MISSION AND GOALS OF LEAP

Welcome to the official Canadian branch of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition!

LEAP is an international non-profit organization focused on drug policy reform. It was founded in 2002 by a group of five retired police officers. It has grown substantially and we now have thousands of members in over eighty countries.

The mission of LEAP is to reduce the multitude of harms resulting from fighting the war on drugs and to lessen the incidence of death, disease, crime, and addiction by ultimately ending drug prohibition.

Anyone can join LEAP but only current or former law enforcement officers can speak publicly for the organization. LEAP representatives have fought in the trenches of the War on Drugs and we know that prohibition is not working.

LEAP's goals are:

(1) To educate the public, the media, and policy makers about the failure of current drug policy by presenting a true picture of the history, causes and effects of drug use and the elevated crime rates more properly related to drug prohibition than to drug pharmacology; and

(2) To restore the public's respect for police, which has been greatly diminished by law enforcements involvement in imposing drug prohibition.

LEAP's main strategy for accomplishing these goals is to create a constantly growing 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 excessive financial and human costs associated with current drug policies.

ABOUT LEAP IN CANADA

ANYONE can join LEAP and we would not exist today without the dedicated help provided by many civilian volunteers. If you are passionate and professional in your support for drug policy reform, this is the place for you!

We are seeking Canadian volunteers who are willing to assist with the following tasks:

- Recruiting current and former members of law enforcement into the LEAP speakers bureau.

- Fundraising.

- Assisting with communications (media monitoring, research, rapid response, drafting and editing LEAP materials).

- Accurately translating LEAP materials into other languages (particularly French, although other languages are welcome).

- Booking engagements for LEAP speakers (eg. radio gigs, Rotary Club presentations, conferences, etc).

- Developing offline support and awareness of the organization.

If you want to end drug prohibition, please join this meetup group! LEAP is a "big tent" organization and we welcome folks from across the political spectrum. This includes the Conservatives, Liberals, NDP, Green Party and Bloc-Québécois. The arguments in favour of drug policy reform apply to both the right and the left.

We will schedule our first meeting once enough members join the group. Dress for the meetings will be business casual as we would like to create a professional, friendly atmosphere. Initially we plan to meet in the Vancouver area, but as the organization grows in Canada we will start meeting in other cities as well.