COP on the Hill: Stories from the week of February 27, 2015
Posted March 2nd, 2015 by hiwayhowie
Stories from the week of February 27, 2015
Give thanks: My dear wife Karen had only a pillow to hold onto for three nights this week, as I galloped off to CPAC. Home for two nights and now off again for 17days in Vienna as part of the LEAP team to attend the UN’s conference on dangerous drugs and more ‘save the world’ stuff. Karen is the wind under my wings. Je t’aime.
Is the COP message more popular than new Sarah Palin of CPAC?: After back to back fotos & captions in the New York Times and the Washington Post, plus another bunch of stories, mentions and fotos in major media, this CPAC was a thundering success for the legalization message. The report on Gary Johnson debating legalization used my foto talking to two uniformed officers, instead of the former two term governor of New Mexico, etc, etc.
Silly me. I was thinking of a new message for next year’s CPAC t-shirt. !Not!
Special moments at CPAC: Active duty Army Sgt made a beeline to me and thanked me for the shirt/activism. Due to Iraq combat, he suffers PTSD and knows how much God’s meds work.
Last hour of last day the police Lieutenant and Sgt who were supervising the 20 or so deputies at the conference asked me why. We had a super 20 M chat in the main hallway. The Lt. had been on the scene, when Neill Franklin’s best friend was shot dead on a dope arrestl gone bad.
The near constant expressions of thanks from the young, “Go LEAP” type shouts, hand signals, “can I get a foto with you?” etc….all made this a wild, wonderful & exhausting 3 ½ days.
COPs Mission: The primary goal of COP is to repeal the federal prohibition of drugs (starting with marijuana). A lesser mission is to further, in the macro, the end of prohibition in all 50 states.
To that end, COP partnered at CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) with LEAP and a new org RAMP (Republicans Against Marijuana Prohibition). COP provided half of the $4,000 fee for a booth. LEAP donated their booth display and materials. RAMP and LEAP provided the people to talk to attendees at the booth. I was in reserve for lunches and such.
This level of collaboration is what keeps reform going forward and ever closer to fulfilling our mission statements. Next week I will partner with LEAP at the United Nations in Vienna, Austria. Your $$ support makes such projects possible. Thank you.
This week’s raw data:
1759 Presentations to Congressional staffers.. 04 this week
61 brief chats with Members of Congress.. 01 this week (Jeb Hensarling TX – R)
111 chats with other elected officials, state reps, senators, VIPs, etc. 03 this week (Gov Perry of Texas = most VIP)
- 21 major conferences attended.. (United Nations drug conf, CPAC, LULAC, NRA, CBC, ASA, DPA, Dem & Repub. Presidential conventions., National Review, etc) 01 this week
- 36 published interviews in major (daily) newspapers or magazine…08 this week
55 Radio Interviews.. 02 this week (20 M live on Serius Radio + NPR )
- 87 interviews and reports in minor media = blogs, cable TV, weekly papers, etc.. 06 this week
02 meetings this week ( Grover’s, Wilson Center – Uruguay topic)
- COP stats since inception: August 2009
38 Appearances on major TV networks..this week (Fox, ABC, CBS, NBC, Univision, BBC)…0 this week (BBC)
12 Conversations (five minutes or longer) with Member of Congress.. 0 this week
81 published letters to the editor (value per MAPINC in free publicity: $80,000).. 0 this week
* 2 editorials in daily papers mentioning Howard’s efforts & in support of COP position
- Weekly attendance at Grover Norquist’s Wednesday brunch attended by 150 conservative leaders. Named the “Grand Central Station of the Conservative Movement.”
- Consider being a member of COP at $30.00 or more per year. All contributions are tax-deductible. 30 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 prohibition. COP provides that voice. www.citizensopposingprohibition.org
I am #10 in photo essay
http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/cpac-conservatives-to-millennials-blah-blah-blah-20150226
Republicans Warn Washington to Think Twice About Legalizing Marijuana
By JENNIFER STEINHAUERFEB. 26, 2015 ..New York Times
Bloomberg News…9th foto
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/photo-essays/2015-02-26/inside-cpac-2015
Cruz now supports 10th amendment; http://www.ibtimes.com/cpac-2015-cruz-marijuana-policy-shifts-1830142
Recall two years ago at CPAC, he read my t-shirt saying, “I like what your shirt says.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/thousands-flock-to-cpac/2015/02/27/b0758a42-bebd-11e4-b274-e5209a3bc9a9_gallery.html ( I take my cowboy hat off to be polite to those behind me)
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