Trogdor
Bluelighter
L.E.A.P.S. And Bounds
by Anthony Joseph Marquez II
taken from the Medical Marijuana News and Directory, May/June 2009
available for free at 7-Eleven convenience stores: Denver, CO
www.mmj-news.com
In an ever-shifting economy that stretches the average tax payers pocketbook very thin, one question that law enforcement officials are starting to ask themselves is whether spending over a trillion dollars in fighting the "war on drugs" makes sense. Many people involved with Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, more commonly referred to as L.E.A.P., most definitely don't think so. With over thirty million arrests and three million non-violent drug related incarcerations every year, our society sees this steadily taking its toll on limited tax dollars, half of which are related to cannabis. The officers, elected officials and citizens involved with L.E.A.P. believe that it is time to end prohibition.
At first, one might be surprised to find that any police officer might be sympathetic to reducing or overturning current drug laws, but it's actually more surprising to find that a large percentage (with figures estimating nearly 80%) of the individuals involved in law enforcement actually agree that today's laws need to be reconsidered. All that surprise tends to be flushed away by any casual look at the numbers on the "Drug War Clock," a clever, ever-ticking tool on L.E.A.P.'s official website, www.leap.cc .
Even as Walter Cronkite suggests, watching the L.E.A.P. promotional video helps explain the fallacies of spending $69 billion a year on what Retired Seattle Police Chief, Norm Stamper calls the biggest setback to low-income racial minorities "since slavery." One particular fact the video makes reference to is that the percentage of the population who use drugs today (estimated 1.3%) is the same as it was in 1914 when drugs were first made illegal. The unspoken questions posed are how do we justify the trillions of dollars spent in fighting a war that hasn't been won, and with such a small percentage of actual users, what's the purpose of the war?
From the many different stories on the cold, hard facts, L.E.A.P. does continue to raise awareness of current drug policies and to represent the front lines in ending useless prosecutions. In a mission to reduce the harm generated by the war on drugs and to "lessen the incidence of death, disease, crime and addiction by ultimately ending drug prohibition," one of L.E.A.P.'s goals is to have 10,000 law enforcement and over 1 MILLION citizens as members by 2010. To join and to sponsor L.E.A.P. visit the website listed above, and remember, you don't have to be a cop to stop prohibition!
by Anthony Joseph Marquez II
taken from the Medical Marijuana News and Directory, May/June 2009
available for free at 7-Eleven convenience stores: Denver, CO
www.mmj-news.com
In an ever-shifting economy that stretches the average tax payers pocketbook very thin, one question that law enforcement officials are starting to ask themselves is whether spending over a trillion dollars in fighting the "war on drugs" makes sense. Many people involved with Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, more commonly referred to as L.E.A.P., most definitely don't think so. With over thirty million arrests and three million non-violent drug related incarcerations every year, our society sees this steadily taking its toll on limited tax dollars, half of which are related to cannabis. The officers, elected officials and citizens involved with L.E.A.P. believe that it is time to end prohibition.
At first, one might be surprised to find that any police officer might be sympathetic to reducing or overturning current drug laws, but it's actually more surprising to find that a large percentage (with figures estimating nearly 80%) of the individuals involved in law enforcement actually agree that today's laws need to be reconsidered. All that surprise tends to be flushed away by any casual look at the numbers on the "Drug War Clock," a clever, ever-ticking tool on L.E.A.P.'s official website, www.leap.cc .
Even as Walter Cronkite suggests, watching the L.E.A.P. promotional video helps explain the fallacies of spending $69 billion a year on what Retired Seattle Police Chief, Norm Stamper calls the biggest setback to low-income racial minorities "since slavery." One particular fact the video makes reference to is that the percentage of the population who use drugs today (estimated 1.3%) is the same as it was in 1914 when drugs were first made illegal. The unspoken questions posed are how do we justify the trillions of dollars spent in fighting a war that hasn't been won, and with such a small percentage of actual users, what's the purpose of the war?
From the many different stories on the cold, hard facts, L.E.A.P. does continue to raise awareness of current drug policies and to represent the front lines in ending useless prosecutions. In a mission to reduce the harm generated by the war on drugs and to "lessen the incidence of death, disease, crime and addiction by ultimately ending drug prohibition," one of L.E.A.P.'s goals is to have 10,000 law enforcement and over 1 MILLION citizens as members by 2010. To join and to sponsor L.E.A.P. visit the website listed above, and remember, you don't have to be a cop to stop prohibition!
