LEAP Rapid Response Alert - 6/15/09‏

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This is the latest Rapid Response Team alert from Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.

This time, we've got two ways to help. Here goes:

***LEAP IN NYT, THANKS TO YOU!!!***

You may recall that in the last Rapid Response Team alert, we asked you to leave comments about LEAP on New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof's Facebook page, where he said he was considering writing about drug legalization. Well, guess what? He not only wrote about the issue in an excellent widely-read column on Sunday, but he prominently mentioned LEAP! Check out the column at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/14/opinion/14kristof.html and read his related blog post at http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/13/time-to-legalize-drugs/

Then, please leave a comment below Kritof's blog post, as he suggests. It seems like he's going to keep covering this important issue, and we can make sure that he keeps hitting all the most important points. If you have an extra minute, please also write a short 150-word letter to the editor praising Kristof's column and send it to letters@nytimes.com.

Please make sure to *blind copy* your LTE to rapidresponse@leap.cc (and also send a copy of your blog comment there) so we can track our impact!

***LEAP HAS A BILLBOARD***

Thanks to the generous contribution of a supporter of ours, LEAP now has a fancy new billboard spreading our message in Oklahoma City, OK. Check out this article about it in The Oklahoman http://newsok.com/group-seeks-drug-legalization/article/3377943 and then write a 250-word (or less) letter to the editor defending LEAP and our message from the attacks of other law enforcement officials quoted in the story. Your LTE should be sent to yourviews@oklahoman.com, but please also make sure to *blind copy* your LTE to rapidresponse@leap.cc so we can track our impact!

That's it for this time. Thanks so much for taking the time to assist LEAP. We can't win without your help!

Until next time,
Tom Angell
Media Relations Director
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
rapidresponse@leap.cc

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Article about their billboard:

http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc329/disorderlyvision/leap.jpg


A group of current and retired law enforcement and legal personnel claim they have the answer to ending the war on drugs.

"We’re all calling for an end to drug prohibition. We want to end it just like we ended alcohol prohibition in 1933,” said Jack Cole, executive director for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, or LEAP.

"The day after we ended that nasty law, Al Capone and all of his smuggling buddies were out of business,” he said.

LEAP boasts roughly 13,000 members, among them 102 in Oklahoma; only 11 of the state’s members have law enforcement experience. LEAP put up a billboard at 7800 N Broadway that reads: "Drug Abuse is Bad. The Drug War is Worse.” Cole said the reason for this ad campaign is to open the public’s eyes to the true cost of the war on drugs.

However, LEAP represents a minority of the nation’s law enforcement. Mark Woodward, spokesman for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, said legalizing and regulating drugs would cause more problems than it would solve.

"It’s frightening and reckless that a group of law enforcement officers would endorse something like that. ... Look at what happened when we legalized alcohol and prescription drugs,” Woodward said. "Now they’re the two most abused substances globally.”

According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, President Barack Obama called for $14.1 billion to support the war on drugs for the 2009 fiscal year.

Cole, who was an undercover narcotics officer in New Jersey for 14 years, said the drug war has been going on since the early 1970s and the point was to clean up the streets, but the opposite is happening.

"The point is the government now has absolutely no control over the drugs that are used in this country,” said Wes Johnson, a Tulsa defense attorney, former narcotics officer and member of LEAP.

Johnson said if drugs were legalized, the government would be able to control the quality, quantity, production, price and distribution — much like alcohol and tobacco — and make money off of it, but "right now, the criminals control all of that.” All the current system is doing is driving up the cost of the drugs, Johnson added.

People on both sides acknowledge there’s a long way to go before legislation to change the law would come to fruition.

"I think our legislation has a great appreciation for the destruction drugs have created in the state of Oklahoma and in the families and the community they represent,” Woodward said. "I don’t see legislators supporting something that could possibly lead to more of this type of destruction.”

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E-mail I sent to the Oklahoman in regards to the billboard article:


I am writing in regards to an article titled “Group seeks drug legalization in Oklahoma.” I applaud LEAP for their efforts to end this absurd war waged against the citizens of the United States. I also strongly disagree with Mark Woodward’s assessment that ending drug prohibition would “cause more problems,” or that it is “reckless.” It doesn’t surprise me that he feels that ways as his gang stands to gain the most from keeping drugs illegal. Under civil asset forfeiture laws, the police can confiscate a person’s property without due process. This violates the constitution, as well as makes it harder for someone to defend themselves in court, as they no longer have any assets to pay for legal fees. And the money earned from these confiscations go directly back into police coffers; giving them incentives to use corrupt tactics. Ultimately, it comes down to property rights. If you own your body then no one can tell you what you can and cannot ingest into your body. If you do not own your own body then you are a slave and have no rights.

Thank you for writing the article. It is good to see LEAP getting exposure. In the future I hope you will cover them in a more positive light.

Kevin Dunbar