THE LEAP LEDGER
News about current and former members of law enforcement
who support drug regulation instead of drug prohibition
Prohibition is better
than no drink at all.
-- Will Rogers
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition | 781-393-6985 | 27 Austin Rd, Medford MA 02155

December, 2004 Volume 1, Issue 1
Notes from Jack


Jack Cole
Executive Director

Notes from Jack:

I want to commend all the LEAP members and supporters who have worked so hard creating this organization. The last two years have flown by in a whirlwind of activity. LEAP has grown in both size and stature. Today we are one of the most respected drug-policy- reform organizations on the scene.
With more than 75 speakers in six countries, we have given presentations at over 900 venues across the United States and around the world. We are changing minds, influencing policy-makers and will soon be changing drug policies.
LEAP presents its case for legalization to professional, educational, and religious organizations, as well as to public forums. We also target civic groups; Chambers of Commerce, Rotaries, Lions and Kiwanis Clubs, etc. Members of these organizations are pretty conservative folks who mostly agree with the drug-warriors that we must continue the war on drugs at any cost. They are very solid members of their communities; people who belong to civic organizations because they want the best for their locales. Every one of them will be voting in every election. Many are policy-makers and if they are not, they are the people who can pull the coat tails of policy-makers and say, “We have someone you must hear talk about drug policy.”
We have made more than nine hundred presentations in which LEAP calls for the government to “end prohibition and legalize all drugs—so we can control and regulate these substances to keep them out of the hands of our children.” We believe the majority of folks in our audiences agree with us.
Even more amazing is the impact we are having at national and international law-enforcement conventions. We keep track of all the folks we speak with at our exhibit booth. After we talk with them, 6% want to continue the war on drugs, 14% are undecided, and 80% agree with LEAP that we must end drug prohibition. The most interesting thing about our findings is that only a small number of that 80% realized others in law enforcement felt the same. These officers are afraid to speak with their peers about their views because they don’t realize they hold the majority opinion. LEAP is allowing these officers to feel they have a right to speak out about the horrors created by a policy of war on drugs.
All this progress has been made despite the fact that during the first years LEAP’s office was simply a room in my house and we had no administrative staff. I have just hired Lincoln Turner Taggart, a dynamic Administrative Director who is also passionate about ending drug prohibition. Lincoln will be assuming most of my duties, thus releasing me for the strategic planning and fund raising activities in which, as Executive Director, I should be more involved.
Thanks again for your support, and I hope you enjoy the first issue of The LEAP Ledger.

What’s This?
Greetings and welcome to the first edition of the LEAP newsletter. In the 2-_ years since five brave people got together and founded this organization, LEAP has grown to more than 2000 members in 45 countries. Good things are happening so fast we can barely keep up!

That’s why we created this newsletter—to keep all our treasured friends and supporters in the know about LEAP’s goals, events and accomplishments. We hope you like this publication and find it useful. We plan to introduce more features in future editions. If you have suggestions for improvement and/or content, just send them to us and we’ll take it from there.

Many thanks to each of you for your continued interest in and support of this organization. Without you, progress would be nearly impossible.
Please click here if you’d like to make a donation to LEAP.
 

The Lone Ranger’s National Tour
A Report From One of LEAP’s Most Active Members

The tall, lanky cowboy strides to the podium. Grasping the microphone, his voice booms out to the audience of Rotarians, “War on Drugs. How is that working for you in Colorado? Is it reducing crime? Is it reducing rates of death and disease? Is it even reducing drug use?” The audience murmurs and mumbles a NO to all of the questions.

Twenty-five minutes later the Rotarians filed out, many stopping to shake my hand and say that I gave them a lot to think about. Thus ends another presentation, one of over 125 that I have done in 2004. My mind drifts back to where I was a year ago: riding Misty 23 miles a day, 6 days a week. Then dressed in jeans, boots & spurs, dirty t-shirt, cowboy hat and always needing a bath, now I was wearing a sport coat, shiny boots and buckle, and my Sunday cowboy hat. What a change!

2004 has been a year of driving from one civic group to another, speaking to and changing the minds of 30-60 community leaders at a time. While Misty is resting comfortably on a ranch in Kentucky, my Chevy truck has transported me some 30,000 miles. From Texas to Colorado to Virginia to Oregon and north to Alaska I have traversed the United States, seeking to educate the ‘unconverted.’ LEAP seeks out venues all over the world where the majority of the listeners are what we call the ‘unconverted.’ LEAP speakers simply give the listeners the facts of the failure of the war on drugs and let them decide what to do.

The response to the LEAP message has been consistent across nearly all parts of America; namely, that over half the audience walks out ready to end the war on drugs! How can that occur? LEAP speakers receive immediate credibility from the crowd because we have been in the trenches of the war on drugs. This transformation of views held by so many creates energy, propelling us forward to another and yet another civic organization.

It isn’t just Rotarians who have been converted. I was sleeping in a ‘no-tell motel’ in Mississippi this spring, when the police pounded on my door around midnight. I tumbled out of bed and met three young, unhappy-looking cops at my door. They informed me that I had left the key in the door of my truck (senior moment). I thanked them but then, in an accusing tone, they asked about the sign on my truck, “COPS SAY LEGALIZE POT, ASK ME WHY.” I replied that most of us want to focus on drunk drivers and child molesters. 15 minutes later they asked for LEAP brochures and instructions on how to join!!

My efforts will slow down drastically in December. I will transport Misty back to a ranch in Oklahoma to prepare for a 3,600-mile ride from Los Angeles to New York City. In addition to riding Misty a few miles everyday, I will train “Rocky,” a backup horse in case Misty is injured. Unable to completely shut up, I will present to a Rotary or Kiwanis once a week or so.

You might ask why I would make another mind, body and spirit-breaking trip. I fully admit to still being tired from the first trip I completed in the fall of 2003. The impetus to ride again comes from meeting so many inspirational reformers this year. From Stormy Ray in Oregon to Bernie Ellis in Tennessee and many others in between, I stand in awe of the sacrifices that they have been making for years.

The ride will begin on a beach just south of Los Angeles about March 12, 2005. We will average about 23 miles per day and rest one day in seven. The demands of such an endeavor are 24/7, the greatest being the never-ending search for food for Misty and to a lesser degree her water. From the LA city limits to the border of Nebraska some 1,800 miles, there will be almost no grass. In each village, I will seek out a cemetery, post office, funeral home anyplace where they might water their yards, thus providing some grass for poor Misty; the most gut-wrenching memories of the first trip were the nights of no food for her. After she worked hard to carry my little butt 20 to 40 miles, she would look at me with her one, big, brown eye asking where is dinner. When I had none to give, it broke my heart.

Luckily, those nights were few and far between. Even with the bold t-shirt, people from coast to coast volunteered to help out with grain and water. One particular nasty 36-mile stretch on I-84 from Mountain Home to Boise, ID was almost typical. We rode out at daybreak and temperature quickly rose to 104. After 26 miles of blazing sun in the desert, we stopped at a truck plaza for lunch. Misty had plenty to drink but here, there was not even a postage stamp of grass. As I was about to enter the café, I spotted at the pumps a stock trailer full of sheep. I asked the shepherd if I could buy some hay. He said no, but I could have all I wanted. Misty had a fine lunch of three flakes of alfalfa. This story repeated itself all across America.

I am often asked how long this ruinous policy of drug war will continue. I am optimistic that with so many pulling the wagon back to sanity, drug prohibition will be in the history books by 2014. As for me, I will donate my time and my horse, as much as we can handle, until the war on drugs is over or until I draw my last breath.

By Howard Wooldridge, speaker for LEAP
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