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Man With A Mission Travels Through Town
Former police detective wants an end to War on Drugs
Joanne Winer | Quartzsite Times | 03/30/2005

Howard J. Wooldridge is a man on a mission. He is a 53-year-old retired police detective from Fort Worth, Texas who is traveling across the country on his one-eyed paint mare named Misty. Before he is done, he will have travelled 3,600 miles on his seven-month journey that started in Los Angeles on March 4 and will end up in New York City by Nov. 1.

Howard is a former lobbyist in the Texas Legislature. He is the media director for a group called L.E.A.P. which means Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.

The organization was started three years ago, and now has over 2,000 members, including 80 speakers like himself, at least one in every state. The goal of this organization is to educate Americans about the need to legalize all drugs and destroy the black market.

He is quick to assure people that he does not advocate drug use, but feels that the legalization of all drugs will take the very costly “War on Drugs” out of the hands of the police and under health control so the police can focus on the really bad people like murderers, child molesters, drunk drivers and other perpetrators of violent crimes.

“We need to make all drug issues a matter of public health, handled by doctors and clinics, not police or prisons,” Wooldridge said.

“With over 70 billion dollars per year spent on the War on Drugs, it seems that the money should be spent to focus on the more serious crimes instead of using the police to spend their time on something that could be handled by the medical community.”

Wooldridge and the others in L.E.A.P., speak all over the country at Rotary, Lions Club, Kiwanis, and other groups. They have received lots of support from other law enforcement officers, mostly retired, who agree with their concept of what is most important for law enforcement to be concentrating on.

He told about how he saw three police cruisers stop a car recently, with six officers taking over an hour checking out a car for possible drugs, while they could have been letting many drunk drivers or other criminals pass by.

His group is one of many who believe that time is being wasted that could be better used for more serious things. There are more than a half dozen major reform groups, including the Drug Policy Alliance, M.P.P.-the Marijuana Policy Project, and N.O.R.M.L. — the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws.

They all believe that prohibition of drugs should be repealed and that it would take the black market away from the drug lords just as the end of prohibition against alcohol diminished the big mafia control in the days of Al Capone.

Wooldridge will be travelling through the lower states on his journey to New York, speaking all through the trip.

After he reaches New York, his plans are to become a lobbyist again, this time in the U.S. government, where he hopes to find some officials willing to accept his ideas and further the cause.

He knows that the idea is not easily acceptable, but it has been receiving much more support every year. He believes that sometime in the future, people will understand what his group is trying to accomplish and that the laws will be changed. If you would like more information about L.E.A.P., please contact them at www.leap.cc or you can contact Howard Wooldridge himself at wooldridge@leap.cc or call him at 817-975-1110.

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cram116

What a good man!

Burninbrooke

*visual* Shadow of a man in a cowboy hat riding slowly into the sunset on his noble steed, as a woman and two children watch----" Who was that guy mom?" "That there kids, is the lone ranger, he fights for what is true and good."

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gob

If only our representatives in Washigton would listen

king cola

Haven't heard any updated news on this guy in awhile. I definatly agree with what he talks about even with hard drugs. I'm for hash and marijuana use but i myself would never try hard drugs but i also obviously know some people do. Someone ends up getting addicted, can't seem to break their habit and then end up in jail over it. If there was a clinic, these people can go there to get their drug in a regulated dose from a doctor. Not to mention that these people who are addicted to drugs like cocaine don't get it pure, they get it with rat poison, kerosene, or whatever else it get's cut to sh*t with. If people are going to do drugs they are going to do it!

It's good to know that there is one cop with common sense, the problem with this country is people are afraid of change. Personally we suspect one of our relatives is using heroine, i get pissed when i think about it, but because of prohibition i know he will refuse to admit he is using or that he might have a drug problem! Hes told me he tried just about every drug you could think of but if he has a drug problem i know he won't admit it, even to me. Like i said above this paragraph, atleast with a clinic people can get the drug in a regulated dose as well as maybe seek help easier, we all know you can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped but they also don't deserve to be thrown in jail with real criminals just because of drug use.

Just allowing doctors in special clinics alone to be able to legally possess the hard drug for their patients gets the drugs off the street. They could go there and get it cheaper, people who sell it on the street wouldn't be able to turn a profit, not to mention again that it wouldn't be cut with a bunch of sh*t. They also wouldn't be able to leave the clinic with the drug i'm assuming, if they did this idea.

As for marijuana, that would probably be legalized for the general public and used in the privacy of our own homes. The government could then take the money they make off it and use that to treat people with addiction or even boost our economy. I'm sure some people laugh at this whole thing and will even say your nuts, i'm sure some people say that about this cop too but what the hell, nothing else seems to be working. Eventually we will run out of jail space for drug offenders, unless your like Bushes father who said if we don't have room we will make room and build another prison to house more drug offenders! Then they wonder why family's are torn apart. One reason you have to admit families get torn apart is that if someone is addicted to a hard drug, that's where their income goes is toward their habit and not toward things their family needs. They then sell drugs to support their own habit or do anything else to quickly make the money but then they also get their door kicked in and go to jail which again tears the family apart even more. Little kids who grow up without their mother or father around doesn't make things easier.

In conclusion this cop is doing a good thing.

 

Higher Logic

Very nice to hear this, just wish the media would hype this up and run with it. Alas, money is always more important than what is right and moral

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