Marijuana prohibition’s end would unite police, community, advocate says

By Michael Roberts
neill franklin cropped.jpg
 
Tonight, Neill Franklin, a former Baltimore narcotics cop who’s now the executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, aka LEAP, will be speaking in Denver (details below) about ending marijuana prohibition in Colorado.
If that happened, he believes, “it would be very significant in reuniting police and the community again.”
Among the topics on tonight’s agenda is “the cost of marijuana prohibition throughout the country, and in Colorado,” says Franklin, who spoke with us in January to decry U.S. Attorney John Walsh’s closure-threat letters to dispensaries near schools. “And there are many different costs, from incarceration to the disparity issues associated with incarceration. Because wittingly or unwittingly, blacks and Latinos are targeted many than any other groups. But we’ll also talk about what benefits there would be to move into a world of regulation and control, including a reduction in crime and improved police relations among communities.
 
Read complete article here:
http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2012/05/marijuana_prohibition_unite_police_community_leap.php