LAW ENFORCEMENT AGAINST PROHIBITION COMES TO SANTA MONICA

SANTA MONICA - A seemingly unlikely organization, Law Enforcement
Against Prohibition (LEAP), is a group run primarily by current and
former law enforcement members working against the "War on Drugs" to
find a new solution to the problem of drugs in contemporary society.
On July 25th, LEAP Executive Director Jack Cole will come to Santa
Monica to meet with the City Council to "try to explain that making
marijuana offences a lower priority activity for police could actually
save lives."

Cole says "we need to make a choice" about protecting the public from
violent criminals or drug users, and explains that tracking down
marijuana users "detracts police from violent criminals." This
upcoming discussion in Santa Monica is also reminiscent of the recent
decision that West Hollywood officers spend less time tracking down
petty drug users in order to fight crime that is more destructive to
the general public.

LEAP's mission statement explains, "LEAP is made up of current and
former members of law enforcement who believe the existing drug
policies have failed in their intended goalsThe mission of LEAP is to
reduce the multitude of unintended harmful consequences resulting from
fighting the war on drugs and to lessen the incidence of death,
disease, crime, and addiction."

The organization itself is national, not local, and in trying to
educate the public about their goals, representatives attend
conferences and sponsor events around The United States and in Canada.
At a conference in Washington on Monday, polls recorded that 92% of
the people who spoke with representatives at the LEAP booth supported
their goals, 8% were undecided, and 0% disagreed. The reception of
their ideas in Santa Monica is soon to be determined.

As part of what Mike Smithson of LEAP describes as
"taking our message to the public," a video screening
and discussion will also be held in Los Angeles on July
27th, two days after Cole meets with Santa Monica City
Council. The event, called "From the Frontlines: Law
Enforcement and the War on Drugs" will involve a
discussion of LEAP and the short film, "End Prohibition
Now," directed by Mike Gray. Gray, a filmmaker,
producer, and writer known for his social policy reform
ideas, made this film, as Smithson explains, "as a
piece of media that can be used snappily, quickly, and
explain about [our goals] to organizations and
legislators." A discussion will follow the screening,
including such speakers as Judge James Gray of Orange
County, at the Drug Policy Alliance Office on Ardmore Avenue.

Cole hopes that these events will lead to the treatment of drug abuse
"as a health problem, not a crime problem," and says, "we want to help
police get back to the business of solving violent crimes."