COP on the Hill: Stories from the week of November 20, 2020

COP on the Hill

Stories from the week of November 20, 2020

I continue to be encouraged by offices of both parties interested in improving police/community relations by means of total decrim of personal amounts of drugs.  My 3-minute summary of what each office is receiving at the bottom.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Activity this week:

3419 Presentations to Congressional staffers… 14 this week

1 meeting

COP stats since inception: August 2009

205 interviews and reports in minor media

90 Radio Interviews… 0 this week
327 personal chats with a Member of Congress… 0 this week
397 chats with other elected officials, state reps, senators, VIPs, etc.: 0 this week –
107 Appearances/Interviews on major TV/Radio/Print media. 0 This week
44 published interviews/foto in major (daily) newspapers or magazine… 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
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
* 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

In November 2020 Oregon voters passed a comprehensive, drug decrim initiative 59 to 41 % for personal amounts* of hard drugs, over stiff opposition from police organizations, the prosecutor’s association and the Drug Treatment Industry. Decrim signals an end to our 50-year running War on Drugs – War on the American People.   Oregon voters were able to look at the Portugal experience as a guide for both ‘how to’ and the 19-year running positive results. Implementation is Feb 2021.

Immediate Advantages:

1. Improve police-community relations by reducing arrests and friction with citizens, generated by millions of searches of vehicles, etc.
2. Reduce criminal justice costs (police, prosecutor, jail, police lab time and probation) – Focus on serious, public-safety related crimes
3. Remove the down-stream problems generated by a criminal arrest – employment, voting etc
4. Enables the community to deal with drug use/abuse issues in a medical setting

*personal amount (example 2 grams of cocaine, 1 gram of heroin. 2 g of meth)

Scenario:  officer finds a citizen with personal amount of an illegal drug.  Officer seizes the drug and puts it in the evidence room (later destroyed).  The officer gives the person a ticket.  The citizen can either pay a civil $100 fine or can go to a ‘Health Assessment Committee’ which would determine, if the person needed treatment or not.  If treatment is recommended, the citizen is given the info of where to seek treatment.

Major funding for the Assessment Comm. will come thru marijuana sales taxes.

This will have no impact on drug smuggling nor sales.  No impact on drug availability.

Portugal has experienced no permanent increase in drug use/abuse… Treatment numbers are way up.

Factoid:  1.4 million arrested in USA in 2018 for simple possession (half for marijuana, half for hard drugs).  Roughly, 10 searches are needed to find one baggie of illegal drugs.

Not every user is an abuser

Supporting Information:

This change is helping police/community relations…we strongly believe Oregon police will search fewer vehicle going forward

Q:   Will this increase illegal drug use and abuse?

1. Per medical experts in the area of drug use and addiction, criminal penalties for drug use consistently rank very, very low, as a reason to use or not use illegal drugs.

Prepared by Howard J. Wooldridge, drug policy specialist at Citizens Opposing Prohibition.org