MAN WITH A MISSION TRAVELS THROUGH TOWN

Former Police Detective Wants An End To War On Drugs

Howard J. Wooldridge is a man on a mission. He is a 53-year-old retired
police detective from Fort Worth, Texas who is traveling across the country
on his one-eyed paint mare named Misty. Before he is done, he will have
travelled 3,600 miles on his seven-month journey that started in Los
Angeles on March 4 and will end up in New York City by Nov. 1.

Howard is a former lobbyist in the Texas Legislature. He is the media
director for a group called L.E.A.P. which means Law Enforcement Against
Prohibition.

The organization was started three years ago, and now has over 2,000
members, including 80 speakers like himself, at least one in every state.
The goal of this organization is to educate Americans about the need to
legalize all drugs and destroy the black market.

He is quick to assure people that he does not advocate drug use, but feels
that the legalization of all drugs will take the very costly "War on Drugs"
out of the hands of the police and under health control so the police can
focus on the really bad people like murderers, child molesters, drunk
drivers and other perpetrators of violent crimes.

"We need to make all drug issues a matter of public health, handled by
doctors and clinics, not police or prisons," Wooldridge said.

"With over 70 billion dollars per year spent on the War on Drugs, it seems
that the money should be spent to focus on the more serious crimes instead
of using the police to spend their time on something that could be handled
by the medical community."

Wooldridge and the others in L.E.A.P., speak all over the country at
Rotary, Lions Club, Kiwanis, and other groups. They have received lots of
support from other law enforcement officers, mostly retired, who agree with
their concept of what is most important for law enforcement to be
concentrating on.

He told about how he saw three police cruisers stop a car recently, with
six officers taking over an hour checking out a car for possible drugs,
while they could have been letting many drunk drivers or other criminals
pass by.

His group is one of many who believe that time is being wasted that could
be better used for more serious things. There are more than a half dozen
major reform groups, including the Drug Policy Alliance, M.P.P.-the
Marijuana Policy Project, and N.O.R.M.L. -- the National Organization for
Reform of Marijuana Laws.

They all believe that prohibition of drugs should be repealed and that it
would take the black market away from the drug lords just as the end of
prohibition against alcohol diminished the big mafia control in the days of
Al Capone.

Wooldridge will be travelling through the lower states on his journey to
New York, speaking all through the trip.

After he reaches New York, his plans are to become a lobbyist again, this
time in the U.S. government, where he hopes to find some officials willing
to accept his ideas and further the cause.

He knows that the idea is not easily acceptable, but it has been receiving
much more support every year. He believes that sometime in the future,
people will understand what his group is trying to accomplish and that the
laws will be changed. If you would like more information about L.E.A.P.,
please contact them at www.leap.cc or you can contact Howard Wooldridge
himself at wooldridge@leap.cc or call him at 817-975-1110.