Posted March 27th, 2011 by hiwayhowie
Your Voice in the United States Congress
Your turn: After finishing a typical presentation to a new staffer, she commented to me that she enjoyed the chat. She went on to say that she expected as much, as colleagues in her office who had already heard me over the years told her she would find the time informative and a bit entertaining. My reputation certainly preceeded me!
Working while walking: Wearing my COPs wind breaker, I was asked why by a Congressional staffer shortly after leaving Union station walking towards the House buildings. We ended up having a conversation the whole 15 minutes. The next day the jacket had a Kentucky family ask why, as we walked towards the Cannon Building. The woman was my adamant* and angry that her neighbors were not allowed to grow industrial hemp.
States are hurting: This week I hand delivered to the New Jersey offices a newspaper report that The Thin Blue Line lost 11% of its members in 2010. More cuts are expected in 2011. I delivered to the Kentucky offices the news that their state government cut many drug crime punishments across the board. Personal amounts of marijuana for example went from a possible one year in jail to 45 days.
If you read in your local or state paper that the police or fire departments are losing personnel, please forward that to me via email copy or simply the URL. I will hand deliver it to the appropriate Congressional office(s) and the two Senators. Thanks.
*Adamant = bestehen
Howard
COPs 2nd year stats to date:
TV appearances: 11 (ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX, cable)
Newspaper stories: 7 dailes, 3 weeklies
Radio appearances: 7
Published LTE: 13 (one this week)
Other media (bloggers, cable TV, minor publications, etc): 9
103 presentations to Congressional staffers: (11 this week)
8 (Member of Congress) contacts: (one this week)
5 other VIP (MD state Senator & Rep):
Consider being a member of COPs at $30.00 or more per year. All contributions are tax-deductible. Your support keeps the COPs 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 March 20th, 2011 by hiwayhowie
Your Voice in the United States Congress
Good Start to any chat: Meeting an aide for Senator McCaskill for the first time, he began the meeting by saying he had seen me on my horse in Reason magazine. Given that Reason supports the COP position, I knew we would have a good chat and we did….Recall we were a two page centerfold.
Break the rules: On Tuesday I needed to finish up collecting the data/changes on all the offices in the House. Comfortable in my COPs t-shirt and because of it, I had short chats with two Members plus dozens of tourists, all very positive. I had thoughtful 4-5 minute chats with visitors with a total of some 25 people listening. I passed out 20 business cards. It was a highly successful day which I thoroughly enjoyed. Thus….
Fun days: Frankly speaking, it has become harder to fire up, put on a coat and tie and go to work…this routine going into its sixth year. Based on my experience of being all positive-fun days wearing my shirt to Congress, I had a chat with my mentor Eric Sterling about any downside to wearing the shirt two times per month. Given that I have established myself as a serious advocate for staffers and Members, Eric gave me the green light. I will wear the shirt about two times per month and NOT when I give presentations to staffers, attend hearings etc.
Who you going to call? Ghostbusters? No, Howard…. I spent an hour this week being interviewed by an organization interested in how to frame the drug reform message for conservative audiences. I asked her if I should put on my NRA baseball cap (National Rifle Association) to better get in character. J We had a great chat.
$$ for sign: After my magnetic sign was stolen a few months back, I received a membership renewal of an odd amount. Calling the COPs member, I learned the amount covered membership plus the forty-seven (47) dollars to replace the stolen sign. Thanks Dick.
Howard
COPs 2nd year stats to date:
TV appearances: 11 (ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX, cable)
Newspaper stories: 7 dailes, 3 weeklies
Radio appearances: 7
Published LTE: 12 (one this week)
Other media (bloggers, cable TV, minor publications, etc): 9
92 presentations to Congressional staffers: (11 this week)
7 (Member of Congress) contacts: (two this week)
5 other VIP (MD state Senator & Rep):
Consider being a member of COPs at $30.00 or more per year. All contributions are tax-deductible. Your support keeps the COPs 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 March 17th, 2011 by hiwayhowie
COPs on the Hill
Your Voice in the United States Congress
Your chance: This week at Grover’s Brunch a senior staffer from the House Appropriations Committee asked all attendees for suggestions on where & how much to cut spending.
Regarding drug prohibition policy, please send me your ideas with a brief (paragraph) on why & by how much a program should be cut. I will forward them to this staffer.
Out of uniform! Today I entered the office of first year Member Hansen Clarke (D-MI) to learn the name of their legislative aide who handles judiciary/crime. “Where is the t-shirt?” demanded the receptionist, as I barely walked thru the door. The other 4 staffers chipped in, complaining they wanted to see me in the t-shirt.
All in good fun I explained that sometimes I have to wear a coat and tie. I promised to wear COPS SAY LEGALIZE POT shirt again soon. LOL
Note: Congressman Clarke came out during the campaign last fall in favor of legalize/regulate/tax marijuana…. AND HE WAS ELECTED!
BLESS THE TRUE GRIT* OF CONGRESSMAN RON PAUL: I have met with staffers from about ten (10) of the new Tea Party Republicans. All but two expressed open support for our proposed repeal of federal prohibition and promised to lobby the boss to support the bill coming up. And two Members told me they would look favorably or vote yes on such a bill. We are getting there…. = a couple of more years & state budgets being at ‘no money.’
NOTE: Due to the ongoing problems with the 2011 budget and the need for multiple CR (continuing resolution) motions, our 10th Amendment based marijuana reform bill will probably be delayedL
Howard
*true grit = ständig Tapferkeit + Zähigkeit + vollständig unbekümmert
COPs 2nd year stats to date:
TV appearances: 11 (ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX, cable)
Newspaper stories: 7 dailes, 3 weeklies
Radio appearances: 7
Published LTE: 9 (one this week)
Other media (bloggers, cable TV, minor publications, etc): 9
81 presentations to Congressional staffers: (7 this week)
5 (Member of Congress) contacts:
5 other VIP (MD state Senator & Rep):
Consider being a member of COPs at $30.00 or more per year. All contributions are tax-deductible. Your support keeps the COPs 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 March 4th, 2011 by hiwayhowie
Your Voice in the United States Congress
Not in Kansas anymore:* At Grover’s Brunch this week the possible government shutdown was discussed. When someone brought a figure of cutting 22 billion dollars as part of immediate cuts, another responded that that figure should not be hard to handle adding, “22 billion in Washington is pocket change you find in the couch.”
Forty years ago then Senator Dirksen (R-IL) was quoted about Washington money, ‘A billion here – a billion there and pretty soon you are talking real money.” I wonder what he would say today.
A breath of fresh air: For two years I have encouraged each aide to convince the Member to put a sign on their office door: ‘We don’t have any money, so please don’t ask.’ This week I saw my first sign like that at new House Member Dr. Dan Benishek, (R-MI)…
“If you are here asking for more money, You are in the wrong office.” Staffers have said it would cut their work load by 40%, if no one asked for money. NOTE: please write your Congressman to put up the same or like sign.
The Empire Strikes Back: I testified before the Maryland House’s Judiciary Comm. this week in support of two bills. (full text below) After I stated that mandatory minimums have proven useless as a deterrent, since drug dealers accept long prisons terms and death as a condition of employment, my law enforcement colleagues testified they WERE effective. However, when asked by a Member whether drug availability had gone down because of the thousands arrested, the States’s Attorney paused, hemmed and hawed,* finally said that such a thing was hard to measure. NOTE: I had read from the DEA’s brochure: “Drugs are readily available to America’s Youth…”
On the marijuana bill (reduce 28 grams or less move to a civil infraction = parking ticket) a Baltimore cop dumped 28 little packets on the table in front of the committee. ‘See.’ He said, ‘This is one ounce packaged to sell to our kids.’ It was very dramatic but from comments from Members, they did not seem too impressed.
My profession is deeply committed to keeping the lucrative overtime and job security of prohibition from changing. Plus my colleagues never want to face the day that they realize all the dead, injured and corrupted cops suffered and or died for another failed prohibition.
PS from CPAC: On Friday I did nearly back to back* interviews for foreign reporters. A French newspaper reporter and I had a 5 minute chat en français. A few minutes later a German reporter for Die Zeit and I did the same auf Deutsch. = Those Saturday morning hours spent speaking both paid off.
- Not in Kansas anymore = vom Film = ich bin doch nicht zu Hause
- Hemmed and hawed = herumdrucksen
- Back to back = Rücken an Rücken
COPs 2nd year stats to date:
TV appearances: 11 (ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX, cable)
Newspaper stories: 7 dailes, 3 weeklies
Radio appearances: 7
Published LTE: 8 ( one this week)
Other media (bloggers, cable TV, minor publications, etc): 9
74 presentations to Congressional staffers: (7 this week)
5 (Member of Congress) contacts :
5 other VIP (MD state Senator & Rep): (3 this week)
Consider being a member of COPs at $30.00 or more per year. Your support keeps the COPs 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
Testimony in support of HB 606
As a retired police detective, I come from Adamstown – near Frederick to urge a yes vote on HB 606. This bill will improve public safety. Public safety is THE mission of my profession.
The Thin Blue Line is getting thinner. Where you do want us to go? Chase marijuana smokers or pedophiles? Every hour chasing the smokers equals less time for real bad guys.
During my 18 year police career in Michigan we always had the ability to handle a simple marijuana possession case in a ‘cite and release’ manner. When I discovered small amounts of marijuana, I would seize the marijuana and write the driver an appearance ticket. After placing the marijuana in my trunk, I resumed normal patrol AND ready for any 911 emergency call. HB 606 will allow my colleagues to do the same Maryland. Thus, public safety will increase with the adoption of 606.
My colleague Sheriff Chuck Jenkins and I had a conversation about this type of change a year ago. He stated his support for such a concept of ‘cite and release,’ though he thought the amount should be one half ounce. He stated that allowing his deputies to stay on the road and ready for a 911 call would improve the safety of Frederick County residents.
Currently, officers are taking one to two hours to process a simple marijuana case, taking them out of service as they transport a subject to jail. 606 will reduce that time to a mere 20 minutes. Officers and deputies will be able to arrests more reckless and DUI drivers when 606 is adopted. Thank you for your time and I am prepared to answer any questions.
Respectfully submitted,
Howard J. Wooldridge
Detective Officer Howard J. Wooldridge (retired)
2001 C Buckeystown Pike
Adamstown, MD 21710
817-975-1110
Testimony in support of HB 353
As a retired police detective, I come from Adamstown – near Frederick to urge a yes vote on HB 353. As a taxpayer, I urge you to adopt 353. Public safety and the public’s money will both be served with its passage.
As you know, the vast majority of cases involving mandatory minimums are for drug distribution crimes. Mandatory Minimums were started with great fanfare in the 1980s as a sure-fire method to bring victory to our drug prohibition policies AKA War on Drugs. 25 years later and hundreds of billions more spent, we know can admit that we were wrong. Mandatory minimums have had no impact on drug availability. This is not just my professional opinion. Allow me to read a statement from the DEA – Drug Enforcement Administration. This is their assessment of where the country is after 40 years of serious effort and the expenditure of a trillion tax dollars: “ Drugs are readily available to America’s youth… “Drugs are readily available to America’s youth!!
What law makers failed to do in the 1980s and beyond is to ask police officers questions regarding the character of drug dealers. For example, did you know that drug dealers accept, as a condition of employment, death and long prison terms? Did you know that that every drug dealer arrested or shot is immediately replaced? We knew these facts 30 years ago but policy makers failed to ask before they passed mandatory minimums.
Thus, mandatory minimums have no impact on the drug trade. No impact on whether any young person can buy drugs. Worse, due to mandatory minimums we now have close a million teens selling drugs. Why? Because they are not subject to mandatory minimums. This failed approach has caused thousands of teens to be shot and hundreds killed in the past 30 years. A policy designed to protect our children has, in fact, caused millions to become criminals at best and shot dead at worst.
Besides dead teens, taxpayers have also become victims, as we have to pay $30,000 per year to lock up hordes of drug dealers. Our society has been hurt, as we have diverted so much money into prisons, our colleges have become too expensive. Young people now graduate with loans approaching a house mortgage in size. We will never compete with China, as we divert precious tax dollars into a failed ‘lock’em all up policy.’
As a cop, I saw the horrific damage done to young people via mandatory minimums. As a taxpayer, I certainly don’t want to pay for this failed policy. Thank you for your time.
Respectfully submitted,
Howard J. Wooldridge
Detective Officer Howard J. Wooldridge (retired)
2001 C Buckeystown Pike
Adamstown, MD 21710
817-975-1110
Posted February 26th, 2011 by hiwayhowie
Your voice in the United States Congress
Don’t need no stinkin booth: NOTE: I spent three long days (10,11,12) at CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) = 11,000 rabid conservatives come together once per year). All the stories are from the conference.
I made an appointment with Justin to discuss strategy at 3PM at the atrium = center of the hotel. An hour later he gave up, saying we would have to meet later in a more private area. Almost without pause, someone would approach me, ask why cops want to legalize pot and often wanted a foto. Even my Maryland House Delegate waited patiently five minutes to introduce himself (he had met Karen via her t-shirt late last year). Even I was impressed with the traffic/number of contacts. As Justin said, ‘Why spend $5,000 for a booth, when you can just stand in the middle of the room?’
Note: I hope to duplicate that ‘don’t need no stinking booth’ concept at the NRA (National Rifle Association) conference in April and the LULAC (League of United Latino American Conference) gathering in June.
This week at Grover’s Brunch a VIP in the conservative movement Colin Hanna www.letfreedomringusa.com came up to me and said I was “omnipresent” at CPAC. Everytime he looked across the room, he could see my Stetson hat.
Don’t go home!: Sharing a table with another couple, the Senate staffer stated he knew me from the years I had spent in the Senate. Though crime was not his issue and we had never met, nonetheless, he knew exactly who I was and my mission. Perhaps the several beers he had drunk loosened his lips. Either way, he became quite loud as he proclaimed I was winning and exhorted* me not to give up. And then repeated himself several times, as drinkers often do. Still, I believe he was speaking from the heart. I assured him I was staying until drug prohibition was over.
Special Thanks: Thank you to COPs member Ethel Rowland of Fort Pierce, Florida who attended CPAC in her LEAP ‘cape.’ (she took two shirts and nicely made them into a cape so the ASK ME WHY COPS SAY LEGALIZE DRUGS was visible front and back) Many persons asked us if we were married. J Ethel shared her dinner tickets with me, allowing me to be with the most important 400 people at two dinners. Next year I will spend the big bucks to repeat that. I believe the ‘see and be seen’ effect warrants the expense.
CPAC in review: I had just over 100 conversations with a listening audience of about 350. Numerous (about 12) interviews by radio, TV and bloggers kept me busy. Thursday and Friday were simply crazy busy. CPAC continues to grow more Libertarian & Ron Paul won the straw poll vote for President the second year in a row. Gary Johnson (R-NM and former two term governor) gave an excellent speech. I met a recently retired DEA agent who wants to do all he can to put prohibition in the history books. And many, many others.
*exhort = ermahnen oder ermutigen
Below are the major media events that I made:
Washington Post – paper edition on 2-11 on page four : { A tall, middle-aged man in a cowboy hat wore a T-shirt with the words “Ask Me Why Cops Say Legalize Pot” on his back. }
From http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-yn/content/article/2011/02/10/AR2011021007407.html
- Reason TV: in this video, FYI — http://reason.com/blog/2011/02/10/reasontv-gay-wars-what-we-saw
at the 1:55 point for 3 seconds…simply allowed the viewer to read the shirt
Technorati – first page of the blog:
CPAC attracts all sorts of unique folks. There was Howard Wooldridge, wearing a shirt that said “Cops say legalize pot. Ask me why.” He was dressed in Friday-night cowboy – sturdy, well-worn boots; a heavily tooled belt; and a wide-brimmed, cream-colored, Stetson 4X. His cell phone whinnied like a cow pony. Except for unwrinkled skin, he looked every bit the ranch hand. Nice guy too; I liked him. It turns out he was a retired cop from a Midwestern city.
http://technorati.com/politics/article/cpac-2011-was-a-carnival-of/
** As you know, this newsletter also doubles as my personal diary. The reason I have combined 3 weeks into one newsletter is due to a death in my family. On January 31 while making the rounds in the House, I learned my 50 year old brother had died after shoveling snow in Michigan. I spent the next 10 days taking care of my mom, getting her to the funeral in Michigan and back home to Georgia. I arrived back in DC to spend three, long days at CPAC. All this week as been spent catching up on mountains of emails and other such stuff. Thank you for your understanding. I will be back in ‘action’ next week beginning with testifying before the House of Delegates in Annapolis.
COPs 2nd year stats to date:
TV appearances: 11 (ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX, cable)
Newspaper stories: 7 dailes, 3 weeklies (one this week)
Radio appearances: 7 (one this week)
Published LTE: 7 ( none this week)
Other media (bloggers, cable TV, minor publications, etc): 9
67 presentations to Congressional staffers: (1 this week)
5 (Member of Congress) contacts :
2 other VIP (MD state Senator & Rep): (1 this week)
Consider being a member of COPs at $30.00 or more per year. Your support keeps the COPs 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
Howard
Detective/Officer Howard Wooldridge (retired)
Drug Policy Specialist, COP – www.CitizensOpposingProhibition.org
Washington, DC
817-975-1110 Cell
howard@citizensopposingprohibition.org
Domino el español
Ich verstehe mich gut auf Deutsch
Je parle français assez bien pour un petit, timide, moyen cowboy
Citizens Opposing Prohibition – Become a Member
PO Box 772
Buckeystown, MD 21717-0772
Modern Prohibition/The War on Drugs is the most destructive, dysfunctional & immoral domestic policy since slavery & Jim Crow.
