Economics
Further Regulation of Medical Marijuana in Rhode Island Opposed
Why It's Obvious We Are Losing the War on Drugs
Bill to Lessen Penalties for Some Drug Offenders Clears Kentucky Senate Panel
Keep the Pressure On (Action Alert)
Tell your Senators to approve spending cuts to the drug war!
Dear Friends,
Thanks to the overwhelming response Congress received from supporters like you, huge drug war spending cuts have been approved by the House! Hundreds of millions of dollars used by state and local law enforcement agencies for ineffective drug war policies will be cut, and the ridiculous and ineffective national anti-marijuana ad campaign has been cut completely. Now we need to do the same for the Senate!
Tell your Senators to approve the House's spending cuts to failed drug war programs!
The new budget is still not set. The Senate has generally been unsupportive of scaling back the drug war in years past, so they need to hear from you! Now is the time to let your Senators know we cannot afford to wait any longer to end the drug war!
Sincerely,
Bill Piper
Director, Office of National Affairs
Drug Policy Alliance
Former Baltimore Narcotics Cop Testifies for Bill to Decriminalize Marijuana in Maryland; Tuesday Hearing on Lowering Marijuana Penalty to $100 Fine (Press Release)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 22, 2011
CONTACT: Tom Angell at (202) 557-4979 or [email protected]
Former Baltimore Narcotics Cop Testifies for Bill to Decriminalize Marijuana in Maryland; Tuesday Hearing on Lowering Marijuana Penalty to $100 Fine
ANNAPOLIS, MD -- A former Baltimore narcotics cop will testify before a Maryland House of Delegates committee today in favor of a bill that would decriminalize marijuana possession. The bill, HB 606, sponsored by Del. Curt Anderson (D-Baltimore City), will be heard by the House Judiciary Committee at 1:00 PM EST in Room 100.
Neill Franklin, who did narcotics work with both the Maryland State Police and the Baltimore Police Department over a 34-year career, will testify that, "The current laws force police officers in Maryland to waste hour after hour processing marijuana possession arrests. Can you imagine how many more burglaries, rapes and murders we could solve if we put these wasted man-hours toward good use? Marijuana prohibition constitutes a serious threat to public safety."
Franklin is executive director of the organization Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), an international group of police officers, judges, corrections officials, border agents and other criminal justice professionals who have witnessed the failures of the so-called "war on drugs" firsthand.
The Maryland bill will lower the penalty for possessing an ounce or less of marijuana from a criminal misdemeanor to a civil offense punishable by a fine of up to $100. In addition to Del. Anderson, HB 606 has bipartisan support from 20 co-sponsors and has been officially endorsed by the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland.
Maryland spends over $236 million enforcing its marijuana laws every year, according to Harvard University economist Jeffrey Miron.
Del. Michael Smigiel (R-Cecil County), a co-sponsor of the decriminalization bill, says that many cops are privately approaching him in support of the idea. "Many police who come before the judiciary say they don't want to have to spend all that time taking someone in for less than an ounce, booking them and going through that whole process, when there are other people out there that they could be spending their time on that are committing serious crimes," he recently told WBAL-TV.
The full text of HB 606 and other information can be found at http://mlis.state.md.us/2011rs/billfile/HB0606.htm
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) represents police, prosecutors, judges, prison wardens, federal agents and others who want to legalize and regulate drugs after fighting on the front lines of the "war on drugs" and learning firsthand that prohibition only serves to worsen addiction and violence. More info at http://www.CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.com.
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Videos of LEAP cops: http://YouTube.com/CopsSayLegalizeDrugs
LEAP on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/CopsSayLegalize
LEAP on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CopsSayLegalizeDrugs
Congressman: Eliminate the War on Drugs
Obama Proposes 43 Percent Cut for Murtha's National Drug Intelligence Center
Cut Funding for Failed Drug Policies (Action Alert)
Tell Congress to cut funding for the drug war!
Dear Friends,
I need your help to talk some sense into Congress. While they preach fiscal responsibility, they want to keep giving piles of money to state and local governments to prioritize low-level drug arrests – especially for marijuana possession. Even worse, they want to put the cost on the nation's credit card. You and I will be paying off this foolishness for decades to come if we don't act now.
Tell Congress: No more money for failed drug policies.
As I write this, Congress is working on a new federal budget. Right now we have a unique opportunity to cut the funding that helps keep the drug war alive at the local level. If we can get enough people to email Congress, I'm hopeful that we can cut spending, reduce marijuana arrests, and push states to embrace drug policy reform. It would be a three-for-one victory.
Sincerely,
Bill Piper
Director, Office of National Affairs
Drug Policy Alliance
