Pubdate: Tue, 23 Oct 2012
Source: Fort Morgan Times, The (CO)
Contact: http://www.fortmorgantimes.com/submit/letter-to-editor
Copyright: 2012 The Fort Morgan Times
Website: http://www.fortmorgantimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2115
Author: John LA Porte

AMENDMENT 64 PROPONENT VISITS FORT MORGAN

People in law enforcement have better things to do than chase petty 
offenders with small amounts of marijuana.

So says retired police detective and lobbyist Howard "Cowboy" 
Wooldridge, who spent some time Friday on a downtown Fort Morgan 
street corner on horseback with a sign urging support of Amendment 
64, which would legalize and regulate small amounts of marijuana in Colorado.

"We (law enforcement) need to focus our attention on pedophiles and 
other serious threats and not waste our time on the green plants," he declares.

The percentage of traffic stops that result in marijuana arrests is 
low, he said, and the number of deaths in Mexico in enforcment battles is high.

Marijuana should, he says, be regulated like alcohol and subject to 
the same common-sense regulations.

Wooldridge started out in front of Walgreen's, but local police, he 
said, politely informed him that he could not demonstrate on the 
grass or the sidewalk.

The police, he said, were "very nice, very professional."

He went to management at a gas station across the street and was 
given permission to carry his sign on a dirt area adjacent to the station.

And there he sat on his horse Misty for several hours, attracting 
some "thumbs up" signs, cheers, honks and waves and some "thumbs down."

Wooldridge was taking a break from his fulltime work as a lobbyist in 
Washington, D.C. in opposition to drug prohibition.

He retired as a detective near Lansing, Mich. After 12 years on the 
street, moving first to Texas in a position in international customer 
relations -- he speaks English, French, German and Spanish.

Is the push for legalizing marjuana getting anywhere?

"The short answer is yes," Wooldridge says.

Several states, including Colorado, have deemed medicinal marijuana 
use appropriate, he points out, and several states have measures 
similar to Colorado's 64 on the ballot.

And in many states, an arrest for a small amount of marijuana is 
similar to a traffic ticket when it comes to penalties.

"In terms of a time line this is very similar to women's suffrage," 
which took many years to pass, Wooldridge says.

He adds, "My educated guess is about 10 more years."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom