Willamette Week: May 26, 2010: Why this ex-cop wants marijuana legalized.

 http://wweek.com/editorial/3629/14071/#comments_add
  *BY PETER GRIFFIN |*

It’s not every day an ex-cop rides into town encouraging the legalization of
pot.

And that, of course, makes Howard Wooldridge just the kind of atypical
advocate whom supporters of marijuana’s legalization like to present to
reporters. We confess, his résumé made us curious.

Here’s his background: Wooldridge served 18 years on the police force in
Bath Township, an 8,000-resident municipality in Michigan. He retired in
1994, frustrated by what he says was too much law enforcement devoted to
marijuana busts and too little to other substance-abuse problems like
drunken driving.

Famous for cross-county campaigns with his horse Misty, the 59-year-old
Wooldridge has spent the past 13 years in Washington, D.C., with a group of
like-minded current and former officials called Law Enforcement Against
Prohibition.

Wooldridge visited Oregon as state legalization supporters are gathering
signatures to put a measure on the November ballot that would legalize and
tax marijuana. The Oregon measure is Initiative 73.

*WW: Do you think most police officers would agree with you that legalizing
pot is a good idea? *

Howard Wooldridge: In my travels, about 60 percent to 65 percent would say
legalize and tax marijuana. They have the same experience as me: 20 years,
30 years, and never being to a call generated by marijuana. It’s like, ‘This
is stupid. We’ve got better things to do.” But if you get them in front of a
camera, a reporter, they’ll say marijuana is a dangerous drug and we don’t
want to condone it and make people think it’s OK, so we need to keep this
thing illegal.

*How can you never have had a marijuana-related call in your time as a cop?
*

We’re dispatched to a call…there’s a family fight, a disturbance, a
whatever. Cannabis consumption generated zero [of those calls]. People
drinking? 1,300. The prohibition of cannabis caused one murder in my
township, and one armed robbery and shooting. The bad guys were coming in to
rob the marijuana growers, and the gunfight blah blah blah. But that’s due
to prohibition.

*So why don’t more cops speak up? *

 Ask cops, “Do you think you have a conflict of interest?” If they say no,
challenge it. We depend on prohibition for a big, fat overtime check,
special grants from Salem and Washington, D.C., to go after these drug
dealers. Task forces, marijuana in the fall, helicopters flying around. Just
your knock-and-talk drug busts down here. These are all monies we get to
enforce prohibition. Absolutely, we have a financial interest to continuing
this thing.

*Do you use marijuana?*

I have not smoked in 32 years. I smoked for about seven years, starting
around my 19th birthday. I stopped just before going into the police academy
because I figured it was time to grow up. But I learned from being around
hundreds of people who were using cannabis like I was, that the harm
associated with the drug is down to almost nothing, for both the user and
the people around them. So it’s just not worth police time. We’ve got better
things to do.

*If you stopped because it was time to grow up, why do you favor legalizing
it for others?*

The war on drugs has failed. After 40 years, a trillion dollars [and] the
arrest of 40 million people on drug charges, drugs are cheaper, stronger and
readily available. The idea that if it just saves one life, that will make
it worth it? No. Because as we’re trying to save one person, we’re missing
the drunken drivers, the child molesters, people flying airplanes into
buildings…we’re causing hundreds of thousands of Americans to be crime
victims.

*Which state is most likely to legalize marijuana, and when?*

It’s going to be California, and it’s going to be this year. The polls are
still tracking in the 56th percentile.

*What do you think the prospects are in Oregon?*

If it’s on the ballot this year, you’ve also got an excellent chance of
making it legal, regulated and taxed in Oregon, because the people here have
had a long experience with medical cannabis, and realized the sun still
comes up every morning. And for all the yelling and screaming in law
enforcement, where are all the massive problems, death and destruction
caused by the medical marijuana program?

    *FACT: Supporters of Initiative 28, which would allow medical marijuana
patients to buy marijuana legally for the first time from dispensaries in
Oregon, turned in more than 110,000 signatures last week. Oregon law
requires 82,769 of these signatures to be valid in order for the initiative
to make the November ballot. *

Newspaper Article – Coos Bay, Oregon: Marijuana group schedules NB event

By Jessica Musicar, Staff Writer
Thursday, April 29, 2010

Americans are being driven to drink. That’s how lobbyist and retired police detective Howard Wooldridge views marijuana prohibition.

‘The irony here is, marijuana is a much safer drug for the user and their family. And we’re driving people to drink because drinking it’s legal,” Wooldridge said. ‘It’s obviously counterproductive.”

In 18 years in law enforcement, Wooldridge said, he responded to zero violent crimes sparked by marijuana use. Compare that with 1,300 calls on homicides, suicides, rapes, assaults, and child abuse cases involving alcohol.

Wooldridge will be featured Friday night, along with two other speakers, during a presentation at the North Bend Public Library on medical marijuana and other marijuana issues.

Wooldridge contends the war on drugs has wasted a trillion dollars, not to mention law enforcement man-hours.

‘Every hour spent chasing a Willie Nelson or Rush Limbaugh, we have less time for the DUI or the child molester,” he said. If marijuana prohibition ends, ‘We would free up serious amounts of police resources to go after real problems.”

Sponsored by Mothers Against Misuse & Abuse, the event is part of a tour of Oregon to discuss drug policy issues, said tour director Jennifer Burbank. Founded in the early 1980s and based in The Dalles, MAMA describes itself a drug education group.

‘We think that our current drug policy, the war on drugs, is causing more harm than good,” Burbank said.

The presentation also will include a presentation on medical marijuana by Alice Ivany, a Oregon medical cannabis patient since 2001.

Ivany, who suffers from chronic pain associated with an amputation, contends Oregon needs more medical marijuana dispensaries. She said when she first joined the program, it took her about 17 months to get her medication.

She is one of the chief petitioners for an initiative to establish a state-regulated medical marijuana supply system. Along with giving medical marijuana users a safe place to buy the drug, the dispensaries would generate revenue for marijuana research, drug treatment and other services.

Pot is a Distraction – Published Letter to Editor

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

IMPROVE PUBLIC SAFETY BY LEGALIZING MARIJUANA

Modern Prohibition and Individual Liberty: Are they compatible?

If you can drink a beer, why can’t I toke on the bong?  If you can sip scotch, why can’t I snort coke?   Sound familiar?   This simple, easy-to-understand conversation has occurred a million times since the 1960s, and it strikes at the heart of the issue of personal freedom which used to be a hallmark of American democracy and history.   As the debate has been engaged on whether to repeal Modern Prohibition or at least change some of it, the liberty issue has been all but forgotten, as the prohibition crowd has raised a blizzard of other questions.   How unfortunate.  And what can one do to move public policy?

Self-proclaimed conservatives scream the loudest about liberty being an American value they cherish, EXCEPT when it comes to drug prohibition.   Or should I say that is what conservatives say in public?  As Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) is reported to have said earlier in 2009, ‘if Congress could take a secret vote, federal marijuana prohibition would end.’    Without getting into the conspiracy theories of why card-carrying conservatives support the nanny-state liberal policy of drug prohibition, the fact is they do.  Just because a conservative supports a policy does not mean their support is derived from their principles.  No more so than with drug prohibition.

Modern Prohibition is a policy whereby the government threatens its citizens with punishment, if they dare step outside the box of drugs like alcohol, tobacco, Prozac, Valium and Tylenol.  That punishment threat is backed up by government police, prosecutors and prisons.    Add to that government informants, property confiscation without benefit of trial or finding of guilt, cops threatening politicians with a ‘soft on drugs’ label, unless the elected official supports the police cash cow & job security also known as drug policy. 

To date 40 million Americans have been arrested on drug charges, damaging or destroying their lives.  Ask yourself, how many people do you know who used drugs and went on to become productive and contributing members of our society?  From Newt Gingrich to Presidents Obama, Bush 43 & Clinton, from Governor Gary Johnson of New Mexico to Willie Nelson and Michael Phelps to the man writing these words – 100 million of us have used an illegal drug and done well.  However, all of the above careers (minus Nelson and Phelps) would have never happened, if we had been busted for a prohibited drug.  Our ‘freedom’ to succeed would have been severely curtailed.   As many have correctly stated, the most dangerous & damaging property about marijuana is being busted for it.

The long sad story of how America came to and continues its drug prohibition is a tale left for another day.  What is ironic is that citizens are still allowed many, many dangerous and even deadly activities and choices.  Many states allow motorcycle riders to go 70 MPH without a helmet.  Bungee jumping kills a few every year, as does white-water rafting & snow skiing.   We can eat ourselves into a heart attack or smoke tobacco until we are dead or incapacitated.  We can take aspirin & Tylenol to our heart’s content and can’t sue anyone when those drugs kill us from long-term overuse.  Those freedoms we still have.  But then the biker who goes 70 without a helmet is later arrested for toking up with Willie on the back porch.   That is an example of how inconsistent, illogical the laws are today.

All is not lost.  Indeed, I have seen a sea change amongst the young conservatives at CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) They ALL seem to be smitten with the Ron Paul – Libertarian Revolution.  Wearing the LEAP t-shirt (COPS SAY LEGALIZE DRUGS: ASK ME WHY) at their at 2009 gathering, I had many dozens of conversations about Modern Prohibition.  Without exception the college age students were ready to repeal this 21^st century Prohibition.   A 2008 Zogby poll showed that 76% of Americans admit that the War on Drugs has been an ineffective, failed policy.    This recognition of failure keeps the prohibition crowd up at night.

The road to freedom of drug choice will be long and there are many tough battles ahead.  The faux conservative Republicans and many squishy liberal Democrats are not ready to repeal, as they set aside their principles in fear of the wrath of the voters and the police / drug industries which want their cash cow Drug War to continue.  NOTE:  the police love the overtime and job security from arresting 1.9 million citizens on drug charges each year.  Big Pharma fears cannabis as a low cost (nearly free), low side-effect, highly effective and low addiction property medicine.  Big surprise.   God didn’t make no junk.

As Peter Christ, a retired New York police captain and Co-Founder of LEAP likes to remark: ‘In America an adult should be free to be as stupid as they wish in the privacy of their own castle.’    Moreover, as my wife Karen articulates so well, ‘the government thru its police department can not stop personal stupidity.’    ‘Individual freedom and personal responsibility are two sides of the same coin,’ quipped retired Florida police Chief Jerry Cameron.   Modern Prohibition is completely incompatible with the principles of Individual liberty, personal responsibility, property rights, limited government, cost-effective government and States’ Rights.  Work for those who would repeal it.

Published July 31, 2009:   Campaign for Liberty website published article: http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=150

One Lone Ranger Rides Again To Legalize Dope

One Lone Ranger Rides Again To Legalize Dope

Howard Wooldridge has one of the craziest jobs: trying to convince 535 of
the most uptight people in Washington – the entire membership of Congress -
to legalize drugs. That means everything from marijuana to cocaine to
heroin.

Watch the video above, which chronicles a day in the life of the cowboy
lobbyist, to see how Wooldridge dug in his spurs.

Photos of Wooldridge riding his horse, Misty, on a cross-country mission to legalize drugs.

Howard on a Long Ride

Cops Say Legalize Drugs

By Mary Ann Akers [Washington Post]