Posted August 8th, 2011 by hiwayhowie
Editor,
Speaking as a retired street cop, the amount of time and money going after the marijuana crop is a horrific waste of taxpayer money. Pot has been readily available to kids for over 30 years, despite the pinpricks in supply reduction.
As the “Thin Blue Lines” get thinner, I hope my colleagues will focus their attention on pedophiles, drunk drivers and other public safety threats.
Got a problem with marijuana? See an addiction doctor.
Howard Wooldridge
Posted August 4th, 2011 by hiwayhowie
COP on the Hill
Your Voice in the United States Congress
Timing Matters: Busy week with 18 presentations. In two offices the Member returned from their duties as I was there. With a Florida Member I had a serious, 90 second chat. He indicated he would support the repeal bill. With the other from Indiana he asked how is it going? I replied I was about to sell his aide Christy some snake oil. Perhaps intrigued, he asked what that was. I outlined the repeal bill and he said he would take a look.
Both Members received a hand-written note on my personal/COP stationary. One is designed for Democrats and one is for Republicans, naturally.
Vacation minus one day: I spent the week with Karen’s family in a lake area in western Maryland. Karen was mostly successful in getting me to relax and NOT work…except for Tuesday. I spent the day preparing for a nationwide, Spanish television talk show. My thanks to Paul Armentano of NORML & Daniel Robelo of DPA who helped me prepare. The broadcast went well (link below). During the debate I was unable to find the correct word for “someone” when asking for someone to call in and tell us any benefit, any advantage to marijuana prohibition. I ended up saying some person, any person.. Grrr.
http://youtu.be/rNkHFWgUCPA debate marihuana segunda parte
Two published letters to the editor below.
COPs 2nd year stats to date:
197 presentations to Congressional staffers: 18 this week
TV appearances: 13 … 1 this week (ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX, cable)
Newspaper stories: 7 dailies, 3 weeklies
Radio appearances: 13 – this week
Published LTE: 19 (2 this week) –both below
Other media (bloggers, cable TV, minor publications, etc): 12 (this week)
11 (Member of Congress) contacts: 2 this week
5 other VIP (MD state Senator & Rep):
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Porterville, CA Recorder
POT HARVEST
Editor,
Speaking as a retired street cop, the amount of time and money going after the marijuana crop is a horrific waste of taxpayer money. Pot has been readily available to kids for over 30 years, despite the pinpricks in supply reduction.
As the “Thin Blue Lines” get thinner, I hope my colleagues will focus their attention on pedophiles, drunk drivers and other public safety threats.
Got a problem with marijuana? See an addiction doctor.
Howard Wooldridge
******
Free-Lance Star, VA
YES, DONNIE, WE SHOULD END THE WAR ON DRUGS
Speaking as a retired detective, I heartily agree with the thoughts of Donnie Johnston [“Is it time for a truce in the war on drugs?” July 22].
My profession has spent just over a trillion tax dollars on the war on drugs. The results? Drugs are cheaper, stronger, and more readily available to our teens.
Prohibition is the prime driver of felony crime in the U.S. Millions of good citizens have been made victims because a crackhead needs $200 a day.
Seriously, if Charlie and his friends die from cocaine, who cares? My sympathy is with the homeowners whose homes are broken into.
About 98 percent of us do not need a law to keep us from using hard drugs. Will we ever be as wise as our grandparents and repeal prohibition? Or will we waste another trillion dollars just to see what happens?
Howard Wooldridge
Buckeystown, Md.
Posted July 23rd, 2011 by hiwayhowie
THE FAILED DRUG WAR
Re “Happy 40th, Drug War” ( Guest comment, by Jay Bergstrom, July 7 ):
Speaking as a retired detective, I heartily agree with the anti-prohibition views of Jay Bergstrom.
When I first strapped on a badge and gun, my task was simple: protecting the weak from the strong—public safety. When the War on Drugs ramped up, the personal safety of citizens in their own homes became important. We became like parents. “Now Charlie, if you don’t take the cocaine out of your nose I am going to tell your father … I mean the judge.” Politicians thought the government could fix stupid via the police. Oops.
I look forward to the day my profession returns to a task we are good at: public safety. Got a drug problem, Charlie? See a doctor. I got better things to do than chase you.
Howard Wooldridge
Springville, Calif.
Posted July 22nd, 2011 by hiwayhowie
Your Voice in the United States Congress
Stories from the week of July 15, 2011
Careful on the send button: I sent the staffer the standard request for a first time meeting. His response to his boss was:
Heather,
This guy continues to bug me. Shall I meet with him or tell him to go …. away? Andre
**my response back to him – Andre..
LOL…afraid you sent the note to me instead of Heather. No offense taken. I am a professional and never take it personally.
I can only add that I won’t ask for money & my interest is reducing crime, death, disease, drug use and saving tax dollars (we have wasted about a trillion so far).
**his respose to me: OK Howard,
You got me! Thanks for being the professional that you obviously are. So, when do you want to meet?
Rest of the Story – we met the next week and had an excellent chat.
Cold pizza and why I love my job: For lunch I sit at a table across from where Members and staff have their own checkout line, so they always see the hat. I get nods or a wave from staffers I know on a regular basis, sometimes a brief chat.
On Wednesday I squeezed in with 8 recent high school graduates in DC for an enrichment program. One asked what C O P on my name plate meant. 20 minutes of great discussion later, they left for a seminar. It was such a joy to chat with young people who were concerned about issues and their country. The conversation will be remembered long after the cold pizza.
Seeing it come together: What has five years of effort meant? These past few weeks have seen responses from staffers, as they received the information on the repeal bill. Like baking a cake, all one can do is put in all the ingredients and hope it tastes good. Here is a sampling of responses I received, keeping in mind I know some staffers deleted without reading. NOTE: The debt limit issue is sucking all the oxygen out of this town. We don’t expect Members to look at other issues, until this is resoloved. The comedians have scored big points that the House spent time on light bulbs this week.
A.Thanks Howard – this is helpful
B.Thanks Howard,
I will get this to my boss! …(who is a FL Republican)
C.Thank you very much, Howard. I will take this to my boss for his consideration.
D. Thank you Sir, we shall be in touch!
COPs 2nd year stats to date:
179 presentations to Congressional staffers: 12 this week
TV appearances: 12 … this week (ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX, cable)
Newspaper stories: 7 dailes, 3 weeklies
Radio appearances: 13 – this week
Published LTE: 15 ( this week)
Other media (bloggers, cable TV, minor publications, etc): 12 ( this week)
9 (Member of Congress) contacts:
5 other VIP (MD state Senator & Rep):
Consider being a member of COP at $30.00 or more per year. All contributions are tax-deductible. Your support keeps the COP voice loud and strong in the halls of the United States Congress. We 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:
COP
POB 772
Buckeystown, MD 21717
Posted July 19th, 2011 by hiwayhowie
COP on the Hill
Your Voice in the United States Congress
Stories from the week of July 8, 2011
Happy Birthday America: Besides enjoying the visit from my brother and his fiance (they live in Norway), we celebrated the 4th with fireworks at the National Mall/Washington Monument (foto below). Karen was a true ‘tour de force’ as more were asking her than me. Out of the crowd of 200,000 I would estimate some 5,000 read the shirts and together we had about 75 chats over a 5 hour period.
Time to get to work: The first half of the year I made presentations to most of the new offices and offices which had a new judiciary legislative aide. I did not want to visit offices that already had exposure to the COP message, until the bill was introduced. Now my goal is to meet with aides of the other 350 offices in the next six months. A Herculean task to be sure. Know I am pumped and psyched* to get the HR 2306 message out (within the confines of our non-profit status), like it was my first day on the job.
Silent no more: At Grover’s I was given the standard three minutes to present 2306. I had been waiting for over two years for my chance to talk. Afterwards a half-dozen expressed support for the bill and three said I should have talked more about job creation via hemp farming. Voila, I have asked my colleague, Ben Droz who is the industrial hemp lobbyist, to be allowed three minutes next week.
NOTE: A big thank you to COP member Rob Ryan and his wife Ilene for allowing me to stay in their home in Cincinnati for the LULAC conference. That his house was located five minutes from the express bus to downtown was a big bonus in convenience and saving $$.
*psyched and pumped = ganz begeistert mit viel Energie
COPs 2nd year stats to date:
167 presentations to Congressional staffers: 4 this week
TV appearances: 12 … this week (ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX, cable)
Newspaper stories: 7 dailes, 3 weeklies
Radio appearances: 13 – 1 this week
Published LTE: 15 ( this week)
Other media (bloggers, cable TV, minor publications, etc): 12 ( this week)
9 (Member of Congress) contacts:
5 other VIP (MD state Senator & Rep):
Consider being a member of COP at $30.00 or more per year. All contributions are tax-deductible. Your support keeps the COP voice loud and strong in the halls of the United States Congress. We 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:
COP
POB 772
Buckeystown, MD 21717
