FORMER POLICE OFFICER URGES DRUG LEGALIZATION

CEDAR RAPIDS - A former police officer is riding across America on
horseback in an effort to convince people drugs should be legalized.

Howard Wooldridge, a former detective from the Bath Township Police
Department in Bath Township, Mich., is due to arrive in Cedar Rapids
on Saturday.

Wooldridge, a founding member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
(LEAP), said the organization's members believe drugs should be a
public health matter, not a law enforcement one, freeing police to
pursue crimes like drunk drivers or sex offenders.

On Thursday, Wooldridge drove ahead to Cedar Rapids to speak to Cedar
Rapids Sunrise Rotary at the Elmcrest Country & Golf Club. He then
returned to his horse to continue his cross-country ride.

"As a taxpayer, I object to (putting people) like Rush Limbaugh or
Willie Nelson in prison," Wooldridge said in a telephone interview.
"As a former policeman, I would rather go after a drunk driver and
have them put in jail."

Wooldridge has been speaking across the country for the past eight
years on what he sees as America's failed drug policy.

Legalizing drugs, he said, would control them and put the drug dealer
and his black market -- "the single biggest evil in America, which is
responsible for so much death and crime" -- out of business.

"Up until three years ago, the message was falling on deaf ears.
People would say, 'You're crazy. Drugs will destroy America.' But
people are figuring out that politicians aren't always telling the
truth, and they are beginning to understand that building new prisons
is pretty much worthless."

He allows not all the feedback is positive.

"I had one person tell me that I should be put in Guantanamo Bay for
life without trial," he said.

While the cross-country trip by horseback is long and exhausting, it
is not without its humorous moments.

When he and one of his horses stopped to rest outside a Wal-Mart, as
many as four people called 911 to report him.

"When a horse falls asleep, it's tough for even an experienced
horseman to tell whether or not the horse is sleeping or dead, and
since I was sleeping with my 9mm (handgun), people thought I had shot
the horse," he said.

Wooldridge will be riding "Sam" through Cedar Rapids on Saturday
along Highway 151 on his way to Dubuque. He hopes to reach New York
City by Nov 1.