Pubdate: Sun, 05 May 2013
Source: Columbia Daily Tribune (MO)
Copyright: 2013 Columbia Daily Tribune
Contact:  http://www.columbiatribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/91
Note: Prints the street address of LTE writers.
Author: Tony Ryan
Note: Tony Ryan is a 36-year veteran of the Denver Police Department 
and a speaker for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, a group 
representing more than 5,000 law enforcement officials opposed to the 
prohibition of marijuana (www.CopsSayLegalizeMarijuana.com)

LAW ENFORCERS WANT 'WAR' TO END

Officers Have Higher Priorities.

What are police officers for, and why do we have them? How are their 
time and your tax dollars best used? Most people don't often consider 
these questions, but as Missouri legislators consider changing the 
laws regarding personal use and possession of marijuana, they are 
worth pondering.

I spent 36 years on the streets of Denver as a police officer, and 
I'd bet dollars to doughnuts you think police should be using most of 
their time providing quick response to your calls for service and 
working to prevent and solve crimes like assault, murder, rape, 
robbery. I'd bet you would think the old saying "When seconds count, 
police are only minutes away" should be limited to as few minutes as 
possible and that police should be just around the corner when 
someone threatens your property, your well-being or your life.

Under current law, however, this often isn't possible because police 
and other law enforcement officers must divide their limited time and 
resources between doing what's most important to the state's 
residents and enforcing outdated marijuana laws.

So here's another question: If it means we are all less safe, should 
we be prosecuting nonviolent people for what might be considered a 
bad habit (like smoking or drinking) at all?

Throughout the country, citizens are rethinking their police 
priorities. You see evidence of this in the 18 states (and District 
of Columbia) that have approved medical marijuana laws and in 
Colorado and Washington, where voters approved legalizing marijuana 
use and possession in small amounts for adults older than 21 last year.

Right now, Show-Me Cannabis is campaigning to change Missouri's laws 
regarding use and possession of marijuana. Joining this effort is St. 
Louis police Sgt. Gary Wiegert, a 30-year veteran of the department, 
who advocates for change on his own time off-duty.

You might think Sgt. Wiegert is a bit out of step with his colleagues 
in law enforcement; in fact, the opposite is true. He is one of 
thousands of current and retired police officers, prosecutors and 
judges who have seen the effects of a decades-old policy that has 
only resulted in more drug use, violence, death and disease, and who 
believe we can do better. I, and many others like me, also changed my 
mind about the drug policies we were sworn to uphold after seeing the 
tragic results of this policy.

The "war on drugs" simply doesn't work. Drug use remains about the 
same as where it was when Richard Nixon began the war on drugs in 
earnest more than 41 years ago. Meanwhile, the profits created by the 
black market fuel the violence among our cities' street gangs, Latin 
America's drug cartels and countless other ills. It is, in fact, one 
of the largest sources of complaints against law enforcement officers 
nationwide, eroding respect for our laws and those charged with fair 
and proper enforcement of them.

The efforts of Sgt. Wiegert and Show-Me Cannabis are about stopping 
the fallout from our current drug policies - the violence and the 
waste of law enforcement time that could be better spent, the profit 
made by drug dealers and cartels and the damage to the futures of 
hundreds of thousands of youths prosecuted in this "war." I encourage 
the people of Missouri to stand with me, Sgt. Wiegert, Show-Me 
Cannabis and thousands of your fellow Missourians and reach out to 
your state legislators to show your support for changing marijuana laws.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom