Dear John,

LEAP Speaker Sergeant Terry Blevins (Fmr.) traveled to Ecuador at the end of January to meet with the former Ecuadorian drug czar and to address the Ministry of Education.

Sergeant Blevins traveled to the two largest cities in Ecuador, Quito and Guayaquil, with the drug czar, and  held workshops at the headquarters for police anti-narcotics operations, where he shared evidence-based solutions and alternatives to the War on Drugs for police and prosecutors.

Sergeant Blevins was delighted by the responses he received and was even asked to stay late to collaborate with community groups. He said, "Police...ended up asking a lot of questions and basically agreeing that the war on drugs was not working. Prosecutors...were very open to the ideas that I was presenting." 

Sergeant Blevins also held sessions at the Law School of Espiritu Santo University, where police and prosecutors were joined by law students, professors, and other government officials.

The sessions were so well-received that Sergeant Blevins was asked to meet in the future with the Sub-Secretary of the Interior, who oversees the national police in Ecuador, to talk about rolling out similar programs nationwide.    

Sergeant Blevins joined the Sub-Secretary of Education to address  teachers, attorneys, and parents on alternatives to allowing police in schools to search kids for drugs. LEAP has been invited to collaborate on a study about drug problems in schools.  

Sergeant Blevins's dedication is commendable. Drug prohibition fuels underground markets throughout Latin America and beyond, which in turn sustains violent criminal enterprises with global consequences that threaten our national security. 

Donate now to stand with LEAP as we fight for justice reform, at home and around the globe.

In solidarity,