judge to hear the case…the barber who was en route to the bank with his weekly cash payment, took the deal..Legal Theft

TN…per un-rebutted investigation..in the 00s…. 91% of traffic stops with searches were made on I – 40 in the WB direction. Only 9% EB, where the cars carry the drugs between Memphis and Nashville.  TN law enforcement wanted the money, much more than stopping drugs.

Maine now joins Nebraska, New Mexico, and North Carolina as the fourth state that ended civil forfeiture and replaced it with criminal forfeiture.  All states retain criminal forfeiture.

At the federal level in 2024 –  U.S. Representatives Tim Walberg (R-MI) and Jamie Raskin (D-MD) reintroduced the Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration Act (FAIR Act), a comprehensive reform to our nation’s civil asset forfeiture laws,” the two lawmakers announced in March.

2024. “Gov Stitt of Oklahoma said….”We need to address civil asset forfeiture,” Stitt said. “It’s crazy to me that somebody can be pulled over and have their cash and truck taken for an alleged crime, get acquitted of that crime, but they still never get their property back.
2025. Gov. Ducey: “Arizonans can stand strong in combating organized crime and criminal activity, without sacrificing the rights guaranteed under our Constitution for law abiding citizens. He signed legislation to make it harder for the police to just seize/steal money.

Kansas will sign legislation this week to move from preponderance to ‘clear and convincing ‘ evidence.

34 states now require more than: ‘51% – clear & convincing evidence Versus—-Preponderance of the evidence…Utah, Az, Florida are strict…Ga, Alabama, Tennessee, OK are NOT.

.