Police Officer or Nanny?

Wooldridge was a police officer for 18 years: 15 in patrol and 3 years as a detective. He worked throughout the late 70s, 80s, and early 90s. As the Drug War heated up, he saw a shift from police officers focusing on protecting the community from outside threats to protecting people from themselves, “I watched colleagues spend hours ripping apart a car to find a little bit of marijuana.”

The waste in taxpayer money, officers’ time and effort, and diminishing of good law enforcement motivated him to become a force in ending harsh drug policies. After retiring as a police officer, he became a lobbyist in the late 90s, “As a former police officer, I had some credibility on the issue.”

Future of Reform

Wooldridge tells me that the most realistic hope to reform drug laws is simply to go back to the Constitution. “The most impactful thing that could be done is to bring 10^thAmendment [state’s] rights’ back to drug policy.”

An example of this is the STATES Act,which was initially sponsored by Elizabeth Warren (D-Ma) and Cory Gardner (R-Co). Obviously, there is broad bipartisan support for drug reform and the states are showing this by legalizing marijuana and decriminalizing drugs. Wooldridge points out that extremely liberal California and conservative Oklahoma have something in common; “they both have legalized marijuana.”

“Eight to one of those I talked to at CPAC [Conservative Political Action Conference] agreed –after I gave my explanation– that heroin should be legal.” However, he adds, “Probably 95% of people who didn’t hear my argument would answer no”. Wooldridge believes that this change in conservatives’ opinions on the Drug War is because drug addiction has hit all demographics, including those at CPAC. “Nearly everyone I talked to had a heroin overdose death in their family.”

He is clear that legalizing drugs does not mean that drugs are good. In fact, he knows exactly how deadly and harmful drugs like heroin are, and “that is why addiction should be treated in hospitals, not prisons”.

A prison only perpetuates the problem because “once you get out, you have lost rights like voting.” Wooldridge is referring to the black mark of a felony offense that dubs you a felon for the rest of your life, makes it difficult to find legal employment, and be a productive member of society.

Yet, CPAC denied Wooldridge an opportunity to present and explain why cops say legalize heroin. He tells me that about two years ago, he talked to Matt Schlapp at the American Conservative Union (the ACU runs CPAC). They reviewed his presentation and turned him down, “it is just my prejudice that makes me think my presentation [questioning the drug war] would outrage some of CPAC’s older donors”.

Packing Up His Horse

Wooldridge –who goes by the nickname “Cowboy”– makes it clear that the criminal justice reforms recently signed by President Trump are just a tiny part of what needs to be done. “I tell people on Capitol Hill, legalize all drugs and I’ll pack up my horse and go home.”

He refers to the Portuguese model as the ideal way to proceed. The Portuguese have legalized all drugs and treat addiction as a medical problem, instead of criminal. “There is a bill that will be introduced in Congress that is calling for something similar to Portugal.”

However, he is well aware that at this moment the bill is not going to pass, “but that’s how we start talking about things.” He knows that nothing is going to change dramatically by tomorrow, but he’ll accept incremental progress on the subject while fighting for the future… in his shirt that reads “Cops Say Legalize Heroin”.

The first major person in the modern era to call for legalization of heroin was in the mid-70s by the Baltimore Mayor Curt Schmoke. I stand on his shoulders.

– Howard Wooldridge

Follow Howard on Twitter: @CannabisCop

Lears more about his organization here: Citizens Opposing Prohibition

The post Howard Wooldridge: Cops Say Legalize Heroin appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.

According to new government statistics, Canadian cannabis consumers would rather turn  to their neighborhood dealer than visit the recently legalized marijuana dispensaries. Six months after legalization, The Guardian calls Prime Minister Trudeau’s experiment “struggling to get off the ground”. The solution? Lifting the government’s involvement In the distribution of the cash crop.  

The legal purchase of cannabis reached 2 billion Canadian dollars in early 2019, whereas the black market accounted for 5 billion CAD. Also, 79% of all cannabis products were sold on the black market.

Justin Trudeau’s goal to eliminate the marijuana black market through legalization is falling flat. However, we cannot expect to see a sudden switch in consumers’ behavior.

Moreover, the new industry seems to be meeting some roadblocks along the way.

Even though inefficient operations might cause problems within the supply chain as one critic suggests, the government involvement within this industry is far more damaging.

Price Control

When Trudeau announced government-led decriminalization in 2017, we already pondered whether it was a good idea to regulate the cannabis market by setting prices and distributing licenses.

When the government is involved in the production of a commodity through price control, shortages tend to rise. Take the recent food shortages in Venezuela as an extreme example.

The same principle holds up for Canada’s cannabis consumption.

According to the Toronto Star, the legal dispensaries are unable to keep track with the demand for the raw product, cannabis, while oftentimes remaining overstocked on subsidiaries (such as cannabis oils) and side products.

Competition vs Arbitrary Prices

Since Ottowa sets an arbitrary, monopolized price for legal cannabis, free market regulators (competition between companies, reduction in production cost) do not determine the price for legal cannabis.

However, black market prices are determined by the free market.

Should it be of any surprise that black market cannabis is 36% cheaper than its legalized counterpart?

Loyalty Over Legality

Canadian consumers described the cannabis available in dispensaries as “dry” and “untasteful”. Also, it contains less than 20% THC.

Legal cannabis does not meet the quality that can be found on the streets.

Furthermore, loyalty is big factor why consumers still visit their neighborhood dealer.

Canopy Growth Corporation

Is there no one benefitting from marijuana decriminalization?

Surely there is one.

Murray Rothbard already predicted that government regulations favor big business and large enterprises.

The Canadian Canopy Growth Corp., Canada’s largest legal marijuana producer, hit a 98,73% one year return on April 21, while also leaving its mark on the  American market with the possible acquisition of Acreage Holdings Inc. a deal worth 3.4 billion CAD and said to be designed to create a global powerhouse in the marijuana industry.

If the Canadian government really wants to eliminate the black market, they should no longer be involved in the production of cannabis.

The post Trudeau’s Failed Cannabis Experiment: The Black Market Prevails appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.