WHAT WOULD REV. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. SAY ABOUT DRUGS?

Retired police officer Howard Wooldridge believes he knows what Rev. Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. would do about the war on drugs.

"He would call for a classic, Biblical response-compassion, love,
understanding. And those people who are afflicted with addiction need
patience and love. They need church, family and community, and that's best
done in the community not in prison," he asserts.

Fifteen years as a foot soldier in the war on drugs, patrolling Bath and
DeWitt townships (near Lansing, Mich.), made one thing evident to
Wooldridge--the federal effort was failing, perhaps by design.

His wife transferred to Dallas, Texas, in 1994, prompting Wooldridge to
take an early retirement to join her. Three years later, he was advocating
an end to all drug prohibition and hasn't stopped.

His campaign will bring him to Pittsburgh Jan. 15 where he will discuss
"What Would Martin Luther King Do About the War on Drugs?" at Bethel AME
Church, 2538 Woodlawn Drive, Monroeville.

"It's the same principal as WWJD, what would Jesus do? And I believe that
Dr. King and Jesus would have the same answer," said Wooldridge, now a
member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.

The international nonprofit takes the position that after three decades and
more than $3 trillion, the war on drugs has merely increased the number of
prosecutions of nonviolent drug violations and quadrupled the prison
population.

"Usually laws are designed to reduce crime and reduce death and suffering,
and what I saw on a regular basis is that this (the war on drugs) actually
increases crime, increases death and decease and increases problems all
across society," said Wooldridge. "We in law enforcement are nothing more
than a mosquito on the butt of an elephant."

While there's no feasible way to annihilate the use of mind-altering drugs,
Wooldridge and Law Enforcement Against Prohibition believes the government
should regulate drugs as it does tobacco and alcohol.

"As bad as the government runs things, I'd rather have the government be in
control of drugs rather than criminals and terrorists," Wooldridge said.
"In my view this is the best approach; there's no solution."

During his talk in Monroeville, Wooldridge will urge people to advocate for
the end of the war on drugs by writing letters to the editors of newspapers
and politicians and speaking against it in public.

"It has to be the people saying we know this policy is not working, this
policy is getting to many people hurt and killed. We must put feet in the
street. Just as King said segregation must end, we need people all across
the nation to stand up and say, 'Enough we were wrong. The war on drugs is
a devastating policy and we need to end it."