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Lowest Priority Policies

Activists want cops to lay off the buds (wikimedia.org)
Activists want cops to lay off the buds (wikimedia.org)

Flint (MI), Springfield (MO) Marijuana Petitions Turned In

Flint, Michigan, and Springfield, Missouri, could see marijuana reform measures on the local ballot this November after activists in both cities handed in petition drive signatures last week.
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map_usa_states_oregon_0.gif

Medical Marijuana Ally Wins Oregon AG Race

Oregon's medical marijuana community and national drug reformers helped defeat a former interim US Attorney in favor of a medical marijuana-friendly challenger in the Oregon Democratic Party attorney general race Tuesday. They hope the victory sends a signal across the country.
Charlottesville City Council (City of Charlotteville)
Charlottesville City Council (City of Charlotteville)

Charlottesville Says Decriminalize or Regulate Marijuana

The city council in the Virginia college town of Charlottesville had adopted a resolution calling on the state to consider decriminalizing or regulating marijuana, but balked at adding lowest law enforcement priority language.
City Hall in Portland. The city council can approve the initiative or let the voters decide. (image via wikimedia.org)
City Hall in Portland. The city council can approve the initiative or let the voters decide. (image via wikimedia.org)

Marijuana "Lowest Priority" Initiative Advances in Maine City

An initiative making adult pot possession the lowest law enforcement priority in Portland, Maine, has handed in more than enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot.

Make Nonviolent Marijuana Offenses the Lowest Police Priority (Action Alert)

Dear Friends,

On March 15, a new report was released on the steps of New York City Hall documenting the crushing costs of the 50,383 marijuana possession arrests that occurred in 2010 in that city alone, costing New York City $75 million. Released by the Drug Policy Alliance and co-authored by Queens College sociology professor Dr. Harry Levine, the report reveals the police, judicial, and human costs of New York City’s marijuana arrest crusade.

Every single day, 140 people are arrested for marijuana offenses in New York City, making it the leading cause of arrest. A full 87% of those arrested are Black or Latino, a particularly outrageous number since people of color do not use marijuana at higher rates than the rest of the population. Incredibly, the NYPD has quietly made marijuana infractions their top law enforcement priority without even a pretense of public input or debate.

Although New York decriminalized possession of under 25 grams of marijuana, possession that is "open to public view" remains a crime.  Police officers have learned to ask vulnerable people they believe to be in possession to empty their pockets so they can then make an arrest.

The “suspects” do not have to be using, buying, or selling marijuana, nor do they have to be acting out in any way at all. They simply have to be “suspects.”

This flagrant abuse of state power is a tightly held secret. Please help us expose it. Stand with LEAP in supporting a more rational plan for drug policy. Our speakers are law enforcement professionals who know firsthand that the “war on drugs” is a waste of police resources. They speak out against our current drug policy in order to put police priorities back where they belong. 

Help us send the message to NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, that using already strained police and judicial resources in this way is not acceptable and that the overwhelming racial disparity of these arrests is appalling. Please sign our petition, and please make a contribution today to support LEAP as the voice of law enforcement in drug policy reform.

Thank you,

Major Neill Franklin (Ret.)
Executive Director
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition


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