SERMON ON THE MOUNT: EX-COP PREACHES AGAINST DRUG WAR

Keller Man Spreads His Message Across America on Horseback

Howard Wooldridge likes to think of himself as a modern Paul Revere,
riding his horse across the countryside to raise an alarm.

It's not foreign invaders he's warning of, however - the ex-cop from
Keller is riding his horse cross-country to publicize what he thinks
are America's failed drug laws.

His T-shirt reads, "COPS SAY LEGALIZE POT / ASK ME
WHY."

"I like trail rides, and I just had a notion one day that I'd like to
ride across America," he says.

He and his pinto horse, Misty, spent 11 weeks traveling the 1,400
miles between Denver and Chattanooga, Tenn., this fall. Next summer,
he'll finish the trip by riding west from Denver.

He tried a similar ride starting in Savannah, Ga., last year, but had
to stop in Chattanooga because Misty developed saddle sores.

The Denver-to-Chattanooga route allowed him to follow nice weather as
he moved southeast. The summer route avoids the searing heat in Texas
and the rest of the Southwest.

"Everything is weather-based," he says.

Mr. Wooldridge, 51, spent 15 years as a police officer in a small town
in Michigan. There, he came to believe that the war on drugs wasn't
working.

"We make zero-point-zero difference in anything to do with drugs and
drug dealers," he says. "Anyone arrested, shot or killed is
immediately replaced. ... There's someone desperate enough or stupid
enough to want to get into it."

Instead, he favors legalizing marijuana and regulating it the way
alcohol is.

"As terrible a drug as alcohol is, prohibition of alcohol was worse,"
he says. In addition, he says, it diverts police time and effort that
could be better spent on other crimes.

He believes stronger drugs such as cocaine or heroin should remain
illegal on the street but available for addicts in clinical settings,
the way Switzerland handles them.

"We have to bring all drugs under government regulations as opposed to
criminals and terrorists, which is happening now," he says. "I never
went to a call generated by the use of marijuana. Most people, if
they're high, will attack a Domino's pizza."

He envisions a day when marijuana is controlled the way tobacco is.
Users would know what they were getting, and wouldn't have to go to
dangerous places to get it.

On his trip, he talked to about 15 police officers - most agreed with
him, two were noncommittal, and one was "absolutely enraged."

"I thought he was going to try to arrest me for something," he
says.

Acting on the strength of his views, Mr. Wooldridge helped found a
group called LEAP - Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (www.leap.cc).
He is also active in writing newspaper opinion columns and as a speaker.

His wife's job as a manager in a transportation company allows him to
spend his time on his anti-prohibition quest.

"This is my way to serve my community," he says. "If I can help end
prohibition, I can make my country safer."

Politics of drugs aside, the trip was very enjoyable, he says. He and
Misty traveled without any support such as a trailer accompanying
them. He carried a tent, sleeping bag, change of underwear and a small
camera.

If they had to, they slept rough. But often they got offers to stay at
someone's home.

"The nicest part is the kindness of strangers is alive in America," he
says. "They never had a problem to open the door for a cowboy."

One woman in Tennessee offered him a place to sleep and gave him her
garage-door opener so that he could get into her house three hours
before she and her husband came home.

"People would stop and give me water, people would stop and give me a
sandwich, people would stop and give me a pop," he says.

One of the most nerve-racking moments was crossing a 1928 bridge
across the Mississippi River, with no guardrails and a 45 mph crosswind.

"Both horse and rider were very nervous, because any mistake would
have been our death," he says.

One night, he had tied Misty to a fence and a few minutes later asked
if she was all right. She nickered loudly, and he found that she had
tangled herself in the reins, but instead of thrashing about and
hurting herself, she waited for him to come over and free her.

"It's basically like a mom and her baby," he says. "She cried out to
me, I ran over and saw the situation, and she waited patiently for me
to take care of it."

Misty lost one eye three years ago after being kicked by another
horse, but the loss of vision hasn't made her shy. Mr. Wooldridge
takes her on long training rides along highways to get her used to
cars, trucks, motorcycles and such.

"She's absolutely bombproof, except, scared to death of goats ...
goats and sheep," he says.