LEAP on the Hill: Stories from Week of October 3, 2008

“I did not know.” I had a 75 minute presentation & chat with my state of Maryland House Delegate. She said she voted against a bill in Annapolis this year to reduce mandatory minimums for small-time crack cocaine dealers. I explained how the amount of crack they were talking about was like me buying a 12 pack of beer. I could have 1-2 friends drink the 12 beers with me or I might drink the whole pack myself. ‘I wish I had had someone explain it to me like that before I voted.’ She responded. There is always work for an education specialist. Train the educator: Thanks to our new Media Director, Tom Angell, I learned that George Washington University was putting on a two hour seminar on How To Communicate with Congress. I went. Suffice to say, I learned lots. Thanks Tom. As the headlines scream of America heading back to the Depression of the 1930s, we in reform know that the lack of money to conduct the prohibition policy/war on drugs will help move legislation. The more people suffer economically, the faster we end prohibition. This is part of the use of the German word Schadenfreude. It is bitter sweet. That tens of millions of citizens have suffered being a crime victim due to prohibition or from being arrested for drug crimes has not been enough. How sad. I wrote to Ethan Nadelman of the Drug Policy Alliance and suggested his organization write to the 50 state budget finance directors about how expensive the prohibition approach is. In 2009 I will increase the % of my presentations dealing with the tens of billions wasted every year.