[OG Kush]

A seemingly unlikely organization, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), is a group run primarily by current and former law enforcement members working against the "War on Drugs" to find a new solution to the problem of drugs in contemporary society. On July 25th, LEAP Executive Director Jack Cole will come to Santa Monica to meet with the City Council to "try to explain that making marijuana offences a lower priority activity for police could actually save lives."

Cole says "we need to make a choice" about protecting the public from violent criminals or drug users, and explains that tracking down marijuana users "detracts police from violent criminals." This upcoming discussion in Santa Monica is also reminiscent of the recent decision that West Hollywood officers spend less time tracking down petty drug users in order to fight crime that is more destructive to the general public.

LEAP's mission statement explains, "LEAP is made up of current and former members of law enforcement who believe the existing drug policies have failed in their intended goals. The mission of LEAP is to reduce the multitude of unintended harmful consequences resulting from fighting the war on drugs and to lessen the incidence of death, disease, crime, and addiction."

The organization itself is national, not local, and in trying to educate the public about their goals, representatives attend conferences and sponsor events around The United States and in Canada. At a conference in Washington on Monday, polls recorded that 92% of the people who spoke with representatives at the LEAP booth supported their goals, 8% were undecided, and 0% disagreed. The reception of their ideas in Santa Monica is soon to be determined.

As part of what Mike Smithson of LEAP describes as "taking our message to the public," a video screening and discussion will also be held in Los Angeles on July 27th, two days after Cole meets with Santa Monica City Council. The event, called "From the Frontlines: Law Enforcement and the War on Drugs" will involve a discussion of LEAP and the short film, "End Prohibition Now," directed by Mike Gray. Gray, a filmmaker, producer, and writer known for his social policy reform ideas, made this film, as Smithson explains, "as a piece of media that can be used snappily, quickly, and explain about [our goals] to organizations and legislators." A discussion will follow the screening, including such speakers as Judge James Gray of Orange County, at the Drug Policy Alliance Office on Ardmore Avenue.

Cole hopes that these events will lead to the treatment of drug abuse "as a health problem, not a crime problem," and says, "we want to help police get back to the business of solving violent crimes."


Newshawk: SX420 - 420Girls.com
Source: 420Times.com
Copyright: 2006 Canyon News
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