EX-COP'S STOP IN KEARNEY PART OF PUSH TO LEGALIZE DRUGS

KEARNEY -- A Texas man trying to bring attention to what he calls
America's failed attempt at a war on drugs says methamphetamine and
other illicit drugs should be legalized.

"Meth is everywhere, despite the fact that it's illegal. And it's
easily arguable that it's everywhere is because it's illegal and you
can make big bucks at it," said Howard Wooldridge, media director and
a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.

Wooldridge said if meth and other drugs were sold and regulated by
the government, there wouldn't be a drug epidemic.

"If it (meth) were sold in a store, the clerk has no incentive to
sell you anything. They don't care what you buy," he said.

Wooldridge, 54, of Fort Worth, Texas, was in Kearney Monday and
Tuesday on his 3,600 mile, seven-month journey by horse.

Prohibition of drugs has only resulted in an increase in crime, death
and disease and the expense involved has become astronomical, costing
billions per year, he said.

"As a taxpayer and a human being, I object," Wooldridge said. "I'm
trying to spread the alarm like Paul Revere."

While Kearney Police Chief Dan Lynch agrees the war on drugs is a
difficult task, he doesn't think legalizing all illegal drugs is the answer.

Wooldridge, who is not a drug user, started his journey March 4 in
Los Angeles and will end up in New York City by Oct. 1. Wooldridge, a
retired Michigan police detective, and LEAP believe in legalizing
drugs to reduce violent crime and destroy the black market.

"Most people know this (war on drugs) isn't working. Nobody wants to
discuss it, even after we build prison after prison after prison," he said.

Wooldridge made a similar trip from Georgia to Oregon in 2003 and has
been a LEAP advocate for eight years.

Wearing a T-shirt that proclaims, "Cops Say Legalize Drugs -- Ask Me
Why," he and his paint horse Misty average about 23 miles per day.
After his cross-country trip, Wooldridge will become a LEAP lobbyist
in the U.S. Senate. He was previously a lobbyist in the Texas legislature.

As for drug policy, Wooldridge knows there's a long journey ahead of
him literally and figuratively.

"I give it another 10 years, and we'll get this done," he said of
LEAP. "It's going to happen."

For more information about LEAP, visit the Web site at www.leap.cc,
contact Wooldridge at wooldridge@leap.cc or call Woolridge at 817-975-1110.

Hub photo by Dena Westphalen Howard Wooldridge of Fort Worth, Texas,
and his horse Misty are traveling from Los Angeles to New York City
declaring the war on drugs isn't working and promoting legalization
to reduce violent crime and the black market. Wooldridge is a former
Michigan police detective.