Law Enforcement Against Prohibition

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Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
(LEAP)
purpose Drug policy reform
Chair: Neill Franklin
Establishment date: 2002
Number of members: 15,000
Seat : Medford, Massachusetts
Website: leap.cc

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) is a non-profit, non-profit organization that campaigns for an end to the so-called war on drugs and a reform of drug policy.

LEAP was founded on March 16, 2002 in the USA and is modeled on the anti-war organization Vietnam Veterans Against the War . Members are u. a. Police officers, government officials, and other law enforcement officers - active and retired. The organization currently has 15,000 members but does not disclose how many of them have come out of the law enforcement system.

aims

LEAP has set itself the task of reducing the social and individual harm resulting from the War on Drugs and of reducing the rising death, disease and crime rates associated with currently illegal drugs by ending drug prohibition .

LEAP has two primary goals:

  • Educating the public, media and policy makers about the failures of current drug policies by disseminating information about the history, causes and consequences of drug use and showing the link between increased crime rates as a result of drug prohibition rather than their pharmacological effects.
  • Promotion of respect for the law enforcement officers, which has greatly diminished due to their involvement in enforcing drug prohibition.

To achieve these goals, the organization is seeking a growing number of speakers, especially knowledgeable former participants in the War on Drugs who a. Address the impact of current drug policies on police-community relationships, the safety of police officers, the spread of corruption, and the financial and human costs it creates.

LEAP believes that regulating drugs is the only ethical yet effective way to repair the harm caused by the War on Drugs . The aim is a system in which the sale and distribution of previously illegal drugs is regulated by a government agency, similar to the current regulation of alcohol and tobacco. This would remove the basis of the existing black market. LEAP is pursuing a gradual change in drug laws and has therefore supported bills aimed at, for example, decriminalizing the possession of up to one ounce (approx. 28 grams) of marijuana, legalizing cannabis for medical purposes and introducing harm reduction programs in Communities targeted.

membership

LEAP membership is open to anyone, but only former or current law enforcement officials can become board members.

speaker

There are 85 speakers from different states in the United States and 16 other countries, including Brazil, India, Poland and Germany. The spokesmen for LEAP are police and correctional officers, probation officers, judges, public prosecutors, prison directors and FBI and DEA officials.

Board

The LEAP board of eleven members includes: a. Jack Cole, a former New Jersey police lieutenant (14 years in the Narcotics Division); Peter Christ, a former police captain from Tonawanda, New York; Terry Nelson, a Border Police officer; and Stephen Downing, who worked for the Los Angeles Police Department for 20 years . Neill Franklin is the executive director.

Situation in Germany

In October 2014, on the initiative of the police officer and member of the Bundestag Frank Tempel, LEAP-Germany was to be founded. As chairman was Hubert Wimber , police chief of Munster and chairman of the Association of German police chief provided. Interior Minister Ralf Jäger , however, forbade participation under service law. After Hubert Wimber retired, he was able to found LEAP Germany as a registered association on September 10, 2015 together with Frank Tempel , Andreas Müller (judge) , Annie Machon and Wolfgang Nešković . Well-known speakers who must have gained professional experience in law enforcement authorities or in the field of criminal justice are (as of 12/2019) among others Mark Benecke , Lorenz Böllinger , Irene Mihalic and Sebastian Scheerer . Well-known supporting members include Rainer Biesinger , Burkhard Blienert , Kirsten Kappert-Gonther , Niklas Schrader and Georg Wurth .

Movie

LEAP speakers were portrayed in the 2006 Canadian documentary "Damage Done: The Drug War Odyssey" by Conni Littlefield.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ LEAP - Who we are ; last accessed on January 27, 2012
  2. ^ LEAP's Mission Statement ( memento of January 26, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), last accessed on January 27, 2012
  3. ↑ List of speakers ( memento of August 7, 2016 in the Internet Archive ); last accessed on January 27, 2012
  4. ↑ LEAP's Board of Directors , last accessed January 27, 2012
  5. ^ About Neill Franklin ( Memento of March 13, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), last accessed on January 27, 2012
  6. ↑ Police chief for soft drugs clearance. In: TAZ . November 19, 2014, accessed November 19, 2014 .
  7. ↑ More liberal drug policy: Does Münster's police chief encounter resistance? In: Münstersche Zeitung . November 19, 2014, accessed November 19, 2014 .
  8. ↑ LEAP founded in Germany. September 10, 2015, archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; Retrieved October 18, 2015 .
  9. ↑ Law enforcement officers demand drug release. In: Frankfurter Rundschau . September 10, 2015, accessed October 18, 2015 .
  10. ↑ LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) Germany eV: Board of Directors, Members: Speakers, Members: Supporters. Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, accessed December 4, 2019 .
  11. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgxbd-pVgHE Documentary "Damage Done: The Drug War Odyssey" ( Memento from September 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive )