Law Enforcement Against Prohibition

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burnin1

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LEAP volunteers are fighting the good fight and it is good to see that some in law enforcement understand the human tragedy and financial cost of the failed war on drugs.

These people will send a cop to your function to speak out against prohibition. Pretty cool!

I applaud these members of law enforcement who truly want to "protect and serve". :cop:

Way to go guys! :yay:

LEAP Vision & Mission Statement

Vision & Mission

Vision Statement
LEAP envisions a world in which drug policies work for the benefit of society and keep our communities safer. A system of legalization and regulation will end the violence, better protect human rights, safeguard our children, reduce crime and disease, treat drug abusers as patients, reduce addiction, use tax dollars more efficiently, and restore the public’s respect and trust in law enforcement.
Mission Statement
The mission of LEAP is to reduce the multitude of harmful consequences resulting from fighting the war on drugs and to lessen the incidence of death, disease, crime, and addiction by ending drug prohibition.
LEAP’s goals are: (1) To educate the public, the media and policy makers about the failure of current drug policy by presenting a true picture of the history, causes and effects of drug use and the elevated crime rates more properly related to drug prohibition than to drug pharmacology and (2) To restore the public’s respect for police, which has been greatly diminished by law enforcements involvement in imposing drug prohibition.
LEAP’s main strategy for accomplishing these goals is to create a constantly growing speakers bureau staffed with knowledgeable and articulate current and former drug-warriors who describe the impact of current drug policies on: police/community relations; the safety of law enforcement officers and suspects; police corruption and misconduct; and the excessive financial and human costs associated with current drug policies.

leap.cc
 
Through my working life (retired 15 years) I was in contact with officers who used MJ and treated people accordingly. Now, they were in the minority and some ended up getting fired because of it. Glad to see more support for legalization and regulation coming from these type of organizations. Free the weed.
 
It is so encouraging to see members of Law Enforcement who can reject how they were trained, see the truth and stand up for what is right.

This is a group of former Law Enforcement Officials fighting for Medical Cannabis. I wish them all the best! :vapleaf:

From Lawmenpro.org

Lawmen Protecting Patients

Who we are


LPP was founded by members of the law enforcement community
whose lives were changed by the medical use of cannabis.

Our Mission

To advocate for and protect the rights of medical cannabis patients.

Here are a few of our members that regularly speak out for patients. Their full bios will follow shortly. If you are interested in becoming a member please please out the membership interest form at the bottom of the page.

Jay Fleming
Jay spent 15 years working undercover and uniform patrol for various agencies from Spokane Washington, to
Bozeman Montana from the early 1970's to 1989.

After an injury, and failed back surgery, he became a pain patient advocate for ASAP, the American Society for Action on Pain. Sadly ASAP was forced to shut down due to actions by DEA. In 1996 after a battle over pain medication he was responsible for the Arizona Medical Boards first Substantive Policy Statement for physicians on the treatment of non-cancer pain, the Use of Controlled Substances for the Treatment of Chronic Pain.

He found that marijuana worked much better for the nerve pain in his legs then all the opiate based pain medication he had been prescribed for years. Now that Arizona has a medical marijuana law, he hopes to reduce, or stop taking opiates all together. Jay now lives in Arizona and is an out spoken advocate for both medical marijuana, and pain patients.

Alison Mydren
Canadian Corrections Officer

Alison retired from the Department of Corrections in 1995 when she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Tic Doloureux; an excruciating facial pain sometimes associated with MS. Alison started to use Cannabis for pain relief after legal, doctor-supervised Cocaine and Heroin therapy was found insufficient to help. She found immediate relief with Cannabis when there was no such luck with the other more addictive medications.

Since becoming a patient she has helped pioneer the medical marijuana laws in Canada. More on Alison here

David Herrick
San Bernardino County Deputy Sheriff (retired)

David medically retired and became a cannabis patient after being run over by a car during a traffic stop. Within a short time he was “eating Vicodin like M&Ms” to manage his pain, he knew he had to try something else. In 1995 after speaking with his personal physician he started to use cannabis to treat his back pain in place of opiate based medications. It changed David’s life dramatically. David then got involved with the Proposition 215 campaign and has been an activist ever since.

Bill Vandergraaf

Bill VanderGraaf is a retired Winnipeg Police detective with 29 years service. He has investigated crimes of violence in Winnipeg and has traveled across Canada , to the U.S. and to Australia on homicide investigations. He helped organize and later became the first Staff Sergeant in charge of the Homicide squad and later supervised Homicide, Major Crime and the Street Gang Unit until he retired. He was also a Hostage Negotiator and the Witness Protection Coordinator for the police and justice departments. He has battled organized crime through the War on Drugs and believes that it is, this, the Governments war on its own citizens, that contributes to a huge portion of the violence around the world. He now fights against the War on Drugs by educating citizens and stakeholders with help from organizations like Lawmen Protecting Patients and LEAP.

He is also a medical marijuana user for depression and anxiety, that was compounded by years of alcohol abuse in the policing sub-culture. His use of marijuana since his retirement has improved his life dramatically and has eliminated his use of alcohol. He has an adult daughter who suffers from Takayasus Arteritis, a life threatening condition, who uses medical marijuana. His now deceased father suffered from Lou Gehrigs Disease (ALS) and he witnessed first hand how medical marijuana in cookie form helped him immensely. Bill fights for legalization of marijuana in particular because it is without question a relatively benign substance with medical value and safer then alcohol. He says it is simply silly politics that places police officers in unwarranted danger to stop people from using marijuana or drugs. He says the forty-year drug war must end to make it safer for people who use marijuana medically.

Jeff Studdard

Born and raised in Southern California, Jeff Studdard has law enforcement and drug interdiction running

through his veins. Jeff served for 10 years in law enforcement, as a LA school district police officer and reserve LA county deputy sheriff. He's also a graduate of LA County's exclusive Drug Recognition Expert program (DRE), which teaches police how to recognize impairment in drivers under the influence of drugs/or alcohol. The program was founded in the 1970s by Jeff's father, former LA Police Department sergeant **** Studdard, and has since been adopted and expanded internationally. Jeff's brother is a 26-year California police veteran.

In 2003, Jeff broke his back, suffering eleven herniated disks. Three surgeries, numerous pain medications and various treatments did not alleviate his chronic pain, which he describes as "bolt-of-lightning nerve damage." What did finally alleviate his pain was cannabis.

One of the reasons Jeff initially tried marijuana was to counter side effects of the various pain medications and prescription drugs he was taking. "Through my training and experience, I knew these drugs would decrease your appetite. They make you nauseous. My dad actually told my ex-wife that if I continued taking prescription drugs, I would be dead in six months. This, from the founder of the Drug Recognition Expert program."


Jeff has now left his wheelchair and walks without assistance. He has become very active in the medical cannabis movement.
 
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