Posted April 22nd, 2019 by hiwayhowie
COP on the Hill
Stories from the week of April 12, 2019
I spent the week informing Member offices of the introduction of the STATES Act (HR 2093 and S-1028). It is essentially the 10th Amendment bill for just MJ I have worked on for the past eight (8) years.
Just a solid chat: By chance, I met the Chief of Staff of Cman Tom Cole’s office (R-OK). We had a round-house, 15-minute chat on a variety of topics. Suffice to say I learned his boss has an evolving position on the drug war… no doubt aided by OK passing, via citizen initiative vote, for a robust MMJ program and defelonize all drugs.
Brief Chat: No one was in the reception area. I heard noise in the Member’s room. I poked my head in and asked the Cman if I could have 30 seconds. He replied, “just 30 seconds.”
Rep. Courtney I knew had always voted yes to the 10th Amendment on MJ, so I simply needed to explain and request that his colleagues leave HR 2093 alone, don’t treat it like a Christmas tree and the Prez would sign it. And 29 seconds later, I left the room.
Portugal: This week at Grover’s I gave the group a 3-minute summary of the countries’ decrim of all drugs success.
This week’s stats:
3105 Presentations to Congressional staffers… 17 this week
303 personal chats with a Member of Congress… 01 this week Joe Courtney (D-CT)
01 Meetings – Grover Norquist,
COP stats since inception: August 2009
102 Appearances/Interviews on major TV/Radio/Print media. 0 This week
Blaze TV {new, popular right-wing}, (Fox, ABC, CBS, NBC, Univision, BBC, CNN, NPR, German, Swiss, French, Spanish TV and radio) Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, Grand Rapids Press + 9 other MI papers. Chicago Tribute, Honolulu Star Advertiser {foto and caption}, Reason Magazine, Reuters
31 major conferences attended – (UN drug conference, CPAC, LULAC, NRA, CBC, ASA, DPA, Dem & Repub. Presidential conventions., National Review, Republican Annual Retreat etc.) 0 this week
363 chats with other elected officials, state reps, senators, VIPs, etc. 0 this week
163 interviews and reports in minor media = 0 this week.
85 Radio Interviews.
Weekly attendance at Grover Norquist’s Wednesday brunch attended by 150 conservative leaders. Named the “Grand Central Station of the Conservative Movement.”
* 2 editorials in daily papers mentioning Howard’s efforts & in support of COP position
84 published letters to the editor (value per MAPINC in free publicity: $83,000) 0 this week
43 published interviews/foto in major (daily) newspapers or magazine… 0 this week
* Consider being a member of COP at $40.00 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
Posted April 8th, 2019 by hiwayhowie
COP on the Hill
Stories from the week of April 5, 2019
Hypothesis confirmed-The World has moved on: Since I began wearing my new message of Legalize Heroin last August, of the 200 or so who have asked why, about 4% were angry at me. The numbers of people who were negative of the 7M clip runs about 3%. Plz forward the clip on FB, your friends and family.
CPAC interview 2019. 7 minutes on why to legalize heroin. Tell me how did. 11,000 views so far…I am thrilled. 900 thumbs up, 28 thumbs down…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiHUGWnFzBM
Senator Cornyn – What to do about 10 kids being shot daily? Click on Webcast below..my question comes in at 32-minuteminute mark.
https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/strengthening-counter-narcotics-cooperation-mexico-and-central-america-conversation-senator
Danke sehr: I informed the Swiss health dept that I finished the distribution of the HAT (heroin assisted treatment) program to all of Congress + two persons in the White House. Bern thanked me for my effort.
PS: Asked by Grover Norquist, I made a presentation, analysis of Red Flag Laws across the USA.
This week’s stats:
3088 Presentations to Congressional staffers… 16 this week
302 personal chats with a Member of Congress… 04 this week Senator Cornyn (R-TX), Senator Casey (D-PA), Senator Ernst (R-IA) and Senator Cardin (D-MD)
03 Meetings – Grover Norquist, International Center Right, Wilson Center
102 Appearances/Interviews on major TV/Radio/Print/Radio media. 01 This week radio station from MN
Blaze TV {new, popular right-wing}, (Fox, ABC, CBS, NBC, Univision, BBC, CNN, NPR, 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
COP stats since inception: August 2009
31 major conferences attended – (UN drug conference, CPAC, LULAC, NRA, CBC, ASA, DPA, Dem & Repub. Presidential conventions., National Review, Republican Annual Retreat etc.) 0 this week
363 chats with other elected officials, state reps, senators, VIPs, etc. 0 this week
163 interviews and reports in minor media = 0 this week.
85 Radio Interviews.
Weekly attendance at Grover Norquist’s Wednesday brunch attended by 150 conservative leaders. Named the “Grand Central Station of the Conservative Movement.”
* 2 editorials in daily papers mentioning Howard’s efforts & in support of COP position
84 published letters to the editor (value per MAPINC in free publicity: $83,000) 0 this week
43 published interviews/foto in major (daily) newspapers or magazine… 0 this week
* Consider being a member of COP at $40.00 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
Posted March 29th, 2019 by hiwayhowie
COP on the Hill
Stories from the week of March 29, 2019
Mundane: this week I finished the task of distributing to all House Members the Swiss HAT program for heroin addicts. I should be able to do the Senate next week.
Si, yo hablo: A chance encounter in the hallway of Cannon led to a five minute interview in Spanish with a NTN 24 reporter, Emiliana Milano.
Extra Crown Royal, Extra Chocolate: I have sent 101 short notes to George Will, since I arrived in DC 13 years ago. This week for the very first time this popped into my IN box. BTW, if you wondered what I do when “working from home” ; “executive time” ……..
Howard Wooldridge:
Thanks for your note.
George F. Will
Mr. Will wrote a column last week describing how ineffective and useless our drug prohibition/drug war has been. I wrote him a paragraph urging him to take the next step and call for an end to the policy.
I could just about die happy now. His March 2019 column at bottom. A taste of the column:
“cocaine users around the world reported that their most recent cocaine order was delivered in less time, on average, than their most recent pizza order.”
This week’s stats:
3072 Presentations to Congressional staffers… 06 this week
298 personal chats with a Member of Congress… 01 this week ( Senator Scott)
02 Meetings – Town Hall with Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) + Grover Norquist brunch
104 Appearances/Interviews on major TV/Radio/Print media. 01 This week – NTN 24 – national Spanish speaking network.
Blaze TV {new, popular right-wing}, (Fox, ABC, CBS, NBC, Univision, BBC, CNN, NPR, German, Swiss, French, Spanish TV and radio) Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, Grand Rapids Press + 9 other MI papers. Chicago Tribute, Honolulu Star Advertiser {foto and caption}, Reason Magazine, Reuters
COP stats since inception: August 2009
31 major conferences attended – (UN drug conference, CPAC, LULAC, NRA, CBC, ASA, DPA, Dem & Repub. Presidential conventions., National Review, Republican Annual Retreat etc.) 0 this week
363 chats with other elected officials, state reps, senators, VIPs, etc. 0 this week
163 interviews and reports in minor media = 0 this week.
85 Radio Interviews.
Weekly attendance at Grover Norquist’s Wednesday brunch attended by 150 conservative leaders. Named the “Grand Central Station of the Conservative Movement.”
* 2 editorials in daily papers mentioning Howard’s efforts & in support of COP position
84 published letters to the editor (value per MAPINC in free publicity: $83,000) 0 this week
43 published interviews/foto in major (daily) newspapers or magazine… 0 this week
* Consider being a member of COP at $40.00 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
On Feb. 12, Joaquín Guzmán Loera, a.k.a. El Chapo, was convicted of multiple crimesrelated to running the Sinaloa drug cartel, Mexico’s largest. Thirteen days before his conviction, authorities seized enough of the synthetic opioid called fentanyl for 100 million lethal doses. It was hidden in a truck carrying cucumbers through the Nogales port of legal entry. On Feb. 28, authorities at the port of Newark inspecting a container ship that had arrived from Colombia found inside a container supposedly filled with dried fruit 3,200 pounds of cocaine, worth $77 million on U.S streets. This was two days after Don Winslow published “The Border,” the final volume in his 1,900-page trilogy of novels (“The Power of the Dog” and “The Cartel”) about the cartels and the U.S. “war on drugs.” He could hardly have arranged a better launch for his book, which is already on best-seller lists.
His thesis is that the war on drugs resembles the Vietnam War in its futility and its collateral damage to Mexicans, more than 250,000 of whom have died and an additional 40,000 have disappeared, according to the Financial Times, in the past dozen years from violence associated with rivalrous cartels and law-enforcement measures. Those endless photos of confiscated sacks of drugs do resemble old photos of dead Vietcong — body counts of replaceable bodies. El Chapo, 61, will die in a U.S. “supermax” prison, and his incarceration — he has been in custody since 2016 — will make no difference regarding drug flows.
The mayhem and sadism Winslow describes are, he says, derived from credible reports. Wonder what the Central Americans who trek through Mexico to the U.S. border are fleeing? Read Winslow’s description of a 10-year-old Guatemalan living off a garbage dump, alert for trucks bringing garbage from the better neighborhoods.
Winslow might be right about sinister involvements of some U.S. financial institutions in handling the cartels’ billions. He could, however, have omitted the thinly — very thinly — disguised President Trump, and his son-in-law, who knowingly uses cartel money to rescue himself from a bad Manhattan real estate bet. One reason to read fiction is to avoid reading about those people. However, the upward of $40 billion in profits made from the $150 billion U.S. market — 30 million consumers of illicit drugs — must go somewhere. First, to Mexico, “so much cash,” Winslow says, “they don’t even count it, they weigh it.” But then where?
Every day 4,500 trucks pass, necessarily with usually minimal inspection, through three legal entry points along the U.S.-Mexico border. Any wall would be irrelevant to interrupting drug shipments. As is the strategy of bringing down cartel kingpins. The New York Times reports that in 2016 and 2017, when El Chapo was in custody, “Mexican heroin production increased by 37 percent and seizures of fentanyl in places like Nogales more than doubled.”
The “supply side” attack on drugs is frustrated by, among other things, geography and the torrent of south-north commerce. The “demand side” is frustrated by declining prices (the supply-side failure) for increasingly potent products, such as fentanyl, which has passed prescription opioids and heroin in overdose deaths. Made from chemicals, not crops, and patented almost 60 years ago, it is mixed with heroin for an extra kick — and if doses are not carefully calibrated, a lethal kick. Says New York University’s Mark A.R. Kleiman: In 1979, a milligram of pure heroin sold for about $9 in today’s prices; today it costs less than 25 cents. “Fifty grams of fentanyl — just over an ounce and a half — has the punch of a kilogram of heroin, and it’s way, way cheaper.” Three hundred micrograms — “roughly the weight of a grain of table salt” — can kill. And dealers are not precise chemists.
“We have,” Kleiman says, “about 30 times as many drug dealers behind bars today as we had in 1980,” but today’s dealers employ cellphones, texting, social media and home delivery. In the most recent Global Drug Survey, Kleiman says, “cocaine users around the world reported that their most recent cocaine order was delivered in less time, on average, than their most recent pizza order.”
He notes that serious cultural change has taken 50 years regarding tobacco, yet it is “still much more widely used than any of the illicit drugs except for cannabis.” And “the fentanyls aren’t going to be the last class of purely synthetic and super-potent recreational chemicals; they’re just the first.” Worse living through chemistry, even if it disadvantages the crop-growing cartels of Winslow’s epic.
Posted March 25th, 2019 by hiwayhowie
COP on the Hill
Stories from the week of March 22, 2019
Marketing & More Marketing:
A. I am now a little over half done dropping off at all 535 Members’ offices – the Swiss Method of Heroin Treatment. I finish the drop-off by saying, as I raise my right hand, ‘ I swear I am NOT an agent of the Swiss government. I am not being paid a million dollars to influence the decisions of the United States government.’
I then say, ‘ I do represent First Responders, the police and paramedics, who will handle a thousand drug overdose cases today of whom 200 will die. This is creating too much stress on these two professions.’
I am confident I will be remembered.
B. At a meeting this week I met an assistant to the Speaker of the House of a state in the middle of the country. After a minute he asked, “Are the guy who wears The Shirt at CPAC? I’ve seen you there a couple of times.” I pled guilty. I was/am remembered.
Personal Note: 21 years ago, Suzy Wills booked me to speak at my first of 400 civic clubs (Downtown Ft. Worth Kiwanis) to give them new ideas about our Drug War. And now in 2019, I am speaking and listening to Members of the United States Congress and advisors to the President of the USA. The list of people to thank is simply too numerous. I just want to say, “Thank You.”
This week’s stats:
3072 Presentations to Congressional staffers… 04 this week
02 Meetings – (CATO had an all-day seminar on effective heroin treatment) + Grover Norquist brunch
COP stats since inception: August 2009
297 personal chats with a Member of Congress… 0 this week
31 major conferences attended – (UN drug conference, CPAC, LULAC, NRA, CBC, ASA, DPA, Dem & Repub. Presidential conventions., National Review, Republican Annual Retreat etc.) 0 this week
363 chats with other elected officials, state reps, senators, VIPs, etc. 0 this week
163 interviews and reports in minor media = 0 this week.
103 Appearances/Interviews on major TV/Radio/Print media. 01 This week -Blaze TV {new, popular right-wing}, (Fox, ABC, CBS, NBC, Univision, BBC, CNN, NPR, German, Swiss, French, Spanish TV and radio) Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, Grand Rapids Press + 9 other MI papers. Chicago Tribute, Honolulu Star Advertiser {foto and caption}, Reason Magazine, Reuters
85 Radio Interviews.
Weekly attendance at Grover Norquist’s Wednesday brunch attended by 150 conservative leaders. Named the “Grand Central Station of the Conservative Movement.”
* 2 editorials in daily papers mentioning Howard’s efforts & in support of COP position
84 published letters to the editor (value per MAPINC in free publicity: $83,000) 0 this week
43 published interviews/foto in major (daily) newspapers or magazine… 0 this week
* Consider being a member of COP at $40.00 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
Posted March 18th, 2019 by hiwayhowie
COP on the Hill
Stories from the week of March 15, 2019
Street cred: I attended a House hearing on drunk driving which morphed quickly into MJ driving and all drugged driving. After the hearing I had two solid chats with Members of the committee to explain the difficulty of establishing a number/level of a drug in the blood to convict for intoxicated driving.
The Republican I spoke with was also a doctor and he understood completely that a citizen in pain can still drive sober, even with large doses of Oxi, Vicodin, MJ etc. in the blood. I then explained that concept to the Chairwoman Jan Schakowsky of Illinois. All members were provided with a copy of my 4-minute summary of how to arrest and prosecute for DUIM. (see below)
Productive Lunch auf Deutsch: On Wednesday I was invited to lunch by a law enforcement liaison attached to the German embassy. Beside a fine meal, we had a good chat. He is now researching my request to meet with staff of their parliament (Bundestag) in Berlin this year, either spring or fall. He wasn’t sure, if this type of “lobbying” had ever been done or permitted….something I do daily in our Congress.
Not to worry, if this is a go, I will do this during my vacation time, when I am already in Berlin to visit friends…no COP funds. We have a few allies in Germany, including some LEAP members. Stay tuned.
This week’s stats:
3068 Presentations to Congressional staffers… 06 this week
297 personal chats with a Member of Congress… 05 this week Cman Dr. Bucshon (R-IN), Cman Schakowsky (IL-D), Cman Wild (D-PA), Pocan (D-WI), Cman Joyce (R-OH)
02 Meetings – meetings, hearings, etc.
COP stats since inception: August 2009
31 major conferences attended – (UN drug conference, CPAC, LULAC, NRA, CBC, ASA, DPA, Dem & Repub. Presidential conventions., National Review, Republican Annual Retreat etc.) 0 this week
363 chats with other elected officials, state reps, senators, VIPs, etc. 0 this week
163 interviews and reports in minor media = 0 this week.
103 Appearances/Interviews on major TV/Radio/Print media. 01 This week -Blaze TV {new, popular right-wing}, (Fox, ABC, CBS, NBC, Univision, BBC, CNN, NPR, German, Swiss, French, Spanish TV and radio) Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, Grand Rapids Press + 9 other MI papers. Chicago Tribute, Honolulu Star Advertiser {foto and caption}, Reason Magazine, Reuters
85 Radio Interviews.
Weekly attendance at Grover Norquist’s Wednesday brunch attended by 150 conservative leaders. Named the “Grand Central Station of the Conservative Movement.”
* 2 editorials in daily papers mentioning Howard’s efforts & in support of COP position
84 published letters to the editor (value per MAPINC in free publicity: $83,000) 0 this week
43 published interviews/foto in major (daily) newspapers or magazine… 0 this week
* Consider being a member of COP at $40.00 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
DUI of Marijuana Arrest Procedures (or any non-alcohol, intoxicating drug (pain killers)
Overview: Based on the street experience of the author (400 arrests for DUI or DUID), arresting anyone for non-alcohol related DUI follows closely the same procedures as alcohol-related DUI. The three (3) differences are that on the side of the road, there is no instrument-based test to determine the level of intoxication. The second difference is that blood should be drawn before the arrestee is put in jail. The third is the results of the blood test are not known, until after the arrestee has been released. Regardless of the court outcome, public safety is served.
Steps:
1. Officer observes bad driving or responds to an accident.
2. Officer conducts a field interview (questions and observations) of the driver to determine sobriety.
3. If sobriety is in question, officer has subject perform physical & mental tests.
A. NOTE: In some states, a DRE (drug recognition expert) will also run the suspect through a series of physiological (pulse rate, nystagmus) and performance tests. A DRE is advantageous but not necessary.
4. If tests indicate intoxication above the legal standard and alcohol is not detected, the subject is arrested and read their rights for a chemical test.
5. The officer requests the arrestee submit to a blood test, as breath would be useless.
6. The arrestee is taken to a medical facility and blood is drawn. Arrestee is taken to jail. Formal charge is DUI of Drugs. The blood is taken to a lab. NOTE: if arrestee declines to take the test, a search warrant is obtained and blood is drawn with or without their cooperation.
7. X Days later the results from the lab are sent to the prosecutor’s office. The prosecutor would then issue a complaint and warrant for DUI of Drugs, if the facts warrant such.
A. NOTE: Pennsylvania used to have a 5ng/ml THC/blood standard for DUI but in 2011 amended it to 1ng/ml. Some states set the level at zero (Michigan) or 2ng/ml (Ohio, Nevada). Colorado and Washington are now 5 ng/ml.
8. If a trial takes place, the prosecution uses the following elements to demonstrate guilt to the jury: driving, field interview and the presence of marijuana in the blood (or other intoxicating drugs—note most common in my experience was prescription pain killers).
9. Generally speaking the punishment for DUI alcohol and DUI marijuana is the same.
10. Whereas the federal government has set a national standard of 0.08% for alcohol DUI (in order to receive highway funds), it has not set a standard for marijuana or any other intoxicating drug (cocaine, heroin, Oxicodone, Vicodin, etc)
Howard
Detective Officer Howard ‘Cowboy’ Wooldridge, Retired
Founder & Drug Policy Specialist of COP Citizens Opposing Prohibition
Co-Founder of Law Enforcement Action Partnership( www.LEAP.cc)
howardwooldridge0@gmail.com
817-975-1110
Metro Washington DC
The War on Drugs/Drug Prohibition has been the most destructive, dysfunctional and immoral policy since slavery & Jim Crow
The National Institute on Drug Abuse also states that “the role played by marijuana in [traffic] accidents is often unclear, because it can remain detectable in body fluids for days or even weeks after intoxication and because users frequently combine it with alcohol.” Though the NIDA adds, “The risk associated with marijuana in combination with alcohol appears to be greater than that for either drug by itself.”
A February 2015 “Drug and Alcohol Crash Risk” study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration did find “a statistically significant increase” in crash risk (1.25 times) for drivers who tested positive for THC. But after the researchers controlled for age, gender, ethnicity and alcohol concentration level, increased crash risk associated with marijuana was no longer significant. This suggests these other variables “account for much of the increased risk associated … with THC,” write the study authors.
There’s also some evidence that medical marijuana laws may contribute to decreasing traffic fatalities. One study published in The Journal of Law & Economics in 2013 reviewed traffic fatalities in the 19 states that had passed medical marijuana laws by 2010 and found that “legalization is associated with an 8–11 percent decrease in traffic fatalities” for the year after the laws took effect. The researchers from the University of Colorado, Denver and elsewhere also found that the decrease is more significant for alcohol-related fatalities at 13.2 percent.
To be clear, there is evidence that “marijuana significantly impairs judgment, motor coordination, and reaction time,” according to the NIDA.
