A note from the editor_____________________________________________ Greetings my fellow reformers, I hope all is well with you and your loved ones. The holidays are in full swing, with Thanksgiving past us and Christmas just a few weeks away. During this busy time, it is easy to get wrapped up in family activities and parties, but don’t forget the less fortunate. This is time of year when charities need help the most, so do your part, donate your time, money, goods or anything you can to your favorite charity or nonprofit, which may include LEAP! Many of us LEAP members and volunteers will be heading off to New Orleans this week for the 2007 International Drug Policy Reform conference. There we will congregate with fellow drug reformers, network with drug war experts, lawyers, brilliant minds, political figures and more. We will also enjoy spending time with all our LEAP friends. Next month’s newsletter will have a special section on the conference for those of you who could not make it. I hope you enjoy this month’s Speakers Bureau Report, Mike Smithson has done a great job as always. Until next month…. Peace and Love, Joe Bokan P.S If you see me at the conference, say Hi, or email me at [email protected] Calling all LEAP members: It isn’t too late to be part of the LEAP presence at the International Drug Policy Conference in New Orleans. You can still register on line at http://kessjones.com/conf07/ . Already planning to attend DPA? Show your support for LEAP by wearing your LEAP t-shirt or lapel pin on Thursday December 6, 2007 for the opening of the session. Not attending DPA? You can still support LEAP in your community by wearing your LEAP t-shirt around town, calling your elected officials or calling your favorite talk radio station and telling the host about LEAP. If you’d like to learn how to do more for LEAP and will be in the New Orleans area, you are welcome to attend the Louisiana LEAP Training. You can count on these meetings to be fun and informative. The Louisiana Training will take place at the International Drug Policy Conference at 1:00 PM in the Burgundy Room of the Astor Crowne Plaza Hotel, 739 Canal Street at Bourbon Street, New Orleans on December 5, 2007. Make the LEAP and join us in New Orleans! Speakers Bureau Update______________________________ November 30, 2007, 11PM EST…. Practically everyone judges themselves by numbers. Accomplishments. Stuff done. Items crossed off a list. Etc. As I sit at my desk preparing this report, I hear several clocks ticking off in my home. These, too, are accomplishments of a kind. For perspective, I’ve looked back at November, 2006. We had plenty of gigs and tours going on, for instance, Peter Christ in Maine and Conniticat, Jack Cole was in the UK and we were hitting the colleges fairly well. Several civic clubs. Nice showing. I know I was happy with our efforts in November ’06, with 40+ presentations or interviews. “Gigs” as we call ‘em. Now, looking ahead to present day, for November ’07. We had 60+ gigs, with many more mentions in newspaper columns and stories. A 50% increase. Okay, LEAPers—everybody: stand up, reach your arm over your shoulder and pat yourselves a couple of times. Now, sit back down and get to work. What is Nov 2008 going to look like?? Eric Sterling kicked November off for us at the National Lawyers Guild Annual Conference in DC. Eric has a way of getting around, getting quoted and continuously being a presence on the drug policy reform scene. He’s also featured in “Snitch”, a new book written by Ethan Brown about the corrupt criminal justice system that relies on snitching to make their cases. I just started reading this book and cannot put it down. Brown will be featured at the Drug Policy Alliance bi-annual conference in December. Also conferencing in November was Jerry Paradis at the Issues of Substance Conference in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. This was our second year at IoS. Also, Matt McCally made the Americans in Solidarity First Annual Convention in Tacoma, tabling for an audience of several hundred. On the media front, we’re starting to get noticed by columnists and writers. Charmie Gholson, our OpEd coordinator, was able to get several OpEds placed in newspapers, notably the Victoria (Texas) Advocate, the Daily Southtown (Chicago, Illinois), Tribune & Georgian (Kingsland, Georgia), and the North Adams (Massachusetts) Transcript. In addition, 10 other newspaper articles came out mentioning LEAP and our speakers. The Rockford (Illinois) Register, Austin-Statesman (Texas), and a couple of papers in Oregon. Then, on a pre-primary evening in New Hampshire, Bradley Jardis confronting presidential candidate John McCain at a political event and received coverage from The Huffington Post and postings on Digg.com and YouTube. Froma Harrop, a syndicated columnist for the Providence (Rhode Island) Journal, included us in her Thanksgiving Day piece, where she challenged Barack Obama to admit the Drug War is a failure. And more media: Ike Sellari, a Jackson, Tennessee LEAP member called into WNWS and practically demanded that the host, Harrell Carter, have us on his nightly talk show to discuss drug prohibition. A couple calls later, and voila: Jim Gierach was yacking it up with callers and the host for 75 minutes. Big success. Across the continent, in British Columbia, prohibition’s wrath had produced gang-style killings mirroring those in Chicago, 1929. Two dozen murders had the media questioning the idea that prohibition was a proper policy and thus, LEAP speakers Jerry Paradis and Tony Smith were busy, once again, answering the call from the radio and TV stations (CBC, CKNW, CTV, Global Morning News) and the newspapers. Other radio interviews in the States were performed by Mike Jones in Taos, New Mexico, James Anthony in Moscow, Idaho, and Don Jones in Kingsland, Georgia. Rusty White received a call from the Foundation for Responsible Television which produces McCuistion for Public Television. The show was broadcast in the DFW area and in Indianapolis to terrific reviews. There’s a Drug War documentary making the film festivals called “American Drug War: The Last White Hope” which features Jim Gray, Cele Castillo and Gary Johnson. The producer/director has invited LEAP to participate in panels after the showings in Hollywood, California and Wallingford, Washington. The Washington folks wrote to us saying: “Matt was incredible. Great evening! Thanks for the opportunity to have Matt here. What an asset for your organization.” Another movie, “Smokescreen”, featuring Jim Gray and Dave Doddridge, was viewed at a pair of screenings in Los Angeles. Still another movie, “Waiting to Inhale” was screened in Chicago and Jim Gierach participated in the panel afterward to discuss drug policy efficacy. “Waiting to Inhale” and “American Drug War” will be shown at the DPA conference in December. Colleges were a big focus during November. A quick rundown with a few comments we have collected: · Framingham State College, Massachusetts —Jack Cole · Williams College, Massachusetts—Peter Christ · Central Washington University, Washington—Jim Doherty. “Jim's presentation went very well. A lot of the people that I talked with afterwards stated that his speech gave them more confidence when coming out with their opinions on drug policies.” -Buddy Taylor, president, CWU chapter, Students for Sensible Drug Policy · Manchester Community College, Connecticut—Peter Christ “It was a pleasure having Peter Christ as a speaker last week – his sense of humor and experience is wonderful and the kids really enjoyed him. We had an SRO crowd hear his great presentation!”- Donna Nicholson, Criminal Justice professor · University of Connecticut, Connecticut—Peter Christ · Mt. Royal College, Alberta—Jerry Paradis · Univ. of Alberta, Alberta—Jerry Paradis · Keene State College, New Hampshire—John Tommasi “There were over 120 people in attendance and we planned for 60! We hope to make this an annual event.”- Peter Stevenson, criminal justice chair. · Rhode Island College, Rhode Island—Bradley Jardis · University of Maryland, Maryland—Matt Fogg “What an evening! Matt was quite a presenter and we had a lively discussion on the topic.”- David Jenkins, Criminal Justice professor. · University of Central Florida, Florida—Don Jones · California State University Northridge, California—Norm Stamper · Brown University, Rhode Island—Bradley Jardis · Maryville College, Tennessee—Jay Fisher · San Diego State University, California—Norm Stamper Plenty of speaking engagements before civic groups occurred in November, and we did several tours. For instance, Peter Christ’s Southern Louisiana tour, which happened just before the DPA conference. But, most notable was a trip made by Jerry Paradis to Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Paradis’s trip to Alberta involved college presentations, civic groups and numerous media interviews. At one of his presentations, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police member invited him to come to Ontario to make a LEAP presentation. Another person approached him in Calgary to pitch to his retired businessmen’s group. Still another professor said Jerry must present to an annual 3-hr session that invites everyone from the Calgary justice community to discuss criminal/social issues. Much more than a hat trick—let’s call it a triple hat trick for the trip. Very well done. Paradis has been involved in a lot of work this year, and his trip to Colombia, as part of a delegation to view the effects of Plan Colombia this past summer, was spectacular. He witnessed the effects on peasant farmers and the general population—there are more internally displaced people in Columbia than anywhere else in the world except Darfur. This trip really adds to LEAP’s expertise and I hope Jerry can handle what is sure to be a high demand for him. Other speakers were involved in civic club meetings, including Russ Jones, who received high praise from a Rotary club in Austin, Texas: “There was not one single aspect that could have been better - his powerpoint presentation was so well done, as opposed to so many I've seen that are pretty hum-drum. It was obvious he was an expert on the subject, and our club listened intently to his every word.” Great stuff. Our monthly award for top volunteer goes to Steve Finlay, a resident of North Vancouver, Canada. Steve works full-time for a telecommunications company but somehow found all of the time needed to make Jerry Paradis’s trip busy, successful and multi-faceted. Steve’s been involved with us for a couple of years and somehow finds an hour here and an hour there to get gigs for our speakers in British Columbia. This prized tour to Alberta is an example for all venue bookers. It is the model of success. Plenty of competition for volunteer-of-the-year honors, and we’ll announce the winner at the DPA conference next week in New Orleans. For those attending—make sure that you are prepared to learn, to contribute and to grow. For those who cannot attend—try to be there in 2009. This is the best opportunity to meet the leaders in drug policy reform. LEAP speakers will participate in four panels and at last count, we have over 60 members attending. See you next month—don’t forget to call those radio shows and get a LEAP speaker on the air! Sincerely, Mike Smithson We need YOUR help to continue doing all that we do. If you aren’t already, please consider volunteering your time or donating to LEAP. Together we can End Prohibition Now!