COP on the Hill: Stories from the weeks of July 7 and 14, 2023

Must be present to win: As my Thursday was winding down, I was in the process of learning the names of the Health Policy Advisors for the Members whose offices are in the Cannon Building.  As I spoke to the two receptionists in one office, my words floated thru the open door of  the Congresswoman. I already knew her adult son had an opioid addiction for 10 years.

She came out of her office and introduced herself: Madeleine Dean.  She wanted to know more about the Swiss approach to treatment and the WOD in general.  After 3 minutes of that, the chat moved, as I felt relaxed and quipped about Member Matt Gaetz and his eye makeup during the hearing with the FBI Director  Chris Wray…She and I agreed that Rep Ted Lieu was awesome in his Q and A.   She was a genuine human being and we connected on an intimate level, sharing who had the most grandchildren…LOL.

Anyway, she wanted to know more about the Swiss approach. and I assured had had multiple contacts with the officials at the Health Ministry in Bern.  She expressed a great interest in going there and learning as much as possible.

If this develops into something concrete, beyond question, this was the best 7 minutes of my 16 years on the Hill.   I floated out of that office.  Perhaps a big step forward.

Looking for an excuse:  waiting in a long line to order my Subway sandwich, I dictated a note to a friend who is German…the guy in front of me says, ‘ Sie sprechen Deutsch.  Ich spreche auch Deutsch.’….we went on in German for a minute..then back to English…he was the Agriculture advisor to a MS Congressman and his colleague in front of him was the criminal justice advisor…2 minutes later, they knew a bit of why we should end the drug war….small steps.

Weekly Activities:

362 personal chats with a Member of Congress… 01 this week ( Madeliene Dean D-PA)

4029 Presentations to Congressional staffers… 9 this week…

441 chats with other elected officials, state reps, senators, VIPs, etc   01 this week     Member of the German legislature (Bundestag)

Meetings (2) 2 at Grover Norquist

COP stats since inception: August 2009

97 Radio Interviews:  0 this week;

109 Appearances/Interviews on major TV/Radio/Print media. 0 This week.

215 interviews and reports in minor media …0 this week –

33 major conferences attended – CPAC 2023, (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

in the past – 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

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