COP on the Hill: Stories from the week of Feb. 17, 2012

COP on the Hill

 Your Voice in the United States Congress

 This week was spent catching my breath and catching up on all the paper/computer work associated with CPAC.  Of course I attended the Grover Norquist brunch but otherwise, I was chained to my desk.  I did two radio shows & had a letter to the editor published in Colorado.

I had intended to spend every day next week on the Hill, as the Congress is out of session.  But then the phone rang: 

Next Thursday the 23^rd I will drive to New Jersey to be part of a panel discussion on legalization of all drugs.  Included on the panel will be the President of Guatemala (see below for more) and a member of our Drug Czar’s office.   Andres Oppenheimer of the Miami Herald has a TV show ‘Oppenheimer Presenta.’  We are all going to be taped remotely, send in the film and the show airs about a week later…into on average 20 million households in Latin America and Europe.   I will advise on how/when to view it.

 To prep for the debate I am being coached for two hours by Dan Robelo of the Drug Policy Alliance, as the debate is in Spanish.  He can correct any mistakes this gringo might make.  

This may well be the most important event for me this year, so I don’t want to have an ‘ooops’ moment like Gov. Perry did.  Also, I saw Newt Gingrich on Spanish TV, admitting his Spanish was not really that good.  He had to do the interview in English. 

 Below are some more of the media from CPAC.  By the way, I forgot to mention that a former, recent Speaker of the Michigan House sought me out and we had an excellent 10 minute chat at CPAC.  He is ready to legalize everything today.  Small steps.

Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina is again speaking out on drug legalization. He said in a Saturday radio interview that he would propose legalizing drugs in a forthcoming meeting with regional leaders, and he specified that that included decriminalizing the transport of drugs through the Central American isthmus.

Stats for COP’s third year, started on August 1, 2011:

254 presentations to Congressional staffers:   0 this week

6 Letter to the Editor:  1 this week (at bottom)

3 Major Television appearances (Univision, BBC):   this week

16 Other media (blogs, cable TV, etc):   this week

12 radio shows:   2 this week

12 (Member of Congress or VIP) contacts:   this week

Permanent invitation to Grover Norquist’s Wednesday brunch attended by 140 conservative VIPs.

3 Major conferences attended: Drug Policy Alliance International, the Congressional Black Caucus September conference & CPAC – Conservative Political Action Conference

Consider being a member of COP at $30.00 or more per year.   All contributions are tax-deductible.   Law Enforcement’s voice in opposition to current policy is vital on the Hill to achieve a repeal of federal prohibition.  COP provides that voice.   If you agree that Modern Prohibition/War on Drugs is the most destructive, dysfunctional and immoral policy since slavery & Jim Crow…  Go to:

www.CitizensOpposingProhibition.org and click on Donate/Join – by credit card or send a check to: 

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COP total stats in first two years:  August 1, 2009 thru July 31, 2011)

 649 Presentations to Congressional staffers

22 Appearances on major TV networks

10 published interviews in newspapers

12 interviews and reports in minor media = blogs, cable TV, etc

57 published letters to the editor (value per MAPINC in free publicity: $56,000)

19 brief chats with Members of Congress

13 chats with other elected officials, state reps, senators, etc.

6 major conferences attended (CPAC, LULAC, NRA, etc)

Permanent invitation to Grover Norquist’s Wednesday brunch attended by 140 conservative VIPs.

Website: http://www.postindependent.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/821
Author: Howard Wooldridge
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v12/n103/a06.html

LEGALIZE POT AND GET RID OF BLACK MARKET

Writing from my perspective as a retired street cop, the Feb.  5 article by Rebecca Jones, “Valley teen: Marijuana is widely available,” demonstrated the need to treat marijuana like alcohol, that is, legal, regulated and taxed.  Kids are not selling beer and cigarettes in school, just an illegal drug like marijuana.

Drug policies modeled after alcohol prohibition have given rise to a youth-oriented black market.  Illegal drug dealers don’t ask for identification for age, but they do recruit minors immune to adult sentences.  So much for protecting the children.

No teen should have the job option to sell drugs.  To help our kids, we should repeal this marijuana prohibition today.

Howard Wooldridge

Golden