Pubdate: Sat, 12 May 2012 Source: Orange County Register, The (CA) Column: FOOD FOR THOUGHT Copyright: 2012 The Orange County Register Contact: http://www.ocregister.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/321 Author: Barbara Venezia DO MOTHERS KNOW BEST WHEN IT COMES TO WAR ON DRUGS? In honor of Mother's Day on Sunday, Diane Goldstein of North Tustin was busy all week with media interviews to support the Moms United to End the War on Drugs movement. Goldstein, a retired Redondo Beach police lieutenant with almost 22 years of service, has also been a member of the group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, or LEAP, since 2010. She lectures across the country and throughout Orange County on behalf of the group, advocating for legislative change in drug laws and the legalization of cannabis. Article Tab: Diane Goldstein of North Tustin, a retired Redondo Beach police lieutenant who is working to support the Moms United to Stop the War on Drugs movement. Diane Goldstein of North Tustin, a retired Redondo Beach police lieutenant who is working to support the Moms United to Stop the War on Drugs movement. LEAP was just one of several organizations to support the Moms United movement as it kicked off a press conference rally Wednesday on the steps of the Los Angeles Superior Courthouse. Moms United members hoped the press conference would create a Mother's Day media blitz centered on their message about ending drug prohibition. "Moms were the driving force in repealing alcohol prohibition and now moms will play a similar role in ending the war on drugs," said Gretchen Burns Bergman, one of the leaders of Moms United and founder of A New Path (Parents for Addiction Treatment & Healing). Moms United leaders include Bergman, of San Diego, the mother of two sons who have struggled with heroin addiction and repeated incarceration; Denise Cullen of Palm Desert, a social worker specializing in grief counseling whose son died from an overdose two years ago; and Julia Negron of Los Angeles, director of A New PATH LA whose son who has experienced repeated incarceration for non-violent drug offenses. Goldstein was a keynote speaker at Wednesday's rally and strongly supports decriminalizing not only cannabis but all drugs. She says it was her years on the police force that convinced her that the war on drugs was failing. She says instead of incarcerating drug addicts, treating addiction is where our focus should be. "Right now we are using a one-size-fits-all solution and one size doesn't fit all in this problem," she told me. "Funding for incarceration continues and not harm reduction, which is a long-term solution." Goldstein believes that as a state and a nation, we need to start funding drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs, not more jails. She says the government is already treating heroin addicts with methadone clinics rather than incarceration. But no one wants to talk about the fact that these programs are working, she says. I first met Goldstein back in September when retired Orange County Superior Court Judge Jim Gray kicked off fundraising for his Regulate Marijuana like Wine Act of 2012. She was there advocating for Gray on behalf of LEAP. When we talked last week, I asked Goldstein how the Regulate Marijuana Act was coming now that Gray is the Vice Presidential candidate on the Libertarian Presidential ticket. She told me the act did not gather enough signatures to make it onto the ballot in 2012; neither did any of the other six or seven pro- marijuana initiatives. Goldstein attributes the initiatives' failures to in-fighting among the groups promoting them. "A big part of it was people trying to protect their own self-interest," she said. Here's how Goldstein explained it: Certain groups believe that since cannabis is a plant, it should be treated like a tomato - with no limitations. And then there were those who felt that age was an issue. Some felt 19 was an adequate legal age to use marijuana - and that was their death knell, she said. "The difference between all of these and Regulate Marijuana Like Wine was California voters are willing to accept an alcohol regulatory model on adult use of marijuana," Goldstein says. But even with a survey she says showed 62 percent of people polled were in favor of this alcohol type of regulation for cannabis, Gray still couldn't raise enough funds to support this campaign. When I spoke with Goldstein on Friday, I asked if this Moms United movement wasn't contributing to confusion on the marijuana legalization issue. After all, cannabis decriminalization is quite different from asking folks to vote for the legalization of drugs like heroin. She didn't agree. "Marijuana is the first place this is going to start, and it will be the first step in opening up the discussion for other models," she said. And that might be, but as someone who supports the decriminalization of cannabis, who strongly believes in the medical benefits of the drug, and has seen it help people, I see this Moms United movement as only muddying the waters here once again. I'm not on board for this broader picture, and my guess is it would be a tough sell - if not impossible - to get voter approval. I do agree treatment is key for addicts, but I'm not ready to say let's decriminalize heroin or other hard drugs. What's frustrating for me as an observer is unless there's a one-pointed focus in the effort to end cannabis prohibition soon, we'll be discussing this issue for years to come with no resolution. Maybe in this case, moms don't know best. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom