"A prime example of how law enforcement horrifically fails to control drug distribution is the unabated possession and usage by jail and prison inmates."

Bill Weiland didn't have a lifelong dream to be a police officer; he was just interested in helping people. He worked as a volunteer firefighter, then as a paramedic. Beginning as a park police officer, he eventually became a state trooper in Pennsylvania. "I took great pride in being the type of cop I grew up around-easygoing, helpful, fatherly," he recalls. "RoboCop I wasn't." Still, he found himself a warrior in the "War on Drugs," delivering reality lectures to teen tokers and dumping their pot to the ground in the resort areas of NW Pennsylvania. Bill has spent the last 24 years in security management, educating professional security officers to recognize drug issues and effectively investigate drug-related incidents.

Over time, though, Bill has realized that these actions aren't confronting real problems in a realistic way. He notes that under our prohibitionist model, "kids in school buy drugs easier than cigarettes. [...] Government-funded awareness programs are hardly changing the minds of young Americans interested in exploration of the drug culture." He boils down the "War on Drugs" to what it really is: "Attorney General Ed Meese and Drug Czar Bill Bennett had more of a political agenda than a realistic grasp of the ebbing tide of drug use in the US. If the US had invested the money allocated for drug interdiction in the past 20 years into solid research on realistic, workable drug programs and regulation along with bolstering the complement of law-enforcement officers nationwide, we'd be significantly safer in our homes and in the streets. The `War on Drugs' is just another governmental waste of money and manpower for the graft and greed of a few."

Bill is an accomplished speaker, delivering energetic presentations to civic clubs and community groups since the 1970's. A Distinguished Toastmaster, Bill also holds a Bachelor's Degree in Business Management and an MBA in Training & Development. He hopes that by speaking for LEAP he can help bring about a new legislative agenda that by ending the "War on Drugs" will help stamp out a major facet of organized crime, facilitate conditions that will help addicts get help and minimize conditions that engender the spreading of diseases such as HIV/AIDS, and allow law enforcement to spend more resources targeting crimes like rape, homicide, and child molestation.

Tampa