Posted May 23rd, 2010 by hiwayhowie
Re: “No end in sight in Mexico cartel war — Turf battle in Juarez may take years to play out, authorities say,” Monday news story.
During my 18 years as a police officer, I saw drugs become cheaper, stronger and readily available to our youth. My profession went from “protect and serve” to “search and arrest” those who chose marijuana instead of alcohol. Public safety took a back seat to making a drug arrest on all the Willie Nelsons of the world.
This sobering report on the agony of Mexico should wake up those citizens who cling to the idea that this modern prohibition will one day become effective. Prohibition has failed, again. Solution? Same as 1933 — repeal and then legalize, regulate, tax.
Howard Wooldridge, Dallas
Posted May 11th, 2010 by hiwayhowie
As a police officer and property room manager at a small Michigan police department, I can heartily agree with Radley Balko’s excellent essay on the forfeiture issue (“The Forfeiture Racket,” February). When we went to a seminar around 1986 on how to seize money, cars, and houses, the instructor heavily emphasized that the presence of drugs was not needed, just cash. When command and our local prosecutor in Clinton County figured out this was a cash cow, officers were encouraged to spend more time looking for drugs—which meant less time for the deadly DUI and reckless drivers.
The last 25 years of police action enforcing drug prohibition has undermined public safety and left a large stain on our professional image. Despite that, money talks and we continue to steal from citizens who deserve better. Please urge your politicians to repeal all drug prohibition laws.
Det. Howard Wooldridge (retired)
Posted April 20th, 2010 by hiwayhowie
Regarding marijuana prohibition, the government has an interest, nay a duty, to protect its citizens from harmful subtances they might put in their body. Thus that government imposes punishment for doing so, in the name of protecting the citizen. This is a rational course of action, if that country is run by nanny-state liberals who believe the government is the solution to all problems.
Prohibition is a policy whereby the government threatens its citizens with punishment, backed up by the police, prosecutors and prisons, for anyone who steps outside the box of alcohol, tobacco, Prozac and Valium. Yes, in regards to our bodies, they are owned by the Big Brother.
Detective/Officer Howard Wooldridge ( retired )
Drug Policy Specialist, COP
Posted April 20th, 2010 by hiwayhowie
As a retired police detective working full-time in Washington, D.C., since 2006 to repeal federal marijuana prohibition, I appreciated your column on cannabis users ( Danehy, April 1 ). Every hour spent chasing a Michael Phelps or Willie Nelson means we catch fewer DUIs and child molesters. To arrest 800,000-odd persons for possession and sale, law enforcement spends a solid 10 million hours every year. This is not funny. This is a horrific waste of our time, and innocent citizens are hurt and killed as we chase Willie onto his back porch.
My law-enforcement colleagues and, especially, their lobbyists here in D.C. focus on paychecks and job security, not public safety, not crime levels, not victims of crime. For the 800,000 cops in this country, this is all about money. Ditto the prison guards.
Howard Wooldridge
Drug policy specialist, Citizens Opposing Prohibition
Posted April 20th, 2010 by hiwayhowie
Left out of Matt Cameron’s excellent, balanced report on marijuana was the issue of public safety. As a police officer for 18 years, I saw the horrific waste of good police time spent chasing the non-violent, non-problem causing marijuana smoker ( think Willie Nelson and Michael Phelps ).
As officers tear apart hundreds of thousands of cars looking for a baggie, the deadly DUI kills a Virginian every day. As our detectives fly around in helicopters looking for green plants, they miss rapists who stalk the sidewalks and jogging paths. No question, the prohibition of marijuana reduces public safety.
Howard Wooldridge
Drug Policy Specialist
Posted April 6th, 2010 by hiwayhowie
Dear Editor,
Left out of Matt Cameron’s excellent, balanced report on marijuana was the issue of public safety. As a police officer for 18 years, I saw the horrific waste of good police time spent chasing the non-violent, non-problem causing marijuana smoker ( think Willie Nelson and Michael Phelps ).
As officers tear apart hundreds of thousands of cars looking for a baggie, the deadly DUI kills a Virginian every day. As our detectives fly around in helicopters looking for green plants, they miss rapists who stalk the sidewalks and jogging paths. No question, the prohibition of marijuana reduces public safety.
Howard Wooldridge
Drug Policy Specialist
Posted March 30th, 2010 by hiwayhowie
PROHIBITION STILL FAILS
As a retired police detective and a student of history, I know there is only one sure method to rid the streets of Columbus of drug dealers; namely, to put all the dangerous, illegal drugs in a state-regulated store, perhaps with the same rules and controls as alcohol.
My profession has arrested millions of drug dealers in the past 40 years, and drugs remain readily available to our children. There is always someone who will take the chance of prison or death to make the ‘easy’ money.
Howard Wooldridge
Albany