I think everybody here know the high esteem I have for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. Groups like that are extremely important for turning the tide in the war against drugs. Most law enforcement LEAP members are former police officers, etc. There are very few active-duty members because of the very real risk of losing their job.
LEAP now has the first in a series of posts from an active-duty officer posting anonymously. He’s not proud of his public silence, but believes it necessary for now to keep from losing his job.
As we’ve heard from other LEAP members, there is the sense that the views of LEAP are much more widely held within active-duty law enforcement than one might expect:
Despite my current silence, I believe a paradigm shift regarding the drug war is quietly occurring in every law enforcement agency in this country, thanks in large part to the efforts of LEAP. This paradigm shift is palpable— I can see it, feel it, and on occasion I hear it slip out from fellow officers and even supervisors once in a blue moon. I firmly believe things are about to change in this country, and when they do, those within law enforcement will be jumping off this drug war rat ship like it was on fire. And the jumpers will proclaim that they knew the drug war was wrong the whole time. But alas, I am not here to judge or point fingers at those wearing badges—I wear one too. I too am riding on that drug war rat ship. Gladly, I will be jumping off that rat ship with everyone else. In the meantime, I can point no fingers, except at myself.
That doesn’t mean, of course, that there aren’t true blue drug war believers — there are plenty — but that with the right amount of critical mass, those will be the minority.
It makes you wonder how much longer the government is going to toe the line and continue the wosd when legalization numbers have grown continuously since they started it.
They had us for years,before the internet,because having a debate with drug war propagandists had a 2 week cushion from the time they spread their poison until we might get to answer it,,two weeks and most people won’t remember what you are ranting about except as “something dangerous they heard” about marijuana and nothing we could do would erase it.
It is why we must keep the internet as a free speech zone.
I’d rather see them accidentally trip and fall into one of the lifeboats than to pigheadedly insist on going down on the ship.
I really have “high” hopes for the budget hearings Duncan,,this year we can go to YAHOO chat or something and kibitz the process.
I hate feeling clueless. Which budget hearings?
Upcoming,,I have left email link with the budget committee website so I will announce as they notify me.
Many thanks for calling attention to this, Pete!
That PoliceOne poll was pretty evenly divided last I looked.
And I got a local CHP drug task force officer to sign my petition to put a local ordinance up to a vote. (Cost me 40 minutes of conversation, but hey!)
These are bright spots but the work of LEAP is a real flame. There’s nothing like the satisfaction of seeing LE speak truths about the failure that is drug prohibition.
Month after month, we see the momentum building on our side. Soon, politicians will start getting elected “in spite of” opposing the drug war. Things will change.
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
Any chance of attaching booster rockets on that pendulum,,336 days,,so they say
Let that ship burn ! i’ll bring the weenies.
There are plenty o’ weenies on that particular ship. Trouble is that they’re pork weenies and I prefer tofu anyway.
Hush I say, the undertakers are sleeping, and the “down the aisles” bucking ranchers-of-the -night are pushing anthracite statues up cows in the byre!
here’s a picture of your tax dollars at work:http://www.policeone.com/drug-interdiction-narcotics/articles/4837479-P1-Photo-of-the-Week-California-snow-angel/
“Laughter is the savior of sanity” indeed. It always amazes me how you can agree on a statement but for completely different reasons.
To which I say:
Hey Officer, that stuff has a high potential for abuse, has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and there is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision, and yer rolling in it??? Mighty brave of you Have you no fear of it?? Naughty LEO, naughty
Why is it that you think he wasn’t wearing a space suit when he did it?
I’m pretty sure most police officers eventually, perhaps reluctantly, come to see the futility of the drug war. The ones that don’t are either ideological zealots or cynics exploiting the public to increase their budgets.
The Liberal Party of Canada has proposed legalization of cannabis. Good discussion in comments section on the Globe & Mail:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/policy-pitfalls-could-quickly-kill-buzz-around-liberal-pot-proposal/article2308553/comments/
Hallelujah!
It is only a matter of time. Every day, it becomes safer to speak out; it becomes safer to be honest. It began with us, you see — the people themselves had to find the will to speak of these things well before those in positions of power could safely do so. Certainly history is on our side, as any oppressive laws such as the drug laws of this planet have crumbled with time, and with those laws our respect for the law in general. I see this all too often in the drug advocacy groups — the law and those who enforce it are met with contempt.
Changing our current system would not only make it more effective, but would also (with some luck) restore the people’s esteem in it. Honestly, I think that both sides are frustrated by this overall situation, but the enforcement side is not quite ready to take those first steps. The media will make pariahs, and blame will be cast… sad truths indeed. The fact is, however, that those same people who stand up first will someday be cast as the heroes of a larger plot, of a story which restored to the people rights and privileges that should have never been taken away in the first place…
Some pretty impressive ignorance on Drug Policy abroad, this time in Africa(?): http://allafrica.com/stories/201201200243.html