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cross-posted from Sum of Change
On Friday, May 14th 2010, I got the chance to sit down with Neill Franklin, the Executive Director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP).
Neill Franklin, LEAP’s incoming executive director, is a 32-year law enforcement veteran who spent more than two decades with the Maryland State Police (leading the drug division’s education and training) and then moved to Baltimore PD. Like a character from HBO’s "The Wire," Neill could tell you stories of colleagues being gunned down in the line of fire, as he did in this Washington Post op-ed.
Full, Unedited Interview (highlight clips further down-post)
Below, we’ve got a playlist with some of the highlights from the interview, and below that some quick summaries.
(there are 6 videos in the player below)
–Neill Franklin Shares His Story
To sum up: Mr Franklin is a 32-year law enforcement veteran. Many things he experienced doing that work led him to speak out against drug prohibition, but there were two events that really changed him. First off, he served on Mayor Kurt Schmoke’s Board for Needle Exchange in Baltimore. Mayor Schmoke was an advocate for rethinking our policies regarding the war on drugs. But it was not until 2000 when he lost a good friend named Edward Totely. Mr Totely was assassinated while making an undercover drug buy. That is when Mr Franklin began to examine the negative consequences of the war on drugs.
–On the Obama Administration’s Drug Policy
To sum up: Mr Franklin feels that President Obama’s "balanced new approach" is balanced in rhetoric only because two thirds of the money goes to enforcement (not including the costs of incarceration).
–On the Gateway Drug Theory
To sum up: Mr Franklin feels it is a fallacy and that cigarettes and alcohol are greater gateway drugs yet remain legal.
–Drug Laws and the Fourth Amendment
To sum up: Mr Franklin argues that the laws surrounding drugs create an environment where police are under pressure to search for drugs, which leads many officers to unintentionally push the limits of the law.
–The CA Ballot Initiative and the Federal Response
To sum up: Mr Franklin congratulates the people of California for putting this issue on the ballot, and encourages people to get involved with that campaign. As for the federal response, he has some concern that the federal government may try to "flex their muscles and go into California and start arresting people." He says the federal government should allow that state to go ahead with control and regulation. "They should be bringing smart people together to figure out what the future policies will look like."
–Law Enforcement Reaction to Franklin’s Work
To sum up: Mr Franklin finds that most law enforcement officials respond positively to his position.
10 Comments
Prison-industrial complex (PIC) in control?
I was thinking about why the miserable failure War on Drugs was lasting so long today, in a desultory way, tangentially related to something I was reading. Seems like, PIC notwithstanding, there are a couple of other factors at work. One is the lock-in effect, AKA path dependence, whereby, once a policy is chosen, depending on what the subject is, it is nearly impossible to change it.
Another is the militarization that seems to take effect when the military/police are among the only weapons against whatever the perceived enemy seems to be, or at least that’s the way the PTB seem to think about it.
A third is the sunk cost paradox. When a policy is not working, the rational approach would be to change it and just forget about the sunk costs. But the PTB think, with a great deal of justification, that if they do that, they will be drummed out of office for sunk costs.
Tentative conclusion: all is lost on drugs. U.S. gonna follow the failure road into oblivion.
From the interview:
Not Marijuana, Cigarettes and Alcohol are the “Gateway Drugs”.
California – November – voting for Marijuana is key.
recommended, tweeted and facebooked.
thank you
Thanks!
Thanks for this post. Something has to change. My neighbor directly across the street was beaten and shot in the leg early this morning by three people who broke into his house and wanted the keys to his grow room. They got away without anything and were later arrested, but now the cops have the neighbor’s weed — supposedly about $100K worth. (I keep imagining that asshole guy from Cops narrating this story.) It was mayhem all around — the cops woke us all up pounding on the doors of our warehouse but everyone who lives here was too afraid to go outside after hearing all the gunshots. We ventured out at daylight to helicopters and police tape and every news channel camped outside. One of the reporters interviewed one of the cops and they both sort of giggled at how strong the odor of marijuana was at the house in question. None of us who live across the street and feared for our lives this morning thought it was particularly funny.
I am totally in favor of legalization but I have come to hate the growers who get greedy and take these kinds of risks. Nobody here in California has been able to explain to my satisfaction exactly what happens when it becomes legal. In any case, prohibition has brought us to here, to this ugly place.
I understand that, although we don’t blame the bank when someone tries to rob it. I don’t know enough about the situation to say whether or not the grower has any responsibility.
What questions do you have about what happens when it becomes legal in California? We did an interview with the Control and Tax Cannabis 2010 campaign spokesperson, Dale Sky Clare, that was much more specific to the ballot initiative. It might help answer some questions, and I imagine the folks at the campaign could answer a lot more.
I watched the interview. Very informative and Miss Clare is a fantastic spokesperson. In theory, it seems perfect to control and tax cannabis, grow hemp, create jobs, put the tax dollars back to law enforcement and education. My questions have more to do with the paradigm shift from what we have now in California, where an awful lot of people are making an awful lot of money with the status quo. They’re not hippies, they’re hardcore capitalists and I don’t see them turning over control to the government without a fight.
I danced them.
It is a holy war.
Year before last I went to the Harvest Festival as a volunteer with ASA. I wore a chinese hat and bought an event patch and a bright blue jacket.
My mil died that weekend, the same evening that an “after-party” was planned for me.
I think I was supposed to be the entertainment because the party never materialized when I was safely behind locked doors. Funny how houses out in pot country all seem to have ‘secure rooms’. It is quite a story, I’m going to put that one in my book.
Several people took pictures of me at that event too, so an enterprising investigator should be able to get access to some of them. I was told the professional photographer was with the organization putting it on, but I suspect he was with the FBI or the police.
I was photographed with a guy who had a hat like mine. I liked him and we spent a lot of time together. Now I wish I had gotten his phone number or email address. He seemed to know who I was and even introduced me to his niece. I also did ceremony with a couple of delightful girls dressed like fairies. We all had our pictures taken together, the professional photographer was very busy.
Another person wanted her picture with my hat on and I said no, she also took my picture on her cell phone. It was a long day and evening. They had a smoking tent and I recognized a lot of people there from Dead shows. That means big dealers, importers and big growers, the ‘royalty’ of our community that you mentioned.
I survived an attempt against me that night, and I didn’t get raped either. No siree, I sat around with the people who are going to lose the most $$$ and smoked pot with them, handed out little buttons to my new friends too. Yup, a regular Girl Scout leader.
That is why I do not go to shows anymore. I’m not going until I have an escort who can handle that issue and take it seriously. I also think it is what destroyed my marriage. They all knew who I was, I am a Native American religious leader. They planned an ‘after party’ for me – I slipped the noose of that. What do you think they are going to do next?
I think they are going to submit to the will of the California voters and start paying income taxes- JUST LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE! That is what I think they are going to do.
But, I guess we will just have to wait and see.
As usual California is setting the pace for the Nation, but Oregon is not far behind. We have the OCTA coming up in Nov. It will legalize 420 and tax it. We have already legalized the production of hemp and hemp products. Production is just waiting for the Feds to wake up to the will of the people and catch up with the program.
How we can let the largest cash crop in the US to go untaxed is beyond me.