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NBC
reporter John Evans, left, and bystander, Dan
Morril, beaten by police at the Democratic convention, Chicago,
1968 .
|
The
2007 International Drug Policy Reform Conference in New Orleans
LEAP–A Sweet Surprise
by Tony Kelly
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition One of the sweet
surprises at the New Orleans Drug Reform conference was the moving
presentations by former and current police officers, members
of LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition). Many of these
had been senior officers in their city’s police forces. The nationwide organization takes a strong stance that it is the War On Drugs not the drugs themselves that result in the violent crime. With plenty of street experience, speakers said that illegality also promotes artificially high value for illegal drugs, value that tends to justify the use of violent tactics by dealers. Meanwhile, speakers explained, the limited resources of departments across the nation are often wasted on the arrest and prosecution of minor drug offenders while bigger fish and more serious problems go unattended, They pointed out that no department has the staff or money to do all the law enforcement that is needed in a community. The result is that a great deal of the War On Drugs and the allocation of a town’s resources is governed by the priorities of individual officers making arrests. |
 Jodi James The
officers attending the conference, shepherded By Coordinator
Jodi James, ranged from mustachioed westerners to sophisticated
city types but were uniformly dressed in bright red tee shirts
with a blazing logo on the back-
Yes, it was comforting
to know that there are law enforcement types that don’t
believe that their main job is kicking down doors in the
night and arresting pot-smoking teenagers.
LEAP provides a speaker’s
bureau for talks to groups from Rotary Clubs to city councils
and bar associations around the country.
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