Pubdate: Tue, 24 Sep 2013
Source: Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA)
Copyright: 2013 Los Angeles Newspaper Group
Contact:  http://www.dailybulletin.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/871
Author: Neil Nisperos

MARIJUANA GROUPS CONVERGE ON VICTORIA GARDENS IN RANCHO CUCAMONGA

RANCHO CUCAMONGA - People on both sides of the marijuana legalization 
issue presented their viewpoints at Victoria Gardens on Monday, both 
declaring themselves "mad as hell" about the other side's efforts to 
either defeat or continue its prohibition.

Paul Chabot, president and founder of the Coalition for a Drug Free 
America, held what was billed as the nation's first National 
Marijuana Policy and Strategy conference, at the Victoria Garden 
Cultural Center.

Chabot said the continuing legalization of marijuana throughout the 
United States posed a serious public safety and health issue for the country.

"Our focus is keeping kids off of marijuana, and that it remains 
illegal in California," Chabot said. "The voters rejected it before, 
and we want to get the message out and help educate the people about 
the dangers of marijuana."

More than three dozen experts from civic government, health care, 
academia, and law enforcement are serving as speakers and panelists 
at the two-day event, which ends today.

"We have a number here from law enforcement," Chabot said. "We have a 
lot of parents here, anti-drug coalition leaders from throughout the 
country, business leaders, members of the media, bishops and pastors. 
We want to work together with all aspects of the community to make 
the drug problem much smaller."

Meanwhile, outside in the Cultural Center courtyard, marijuana 
legalization advocates held a tented rally with speakers talking 
about the need to end prohibition of a substance they say has been 
more help than harm.

Lanny Swerdlow, a local medical marijuana and legalization advocate, 
said the rally was partly to protest law enforcement agencies using 
taxpayer funds to pay the costs for employees to attend the event.

"They're here to stymie or torpedo the political process going on now 
to legalize marijuana, so we are paying police to come here and get 
involved in the political process," Swerdlow said. "Cops are paid to 
enforce the law, not make the law, and that's very scary. When police 
start making the law it's called the police state, and that's what this is."

Diane Goldstein, a retired Redondo police lieutenant, who led gang 
and narcotics units, was on hand to represent Law Enforcement Against 
Prohibition, or LEAP. The group calls for the end to prohibition on 
drugs and channeling the use of the money toward education and treatment.

"This is no different than the alcohol prohibition experiment that 
the United States of America imposed," Goldstein said. "Alcohol 
prohibition didn't eliminate drinking alcohol. They just tried to 
control the flow of the alcohol in how it was delivered and what we 
saw is that alcohol prohibition was an abject and total failure. The 
war on drugs has been an abject and total failure from my law 
enforcement experience of almost 22 years."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom