Press Release: LEAP Reacts to Sheriffs' Lawsuit Against Colorado Marijuana Law

[greengummybear]

Thursday, March 5, 2015
Press Release: LEAP Reacts to Sheriffs' Lawsuit Against Colorado Marijuana Law
Posted by Mikayla Hellwich
Contact: Darby Beck For Immediate Release:

[email protected]

415.xxx.xxxx


LEAP REACTS TO SHERIFFS’ LAWSUIT AGAINST COLORADO

MARIJUANA LAW

Refute Claims of Increased Burden on Police, Cite Public Safety Improvements


Today, sheriffs from Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas filed a lawsuit against Colorado’s

marijuana legalization law, Amendment 64. The officers claim the law is

unconstitutional, and that there is increased burden on law enforcement in neighboring

states.


Legalization advocates, including Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, point to the

many positive benefits of legalization, including that it has reduced the burden on law

enforcement within the state, citing the fact that marijuana possession arrests have

dropped 84% in Colorado since 2010. Colorado is also experiencing significant benefits,

including a decreasing unemployment rate, more than $50 million in tax revenue in FY

2014-15, and reduced rates of burglary and homicide.


“Legalizing marijuana has allowed police to focus on real crimes but taken away their

excuse for otherwise unjustified searches and seizures,” said Maj. Neill Franklin (Ret.),

executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, a group of criminal justice

professionals opposed to the drug war. “Of course some law enforcement officers are

going to be upset about that. But I would ask those officers to think about why they

joined the force in the first place, why they risk their lives every day just to do their jobs.

I doubt many would say it’s to go after low-level drug offenders, whose lives will largely

be destroyed in the process and whose communities have come to see police as the

enemy. They would say they went into this job because they wanted to protect people, to

be heroes, and it’s about time they recognize that that’s the opposite of what they’re

doing when they defend current drug policy.”


Public safety remains at the forefront of the marijuana legalization debate, with

proponents citing that marijuana is easier for children to obtain where it is illegal, that

arrest and conviction records harm users and that marijuana prohibition causes police

officers to focus disproportionately on drug crimes, leaving violent crimes often

unsolved. For instance, in 2013 there were an estimated 400,000 rape kits in the U.S. that

had yet to be tested because drug testing of imprisoned defendants get prioritized over

other examinations. The U.S. spends about $51 billion dollars per year on drug

enforcement efforts, yet none of the intended goals of drug prohibition have been

attained.


Alaska, Washington and Oregon have also legalized recreational marijuana sales. Alaska

and Oregon regulators are in the process of writing the rules for how new marijuana

businesses will operate there, and Washington has joined Colorado as the second state to

safely and successfully sell marijuana legally.

###

http://copssaylegalize.blogspot.nl/2015/03/press-release-leap-reacts-to-sheriffs.html

 

[greengummybear]

“Of course some law enforcement officers are

going to be upset about that. But I would ask those officers to think about why they

joined the force in the first place, why they risk their lives every day just to do their jobs.

I doubt many would say it’s to go after low-level drug offenders, whose lives will largely

be destroyed in the process and whose communities have come to see police as the

enemy. They would say they went into this job because they wanted to protect people, to

be heroes, and it’s about time they recognize that that’s the opposite of what they’re

doing when they defend current drug policy.”

i think i speak for us all when i say we all agree here.

Terrific, succinct, and on target. Y'all are doing a praiseworthy job for the benefit of this country's Constitution and Bill of Rights. At the end of the day, no where in the General government's Constitution is the government authorized or otherwise empowered to assume ownership over any soul possessed of what our Founders called "unalienable rights". To assume an authority to tell me what I may and may not put into my body is the very presumption of ownership over my body, and my protection is only found in two places - first being my own will as a self-owner claiming rights granted me by an authority higher than that of any man-made government, and the second being the Constitution for the united States of America. LEAP's stand is not only a proper stand in practical reality, it is also an ecclesiastical stand for the soul of mankind in his never-ending struggle for freedom. Brother Franklin, you're spot on and your words bear the force of clarity and the impact of truth. Jefferson and Madison would be proud. Thank you.
Salute! .
Elias Alias

 

[neversickanymore]

How low can these cops go.

I believe law suits like these really show how scummy some LE people are and can be.

EDIT: I think it important to note that the sheriffs on Colorado run and benefit from people being incarcerated in places like LCDC (Larimer County Detention Center). They are probably missing out on a bunch of revenue now that pot users aren't filling thier jails.

They also benefit financially from the tickets and fines they used to dole out and from people in thier weekender programs which provide free labor that they rent out to private businesses like the Budweiser event center.

LCDC is staffed with all sheriffs.

http://www.cocommunity.net/agency/larimer-county-detention-center.html

 

[Jabberwocky]

Where is this suit being filed? Federal court? Anyone know which circuit?

 

[rhizome]

It'll be Federal, District of Colorado, and will be appealed to 10th Circuit- both of which are places where Colorado state law is immaterial, and therefore offer no defense.

 

[Jabberwocky]

My thought exactly. I wonder if a case like this would actually get heard by the supreme court. I am hoping they reject it or pass on it however, as I'm not sure I feel comfortable with how thing might work out for the rest of the country.

 

[ro4eva]

If Colorado ends up going back to criminalizing recreational Marijuana sales and possession, and all because of a few greedy, butthurt pigs who seemingly can't live with a majority "yes" vote in the state, the consequences will be unprecedented, and I don't think there will be any more doubt that democracy in "the land of the free greedy" has taken a back seat behind fascism which has been ushered in by far too much money in politics. And what a sick joke it has become - politicians allowing themselves to be treated by the highest campaign donors like investments in a political version of 'The Price is Right.'

Edit - There is absolutely no 'good' reason to undo the progress which has been made in Colorado regarding Marijuana. The crime rate has not gone up, DUI/DWI-related fatalities is down 15%, usage among teens has not increased, and 'reefer madness' has not engulfed the state (with the exception of certain cops who are a disgrace to law enforcement for doing this, and I really hope they get exactly what they deserve).