Pubdate: Sat, 24 Mar 2012
Source: Williamsport Sun-Gazette (PA)
Copyright: 2012 Williamsport Sun-Gazette
Contact: http://www.sungazette.com/asp/forms/letters_form.asp
Website: http://www.sungazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3630
Author: Joseph Stender
Referenced: LEAP, COP

MARIJUANA, HEROIN SHOULD BE SOLD IN STORES, EX-COP TELLS COLLEGE STUDENTS

While law enforcement officials work every day to keep narcotics off
the streets, one former Michigan police detective wants drugs such as
heroin and marijuana to be available in stores as are alcohol and
cigarettes. Howard Woolridge, drug policy specialist for Citizens
Opposing Prohibition and cofounder of Law Enforcement Against
Prohibition, told his message on narcotics to students at Lycoming
College Thursday night. Woolridge, who spent 18 years as a detective
outside of Lansing, believes the country needs to make the same
decision on illegal drugs as it made in 1933 when it lifted
prohibition on alcohol. "In my world, you would grow marijuana in your
backyard," he said.

While he would like to see all drugs legal, Woolridge said he doesn't
promote the use of them. "Be as drug free as possible - or want to be -
but my profession can't fix stupidity," he said. Woolridge said his 
stance on the drug policy is so strong because he believes law 
enforcement is too invested in personal safety, rather than their
true mission of public safety. "The policy of drug prohibition
(also known as) the war on drugs has been a catastrophic failure,"
he said. Woolridge argues by monitoring an activity where people are 
"arguably only harming themselves," it is taking valuable money and 
resources away from handling those who are hurting others. "I don't
think one cop signed up to catch a kid smoking marijuana, they signed
up to catch bad guys," he said. If drugs were legalized, police could 
focus on catching pedophiles and rapists, Woolridge said. "We are not
taking care of the pedophiles in chat rooms ... because we're up in a
helicopter looking for a green plant," he said. Instead of funneling 
money into prisons and drug task forces, the government could be using
funds for education.

Woolridge said education and law enforcement always are battling for
funds. "When you build a prison, you have less money to build a junior
college or to lower tuition," he said. The policy also is killing off
the country's youth, Woolridge said. He said one million teenagers in
America are drug dealers today and two or three are shot each day
because of it. Instead of investing money into stopping drug dealers,
the government should be looking for ways to protect the country's
children.

When he was a teenager, Woolridge said he had two employment choices:
mowing lawns or delivering newspapers. "Today that's not true,"
Woolridge said. "We've given our 14-year-olds a career." By legalizing
drugs, gang activity would decrease, thus lowering violent crime.
While most would argue that drug use would rise if they were freely
available in stores, Woolridge fires back with the fact that
cigarettes are legal but not everyone chooses to smoke tobacco. "If
you don't smoke cigarettes, why in the world would you start today,
even if it's free," he said. Cigarettes and alcohol, Woolridge argues,
are just as harmful as drugs but are legal.

Lung cancer and liver disease kill people every day, he said. "Cocaine
can kill you, no kidding, so can white-water rafting," he said. "If
they died of lung cancer or a cocaine overdose, who cares, they're
still dead." He wants drugs to be enforced like alcohol, with
individuals needing to be 21 years old and it being a crime to supply
it to minors. "There's no perfect world here," Woolridge said. "We
always want to educate our (children)." Switzerland implemented a
program where not only was heroin legal but the government provided it
for free. Woolridge said the program saw a 60-percent reduction in
felonies as well as a drop in HIV. By legalizing drugs, countries
around the globe would be able to "take away the glamour of the
forbidden fruit." Woolridge believes if America would legalize drugs,
it would stimulate the country's economy because it would need less
funds for prisons and drugs would be cheaper, meaning more money to
spend on other things. Drugs also would be safer as experts would be
creating them instead of a local dealer in their house.

The government would be able to control the industry. "Today the
criminals are in complete charge of every aspect," he said. Woolridge,
who has been lobbying on the subject for six years, believes only a
severe economic depression or a change in philosophy by politicians
could make his message a reality. According to Woolridge, law
enforcement officials shouldn't be the ones patrolling drug users.

That responsibility goes to the users' consciences and their family
and friends. "When Charlie Sheen buys cocaine, no one calls 911,"
Woolridge said. "Why are we still chasing Willie Nelson?"
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MAP posted-by: Matt