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 6th, 2010 by hiwayhowie
The Drug Enforcement Administration reports in 2009, “Drugs are readily available to America’s youth.” As my colleagues Sheriff Jerry Modena and Police Chief Mike Burns come together to form a drug task force, taxpayers need to know that all the arrests the task force makes will be without meaning. All of us in law enforcement know that an arrested drug dealer is quickly replaced, usually within days. The real victims are the taxpayers.
Want to make every drug dealer in Georgia disappear? Repeal drug prohibition — legalize/regulate and tax the heck out of the drugs.
Howard Wooldridge
Albany
Published on March 4, 2010 in the Macon Telegraph
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n158/a09.html?397
Posted March 6th, 2010 by hiwayhowie
I am writing in response to Sarah Reyes’ column, “Heads vs. Feds lights fresh debate.” As a police officer who worked the trenches of marijuana prohibition and the war on drugs for 18 years, I believe intoxicants should not be judged by their effects, but by their threat to the community. During my entire police career, I was sent on zero calls generated by the use of marijuana. Compared to the extremely dangerous drug, alcohol, I found very little harm associated with marijuana.
The police should return to their historic role of public safety, not personal safety. If you have a drug problem, see a doctor and a clinic – not a cop and a jail.
Howard Wooldridge detective/officer ( retired ) drug policy specialist Citizens Opposing Prohibition
Published on March 1, 2010 in the The Daily Evergreen, (Washington State U)
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n158/a04.html?397
Posted February 27th, 2010 by hiwayhowie
Pot is a Distraction: published on February 18, 2010 in the Free Lance-Star, Fredericksbury, VA
As a retired police detective, I certainly agree with Richard Moter’s thoughtful letter [“Legalization of marijuana is no joke,” Feb. 12].
Every hour we chase the Michael Phelpses and the Willie Nelsons of the Commonwealth (of Virginia), we have less time for the deadly reckless and DUI drivers, and less time for catching child molesters and other public safety threats.
My profession needs to return to its original purpose: public safety.
If you have a problem with marijuana, alcohol, or cigarettes, see a doctor for treatment. The Thin Blue Line has much more important tasks.
Howard Wooldridge
Washington
