Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Pro-Legalization Cops Cheer Marijuana Reform Election Results


 Nine States and Localities Vote for More Sensible Drug Laws

 Law Enforcement Against Prohibition Speakers Available for Comment

In a historic night for drug law reformers, on Tuesday Colorado and Washington passed measures legalizing and regulating marijuana, Massachusetts became the 18th state to allow medical marijuana and six localities voted to modernize policies on marijuana. Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, a group of cops, judges, prosecutors and other law enforcement officials advocating for the legalization of drugs, has speakers on hand to comment.

Norm Stamper, former Seattle police chief, had this to say: “I cannot tell you how happy I am that after forty years of the racist, destructive exercise in futility that is the war on drugs, my home state of Washington has now put us on a different path. There are people who have lost today: drug cartels, street gangs, those who profit from keeping American incarceration rates the highest in the world. For the rest of us, however, this is a win. It’s a win for taxpayers. It’s a win for police. It’s a win for all those who care about social justice. This is indeed a wonderful day.”

Reformers are now focused on successfully implementing the new marijuana legalization laws in Colorado and Washington, and on determining which states are most likely to enact legalization in the near future.

“Because of the victories in all of these places, we awakened this morning in a slightly better country. It’s a little safer, a little bit more just,” said Neill Franklin, Executive Director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition and 34-year veteran of the Baltimore and Maryland State police departments. “And when the rest of the country follows the lead pioneered by the voters of Colorado and Washington, we’ll be closer to living in a country with a drug policy that is truly about public safety.” 

Following is a list of all marijuana reform measures on the ballot across the country and a list of LEAP speakers available to discuss these historic reforms:

Colorado: Marijuana legalization - Passed!
Washington: Marijuana legalization - Passed!
Oregon: Marijuana legalization – Failed.
Massachusetts:  Medical marijuana - Passed!
Arkansas: Medical marijuana – Failed.
Detroit, MI: Decriminalization of adult marijuana possession - Passed!
Flint, MI: Decriminalization of adult marijuana possession - Passed!
Ypsilanti, MI: Marijuana to be lowest law enforcement priority - Passed!
Grand Rapids, MI: Decriminalization of adult marijuana possession - Passed!
Kalamazoo, MI: Three medical marijuana dispensaries permitted in city - Passed! 
Burlington, VT: Recommendation that marijuana should be legalized - Passed! 
Montana: Referendum restricting medical marijuana likely to pass. 

Sampling of LEAP speakers available for comment:

Washington 
* Norm Stamper, former Seattle police chief
* Matt McCally, former corrections official

Colorado
* Tony Ryan, retired 36-year veteran of the Denver police force
* Jason Thomas, former Colorado detention officer and marshal’s deputy
* Sean McAllister, former assistant attorney general for the state of Colorado 

Massachusetts
* Karen Hawkes, retired Massachusetts state trooper and medical marijuana patient 
* Jack Cole, LEAP co-founder and former undercover narcotics agent

Other Speakers
* Neill Franklin, LEAP executive director and 34-year Baltimore narcotics cop
* Stephen Downing, Former LAPD Deputy Chief of Police

#     #     #

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 7, 2012
CONTACT: Tom Angell – (202) 557-4979 or media @leap.cc
                  Darby Beck - (415) 823-5496 or darby@leap.cc

2 comments:

  1. This is good news. Also note in Mass, in at least the voting district I am in, there was a “PPQ” which was Question 5.

    I think PPQ stands for Public Policy Question. Through it, constituents can direct legislators to put forth legislation.

    PPQ #5 was, I don’t have the exact wording with me, said something about directing the representative to put forth legislation for regulating the sale of marijuana, similar to alcohol.

    According to the town paper, which arrived today:
    Yes — 3,532 — 52.6%
    No — 2,057 — 30.6%

    So far so good, except by my guestimate there are still over 1,000 votes not yet counted. Let’s hope those continue the “yes” legalize/regulate trend.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Drug Policy Forum of Massachusetts has a page on the numerous PPQs across the state, as well as currently known results.

    http://www.dpfmass.org/home/

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...