COP on the  Hill – Stories from the week of January 8 and 15, 2024

This Week:

Toe in the Water: After 6 long weeks of physical therapy I felt confident to venture to downtown DC and attend the Wednesday meetings…it involved a half mile of walking, using my cane only a few times.  All good and this week, I’ll be back to my usual 2 days a week.

I gave Grover my outlook for 2025 (bleak for marijuana and drug war in general…I see no changes).  I informed him he only bright spot was the real progress I expect on the issue of using hallucinogens at the VA to help our mentally wounded warriors.

He asked me to make a presentation on this.  I am working with MAPS to get the best info.  More later

02 meeting.. Grover Norquist center-right meeting

477 chats with other elected officials, state reps, senators, VIPs,   … 0 this week..

COP stats since inception: August 2009

6081 Presentations to Congressional staffers… 0 this week

403 personal chats with a Member of Congress… 0 this week

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

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Status of the War on Drugs in 2024

After 53 years of efforts, 54 million arrested on drug charges, 1,000,000 Americans dead from Drug OD the past 14 years  and 1.5 trillion tax dollars wasted, fentanyl is easily purchased in every small town in America.  By any objective measure, this has been the most destructive, dysfunctional and immoral policy since slavery and Jim Crowe.

Cheerful News:  There is no heroin for purchase in USA.  Bad news: the cartels began 7 years ago to replace heroin with Fenty because the profit margins are much higher…the transition was complete in 2023..

Cheerful News:  the number of opioid addicts has gone down each of the last 7 years (doctors stopped prescribing Oxycontin like candy) .   Bad News: OD deaths have stayed stable at about 200 per day, as the much more powerful Fenty entered the market place.

Do not look for any change in supply, as 86% of Fenty comes through a Port of Entry on our southern border. Moreover, drug dealers accept Death and long prison terms as a condition of employment.  Trump’s promise of the death penalty for dealers will have 0.0 impact.

Regarding treatment: the US approach has not changed in my lifetime, despite 1,000,000 dead in the past 14 years.  The Swiss strategy  is vehemently Pro-Life.  And no one in Congress has been interested, except X Senator Rob Portman who visited a clinic in Bern in 2000.

All illegal drugs remain “readily available “ per the analysis of our DEA.

Marijuana: 24 states have legalized it, mostly like beer…another 15 states have medical use only, including Nebraska which just passed it.  North and South Dakota and Oklahoma voted no to legalize/regulate.  Even red states like Ohio and Missouri have legalized it.

At the federal level, our side has had the votes to pass a one page bill to repeal federal prohibition and or the Banking Bill for 6 years.  Democratic leadership decided not to pass that bill, rather they  have pushed a 38 page bill (MORE Act) which contains many elements which are contrary to the 10th Amendment…Chuck Schumer has never allowed a vote on any bill.  I expect no major changes anywhere in the next 4 years; not state, not federal.  There is no political advantage for Republicans to pass anything, so they won’t.

MJ arrests have gone from an all-time high of 800,000 per year, down to about 300,000 – this as 24 states legalized sales and possession.  Total drug war arrests are down from 1.6 million to 1.1 million.

Last: Oregon voted to decrim simple possession of all drugs 3 years ago…the public became disgusted as addicts began shooting up anywhere and everywhere…the experiment ended this year in disgrace…they should have left in place the crime of public consumption.

Questions/Concerns ?