RETIRED POLICE DETECTIVE RAILS AGAINST NATIONAL DRUG POLICY

Retired police detective Howard Wooldridge spoke to a group of
students in Colonial Hall in Squires Student Center Wednesday night
about the need to re-direct the American debate on drug use. "This has
never been a war on drugs, it has always been a war on people,"
Wooldridge said.

Wearing his trademark cowboy hat and boots, Wooldridge might look like
a typical small-town sheriff. But a single glance at his 18-year
record as a detective, his travel-worn passport, and his mastery of
three languages, and it's easy to see this is no typical cowboy.

Wooldridge's speech placed emphasis on hard facts, using statistics to
show the ineffective results of the government's nearly 40-year war.
One such statistic was a graph showing that since 1971 the price of
cocaine has vastly decreased while the purity has more than quadrupled.

Chad Van Alstin, a senior communication major said Wooldridge's speech
was interesting considering Wooldridge's background in law
enforcement.

"It was very informative and educational, and definitely reinforced my
belief that the war on drugs needs to end," Alstin said.

Students for a Sensible Drug Policy is the group responsible for
bringing Wooldridge to Virginia Tech. The group is also planning a
larger forum for October.

"We've sat down with administrators who have acknowledged the need for
discussion, so we will provide a public forum for students to voice
their opinions in regards to Tech's drug policy," said Kris
Reinertson, a senior majoring in political science and sociology, as
well as the president and founder of SSDP.

In 2002, Wooldridge helped found Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
with help from several other retired law enforcement officers. The
group was based on the belief that the current methods used in the war
on drugs were at best ineffective and at worst a severe detriment to
society, a drain on tax dollars, and, according to Wooldridge, the
"most dysfunctional, immoral, domestic policy since slavery."

According to its Web site, LEAP's mission 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 by ultimately ending drug prohibition."

When asked whether he could sum up the war on drugs in one word,
Woolridge responded, "Chaos."

SSDP's platform this year is centered around two policies that it
believes essential to a sensible drug policy. They are the good
samaritan policy, which would provide amnesty to students who call for
help in cases of medical emergencies involving alcohol and other drugs
and a first-time diversion option, which would

allow first-time drug policy offenders to meet with a counselor at
Cook Counseling Center in lieu of facing punitive charges.

Wooldridge applauded SSDP's efforts here on campus and encouraged the
students who were present to get active and have their voices be heard
by both the school administration and our state representatives.

"I hope students will leave with a better understanding of the
possibility that we can move this war into the history books,"
Wooldridge said.