Today, I made my first donation to LEAP, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.
From their Mission Statement:
Founded on March 16, 2002, LEAP is made up of current and former members of law enforcement who believe the existing drug policies have failed in their intended goals of addressing the problems of crime, drug abuse, addiction, juvenile drug use, stopping the flow of illegal drugs into this country and the internal sale and use of illegal drugs. By fighting a war on drugs the government has increased the problems of society and made them far worse. A system of regulation rather than prohibition is a less harmful, more ethical and a more effective public policy.
The mission of LEAP is to reduce the multitude of unintended harmful consequences resulting from fighting the war on drugs and to lessen the incidence of death, disease, crime, and addiction by ultimately ending drug prohibition.
LEAP's goals are:
- To educate the public, the media, and policy makers, to the failure of current drug policy by presenting a true picture of the history, causes and effects of drug abuse and the crimes related to drug prohibition and
- To restore the public's respect for law enforcement, which has been greatly diminished by its involvement in imposing drug prohibition.
LEAP's main strategy for accomplishing these goals is to create a constantly enlarging speakers bureau staffed with knowledgeable and articulate former drug-warriors who describe the impact of current drug policies on: police/community relations; the safety of law enforcement officers and suspects; police corruption and misconduct; and the financial and human costs associated with current drug policies.
I always had it in mind to start giving, and now that I find myself making less money than at any time in the last decade I decided to start. I first found Kiva.org, and started lending to poor entrepreneurs, and I got hooked. I keep finding organizations that deserve my support. Wikipedia enhances my life a lot, so I gave a bit to them. Plus, a lot of very wealthy people swear by it, so who knows, eh?