DEAN BECKER: (00:00)
Hey, my friends, thank you for being with us on this holiday edition of Moral High Ground, soon to be a, a cultural baggage show as well. Uh, I'm happy to have an old friend of mine, uh, a compadre, a traveling partner, if you will, uh, across America for the, uh, caravan for Peace, justice and Dignity, uh, featuring, uh, poet, uh, Mexican poet Javier Cecilia, and, uh, a hundred of his friends who had lost loved ones in this drug war to the cartel violence. Lemme just go ahead and introduce my friend, Mr. Neil, for Franklin Major, Neil Franklin. Hello, sir. 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLIN: (00:39)
Hey, Dean. How are you today? 

DEAN BECKER: (00:41)
I'm good. Uh, Neil, it's, it's good to be speaking with you. I, I wanna read something. I, I've been doing some writing and it revolves around this. It's just a short paragraph I wanna share with you. Uh, see if I can get the mic turned here. Classism has many faces, uh, fascism, racism, sexism, colonialism, uh, so many isms always made, uh, by a coalition of authorities who claim the right to govern the lives of others. This includes government and religion, stilted science and medicine, and especially the media, and as well as the police and the, uh, military in most cases. And this quiver fills itself with arrows of authority, blessed as being sacred and eternally necessary. Rights and recourse are reserved solely for members of the powerful class. Now, classism doesn't quite fit with prohibition, but I'm gonna say prohibition is another, uh, means of gathering these authorities together to, uh, combine forces and moral imperatives, or whatever you wanna call it, that they have the right to decide things for the rest of humanity. And I think that's exactly what the drug war has. Well, it has always been, but it has been showing itself to be more and more. Would you speak to that thought, please, sir? 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLIN: (02:11)
Yeah, yeah, I agree, Dean. Um, as you put it, prohibition ism, um, it, it, it, it gives the, the fascists and those more power and control over people, right? So you prohibit those things that people do, um, and then you can go after them with the law. Um, it, it makes it palatable for society, um, I guess to, to embrace, um, you know, because like here in the United States, and you'll hear the term law and order all the time. Um, and of course, if, if you create a statute, um, you know, enforcing these, these prohibition policies, then you can legally it justifies in a sense, those people, those fascists going after the, the, the, you know, for instance, in the, the users of a particular commodity of product. Um, it's not really about the product or any potential danger of a particular product. It's, it's about controlling the group of people. 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLIN: (03:38)
Um, especially when you have a culture, uh, that would use a particular product, say for instance, for religious, uh, purposes. And, and, and now when, uh, as you said, a another term you used was colonialism, right? So when you have a group of folks coming in to colonize another group of people, their religious practices can be, in a sense, prohibited, which now gives you legal control over the group of people that you have colonized. Um, so it's basically about control. Um, it's about, uh, oppression. Um, it's about placing yourself the fascist above the folks that you have colonized above the people that you desire to control and to do it according to the law, the letter of law, the law of the land, if you might say. 

DEAN BECKER: (04:43)
Well, and it, it, uh, occurs to me that I, I think in included in that little paragraph, was a, a reference to what, what were the words, uh, the rights and recourse or reserved solely for members of this ruling class, if you want to call it that. Mm-hmm . Who run this ism. And, and my radio shows have proven that more than 10,000 times now, that there is not one person, not one priest, not one politician, not one member of the major media. Um, no, no one is willing to come on this show and defend this one question. And that is what is the benefit of drug war for mankind? Because there, it's, it's a hope, a dream in many, many different directions. But there is no, no real benefit for the average human being. I, I close this show with the thought that, uh, you know, euphoria is a blessing. I think it was pres pre presented by God himself to alleviate pain and, and other symptoms for humanity. And it should not be deemed a crime, and people locked up for wanting to feel better. It's in the, uh, uh, declaration of Independence. We have the right to happiness here in America. And that has been taken away by this quote, moral imperative of these, uh, prohibitionist, um, folks. So your response, sir? 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLIN: (06:14)
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, because when you look at these prohibitions that have come about over the decades, um, and as we were talking before about cultures, uh, just to name a few, let's start here with our, our Native Americans, the true Americans. Yeah. Um, and their use of peyote, their use of those things that were given, given to them by God, I'm talking about plants. I'm talking about things that just grow naturally in the wild, whether we're talking about, uh, mushrooms, peyote, whether we're talking about cannabis, whether we're talking about the cocoa plant in South America, how many of these cultures have used these plants, um, religiously they have used them, for instance, in South America, uh, the coco leaf to so that they can, can endure high elevations. Um, many, many, many reasons. Uh, even as we talk about opiates and, and the, and, and the problems we are now seeing with synthetic opiate products such as fentanyl, which in my opinion would not even exist if it weren't for the prohibition of pure opium, um, even opium, the natural remedy for dealing with pain. Um, but our policies of prohibition have just pushed it into a, these, these, these plants into another realm. Um, so it, it, it, I'm just so baffled at how, um, society has allowed certain classes of people and governments to move down this path of prohibition to a level where it, it, it, it literally has devastated cultures and communities, um, when, when these products, these plants, were virtually given to us, uh, by God through nature. 

DEAN BECKER: (08:24)
Yes. Tha thank you. Uh, again, we're speaking with, uh, Neil Franklin. He's former executive director of, uh, law Enforcement Action Partnership, uh, uh, 34 years, uh, as a law enforcement officer. Is that still correct? Are you still 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLIN: (08:38)
Training? That's, yeah, that's, that's right, Dean. Yeah. As a matter of fact, I, I still, uh, on the private side, I worked with a couple of companies in law enforcement training, um, leadership training, use of force training. So, yeah. So I guess, uh, when you, when you, when you, I began in law enforcement in 1977. So I guess in a sense, even though I've, I've, my last sworn position was in, uh, um, wow, 2010. Um, I'm still actively engaged in that area of policing and improving, um, the policing conditions across this country, police reform, police training, still actively involved, but, but from a, a private, uh, position at this point. Yeah. 

DEAN BECKER: (09:31)
Not, not wearing the badge, but still training those who wear the badge. 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLIN: (09:35)
Absolutely. All right. Trying to, trying to educate them. 

DEAN BECKER: (09:38)
Now, you mentioned something that triggered something in, in me that, uh, I remember when the colonial powers, I don't know, uh, took over these America, American countries. I, how am I trying to say it? Um, the, the Portuguese and the, the English and the French, and, and, you know, came to this, these two continents and, and claimed this country and that country. And, and as you mentioned, they, they tried to change the, uh, the Well, no, they did change the laws, but the, the ways of the people did not quite work out. Uh, I wanna use Bolivia as an example. Yeah. That Bolivia to this day still choose the coca, still believes in the coca. Every person I met when I was in Bolivia, from the justice Minister to the Christian minister, to the prison warden, to every individual I met, was chewing a white of coca on the side of their cheek there. 

DEAN BECKER: (10:36)
And, um, and they call it mother Coca. They believe in it. And as you said, it helps you to breathe better and to work harder and, and just to have a better life in those high altitudes. And, and another one that triggered for me back in the, uh, 17 hundreds and before, of course, but, uh, uh, Thomas Jefferson had a garden outside his Monticello home. And in that home was a large tract of opium poppies, which he would extract that, that opium gum and make medicine out of it. It was very useful for everyday life, but it was, I'm sure it was very instrumental in, uh, relieving pain during the revolution itself. And it was in 1968 or 69, the DEA realized there was opium growing outside Jefferson's house, and they cut it down and it, it, it is just exemplary of, uh, just the gall of certain people. Right. And your response, please. 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLIN: (11:37)
Yeah. You know, I, I I wanna comment on what you said about Bolivia and the cocoa plant and, and their culture, and, you know, the fact that, uh, the colonization, um, but mainly the United States through the un move to prohibit a lot of these products, including Coca. And, and a few years ago, I, I remember President Morales of Bolivia going to the United Nations because we moved these prohibitions through the United Nations, and I remember him going to the United Nations and presenting before the United Nations, and he stands up there and he pulls out a coca leaf and starts to chew it right in front of the United Nations, uh, as he is preventing it, presenting, and pretty much making the case and saying, how dare you, how can you prohibit this, this plant, which is part of our culture? How can you attempt to prohibit it? 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLIN: (12:41)
Our use of it through the United Nations? And I stand here before you, I'm chewing it today to, to pretty much say to you, it's not going to happen. We're going to continue to use it in our culture. We're gonna continue to use it to make tea. We're going, continue to use it in its natural state and its natural form, despite what you want to do here in the United Nations. And I believe the end result was at the United Nations didn't make way for them to do that. Um, so, uh, I I thought it was a bold move on his part, a very important move, and I applaud, uh, his creativeness and in doing that to make a point that this is our culture, and you're not going to infringe upon our culture. 

DEAN BECKER: (13:28)
No, exactly. Right. Now, I, I want to kind of address that thought that after World War II in particular, I mean, the drug war had kind of started very, mm, tangentially, but just barely before, uh, the World War ii, uh, came along. But after we helped everybody, we had, we gave them money and weapons and people, and, and, uh, became kind of the dominant force on the planet, uh, at that particular moment after World War ii. And it was at that point that we began to move this leverage, uh, onto these other countries to embrace our ideas, become, you know, prohibitionists, join the, the force, if you will. And, and, um, as Harry Anslinger, um, the marijuana guy that, uh, convinced the un that it was time to move in that direction. And we, we, we, the situation by saying, if you don't go along with this idea of creating prohibition in your country, well, we're going to lessen or curtail the funds we provide you during this time of recovery. And, uh, it's, it's been, it's, it's an American creation. Is it not 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLIN: (14:42)
100%. It certainly is. Um, back in the late 18 hundreds coming into 19 hundreds, uh, none of none of this was illegal, right? None of it, um, even here in the United States, uh, heroin was legal. Um, cocaine was legal. Uh, uh, cannabis was legal. It all was, um, and you mentioned an important name, uh, in this effort to prohibit, uh, these products across the country and then internationally. Um, and that's Harry Anslinger, Harry Anslinger, who was deeply involved in alcohol prohibition, which was one of the first major prohibitions, um, we experienced in this country when that was rescinded, um, through Congress. Um, Harry Anslinger, uh, saw his dynasty collapsing right before his eyes. Um, and he decided to take on a new effort, which was to become our nation's first drug czar. Um, and, uh, he, he was successful in doing that. And he went after heroin, he went after cocaine, he went after cannabis. 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLIN: (15:50)
Uh, but more importantly, he used that, um, to go after people. He used that to, to demonize, uh, our Mexican brothers and sisters in the southwest part of the country. He used it to demonize blacks here in the United States and, and, and jazz music. Um, one of his favorite targets or victims was Billie Holiday. And a lot of people still don't know this, that he went after her with literally the, the full force of the, the federal government. Um, she was so popular, and, you know, she was this beautiful jazz mus, uh, vocalist and the words of her music, uh, many of her songs were actually protest in a sense. So it was a way that he could go after her. He could silence her voice. He could make an example of her by going after her and her heroin use. Um, and there are many who claim to this day, and I've, and I've done some reading on this, um, who claimed to this day, and I believe it to be true, that he and his henchman were responsible for her actual death. 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLIN: (17:08)
Um, I, I, I, I would, I would encourage that your listeners read, uh, Johan Hari's book, chasing the Screen, and, um, they will see for a fact that, um, um, we believe this to be true. But I just say that, that you mentioned Harry Anslinger. He was, he was the main one behind all of this effort here in the United States to prohibit these products and then move it in, into, onto the international, um, playing field through the United Nations. And it was all because he had lost his, he, he saw himself losing his dynasty and control within the federal government. Um, and, uh, he took on a new, new effort going after, uh, different drugs. 

DEAN BECKER: (17:54)
Yeah, I, uh, Billie Holiday, she was, uh, quite a, a, a person, a, a pioneer, a a a rebel, if you will. Yeah. Uh, one of her songs, I, um, I don't wanna butcher, but, uh, something about swinging in the breeze, talking about the hanging of a black man and, uh, the, the, in essence celebration that many of the whites had for that scenario. Uh, she, she was busted in Houston. I know that there, there was a pretty big story, I don't have it in front of me, but she was busted in Houston back when as well. You know, again, the colonialism, uh, it was almost like the federal government in the, well, every time they bring forward an idea for a drug law, they present a doctor and a scientist, and I don't know, some ra uh, radio reporter or a, you know, a TV producer or somebody who has a story to tell, and they, they make it sound so horrible and so necessary, and, and so on down the line. And, and especially when they began with the Harrison Narcotics Act in 1914, they were impressing farmers and storekeepers and, and the, the low educated people of America at that time with their supposed intellectual superiority and the need for these drug laws. And they kind of latched onto it. And, and it's, it's kind of just extrapolated, expanded ever since. Uh, just, um, I, I, I don't know. It's, it's taking advantage of , the less educated. That's what this drug war is about, isn't it? 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLIN: (19:32)
Yeah, absolutely. Um, I think they realize, even, even today, I think those in certain positions of power who are trying to move policy, trying to create policy, they realize even today that the, the vast majority of our population don't do a very good job educating themselves on subject matter, right? They, they tend to receive what information they get on a particular topic from one source, you know, very, a very narrow focus. Uh, people who are really good at educating themselves. Unfortunately, there's not enough of these folks, um, obtain their information from many sources. They read books, they, they, today, it's, it's about electronic information on the internet, you know, podcasts, uh, different forms of social media and different platforms. But those people who are good at educating themselves today, they pull their information from many sources, whether it's from the internet, whether it's podcasts, whether it's reading books, whether it's, uh, the media, whether it's cable news, and all the many channels that you can watch and, and what they do. 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLIN: (20:44)
They're really good at saying, okay, this is what I'm seeing consistently across all these forms of, of, or, or, or platforms or sources of information. Okay. I can see that to be true. But basically what I'm saying is they don't rely on a single source of information. They're very good at, at collecting information, dissecting that information, and arriving at what is probably a high percentage, a high probability of being true and accurate information. Unfortunately, most of us don't do that. And we're very persuasive. I mean, we're, we're easily persuaded by people who want to push us or pull us in a particular direction, right? So I encourage your listeners to do a, do the best that they can at educating themselves, use many sources of information for educating themselves, and then dissect that information and do, do the best that they can in evaluating it and, and determining what is most likely to be true. 

DEAN BECKER: (21:51)
No, so true. Uh, we have the classic example just happened in, uh, November. I think that, uh, a a lot, a lot , a lot of people, uh, tend to listen to Fox or, uh, Sinclair, I think, or I don't know. 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLIN: (22:07)
Yeah, Breitbart, uh, you name it, all these different, 

DEAN BECKER: (22:10)
And, and get their, their perspective really from that one source without having a chance to examine the rest of the world's possibilities. And, um, a classic example is being played out, uh, this past week where, uh, soon to be, what's his name? Uh, our president, um, was saying he can't predict the future. He doesn't know if he can lower grocery prices, just as an example of what I think helped to earn him that, that win. And, and now we have billionaires coming forward to be the cabinet and, and to rule the Congress. And, and, and, and all of these people, you know, he's not a Jedi master. He's not a genius. He's a crime boss. From my perspective, wielding that power, just like it was a weapon to, uh, to rule the day, and everyone bows before him. Well, nearly half the people bow before him. And, 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLIN: (23:17)
And it, so here's something, go ahead thing. I'm, I'm so glad you mentioned this, because here's something that clearly demonstrates whether, uh, we are a country where the people decide our direction or whether it's going to be one person who decides our direction. Right? And I would hope that your listeners and most people in this country want us, the people as it says, and demonstrates in the Constitution that this is a country about the people and the people directed establish its philosophy for operating. So here's a, here's a clear indicator what you were just saying. We have our incoming president who is not selecting people for his cabinet, these important positions for running our government. He's not selecting people primarily on their experience, their areas of expertise for the positions that he is putting them into. It's all about loyalty. It's all about who is going to do my bidding, who is not going to push back against what I say. 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLIN: (24:32)
I'm going to call all the shots, pull all the strings, and I need you, my loyalists to do my bidding. That's one person running this country. It's not, it's, it's not a group of people who are the brightest, the smartest for a particular discipline, the most talented. It's about who's going to do my bidding. Um, that's not a good place for us to be. And now that's, that's why even though he's selecting the people for his cabinet, his those important positions, that's why the Senate has to approve them. Yeah. Because that's a check and balance that has been put in place. But when you have a Senate that has now become an or or becoming another group of loyalists to the President, now, we don't have those checks and balances, right? It, it, you know, for ensuring that we have the best and brightest people in these important positions, such as the head of the Department of Justice, which should be operating independent of the White House, you know, or, or whether it's, you know, our, our Department of of Health, whether it's our Department of Defense, you know, and the many other important positions and, and, and organ organizations that have to operate, departments that have to operate. 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLIN: (26:06)
We need the best and the brightest, not those who are just going to be loyal and do the bidding of the person in the White House. We need checks and balances because we can get into serious trouble very quickly here in this country. And that's something I, I don't think any of us want. 


 

DEAN BECKER: (00:01)
Now we're recording this on the day they're talking about, they're not going to fund the budget or something, and they're going to let it ride until January 20th. And I just, um, it, it just like the manipulation of, you know, he who controls the future, controls the past and he controls the past. I, I, I don't remember. It's a, a quote from, uh, 1984, but it's talking about whoever's in power actually controls what the truth is. Yeah. And, and we, we are, we are dipping into that river fairly deep at this point. And, and we need to be c careful. We need to be aware of what is actually happening because, um, you know, these rights can be manipulated as they've done with the drug war that now everyone in America is a suspect, is a subject. Is is someone who needs to be, uh, we need to, uh, determine what they're really up to because people lie. And of course, cops are allowed to lie. And Supreme Court says, go ahead, boys. But, but they can use the idea that you could be a criminal, you could have drugs, you might have guns, , and all, all of this is man used to manipulate people out on the street or elsewhere at airports and wherever, to just give in because we're all terrorists are everywhere, y'all, we, we need to have these 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLN: (01:33)
No, you're right. Know your rights people. 

DEAN BECKER: (01:35)
Go ahead, sir. 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLN: (01:37)
Know your rights. This is why you have to study the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and not just study the, the, the, the Bill of Rights. You have to study the case law that comes with that from the many cases that have been been presented before the Supreme Court of this country. So that when you are confronted by, uh, uh, the government officials, be it the police and others, uh, prosecutors' offices out here, when you are confronted, you know what your rights are. You know what the Fifth Amendment says. You know what the Fourth Amendment says? You know what the Sixth Amendment says? You know what the First Amendment says regarding your freedom of speech and expression. Uh, when we don't, that's when we tend to get into trouble. Um, being able to tactfully exercise and voice your rights when being confronted. And right now, I'm speaking about law enforcement out here because we know that under this incoming administration, law enforcement's going to become even more emboldened when they interact with you, whether it's on a street corner, whether it's on a traffic stop, you know, uh, when you find yourself being asked questions as, as dean, as you were just saying, ask the questions about where are you coming from, where are you going? 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLN: (02:57)
And police officers are trying to get into your car to search for things. Um, you just have to be careful. You have to know your rights. You have to know that they do not have the right to just search you or your car unless they have probable cause. And if they have probable cause, they're not going to ask you. You're just going to do it. Um, so protect your rights. Know, but in order to protect your rights, you have to know them. Um, we're, we're going to be in a, a very awkward place here soon. And I, and just one more thing. I mentioned the First Amendment, and this is also about the freedom of press. And, and Dean, you were, you were talking about this, um, this incoming administration is making a concerted effort to control the press, right? Um, by way of lawsuits, by way of demonizing, uh, the press in, in certain circumstances. 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLN: (03:54)
This is not good. Every dictator on the globe, one of the first things that they do is control the press, control the flow of information to the people. When they control the flow of information to the people, they then begin to control the people. And before you know it, the first Amendment will be the first thing to go. It was the first Amendment put in place by the founding fathers of this country, because they realize its significance and the importance of the right to feast free speech, uh, the the right to challenge your government and, and to, to voice your, uh, uh, uh, how do I say , your, your concerns about the government and your right to religion, right. Free press. And it will be the they. So that's how important it is. So therefore, under dictatorship, it will be the first thing to go to silence the people and to feed you the people. What I want you to hear, not what others want to tell you, but what we, the government want you to hear, because we need to control you, and we need to limit your tongue, your speech, your religion, your press. 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLN: (05:18)
Watch out people. Yeah. That's all. I'll leave it at that. 

DEAN BECKER: (05:21)
No, no. I, I I'm with you there. You know, I, uh, once Trump won, the next day I was calling Canada to find out if I can cross the border, and they, they told me to go to the post office, get fingerprinted, let that go to the FB, I let the FBI then send a message to Canada, and I, I have a, a bust 55 years ago, I was convicted of, uh, possession of, of drugs, of, uh, a suitcase full of drugs. I didn't, I didn't steal them from the drug store. I picked up my friends who were hitchhiking, who had a suitcase. I pled guilty because they said, you plead guilty. We'll give you five years probation. You don't, you force us to go to trial. We'll probably give you 20 years in the pen. That was in 1968. And, uh, anyway, but my point is, I, I, I've been in touch with the, the border people in Canada, but, but, uh, um, they, they've stopped, uh, taking my call. I, I don't know why, 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLN: (06:27)
Why now? Why aren't you on the list for a pardon? 

DEAN BECKER: (06:32)
Oh, well, I, I don't know, sir. I'm in Houston. 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLN: (06:35)
Was was that, were you, was that federal or was that state? Oh, no, 

DEAN BECKER: (06:38)
It, it, it was state. It was state. 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLN: (06:40)
It was state. Well, here, here again the governor of Texas, was it? 

DEAN BECKER: (06:46)
Yes. 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLN: (06:47)
Should be giving you a pardon. 

DEAN BECKER: (06:50)
Well, I, I had another one, a federal charge, uh, for 0.02, three grams of marijuana. A picture that you, you multiply that times 40, you could roll a joint. That's how it, it was an empty matchbox is, which is what people carried it in a lot back in the sixties. But, 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLN: (07:08)
So this is what I'm saying, Dean, one of the things in this country that we should be doing, especially for folks such as yourself who have been charged with these nonviolent drug related crimes decades ago. Yeah. Right. 55 years, and now it's decades. Like, why isn't there like an automatic process, say after I, I'm just throwing this number out there, 20 years nonviolent drug offense, simple possession, or whatever the case may be. You know, you're not running an organization and not some kingpin or something like that. You don't have henchman going out here hurting people. No. You got caught up in something, you know, 20 years or more ago. Why isn't it an automatic? Pardon? Why do we allow this to hang around the necks of people such as yourself? I'm just asking a question. Hopefully your listeners, maybe, maybe one of your listeners has the power and is in a position to maybe do something about that. I, 

DEAN BECKER: (08:12)
I, I had made great friends with our district attorney here, Kim OGs. She got, uh, voted out this round. But, um, and, and she's, she's one of the most bold people I know. She thinks the drug war is irrational. She thinks it's it should, I, I've never heard her say it should be ended, but she's never said anything good about it. I'll say that. Right, right. And, and, but, um, the, the, now that two, uh, well, the one who got elected, uh, will not take my phone calls even though every pro, every district attorney for the last 25 years has come on my show. Every, every, uh, police chief, every sheriff, they've all come on my show. But you heard about that Harding Street bus now about five years or ago. Yep, yep. And since this point in time, none and the mayor will no longer come on my show, because none of them can address what was going on there. They want to treat it more as a singular guy, one bad cop, one bad crew. When I know that all of those crews have done similar things over their decades of service, and it, it just cannot be addressed. It, it comes back to the heart of why I do this show. There's not, no one can defend what this is about. It's just a means to pay their mortgage. That's all it is, sir, I please respond so I can calm 'em down. 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLN: (09:39)
Well, tell me about it. We can go back to Serco in New York. We can go to Baltimore where we just, you know, the past couple years, we, we had this case with the, uh, uh, GGT, the GTTF, which is a gun trace task force. And you know, now we've got all these cops in prison because they were committing home invasions and robbing people on the street and, and, and the whole like, you know, all surrounding this whole thing of drug prohibition, right? You know, we could, we could go to Detroit, you know, where we had task force groups going into legal, medical marijuana dispensaries and ripping them off, stealing their dope, stealing their money. I mean, what I'm saying, Dean, is you can go from city to city to city to city. And because of this drug war, because of these prohibition policies, police officers, task forces, units, and even in some cases, departments have been corrupted because of these failed policies. 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLN: (10:43)
So Kim oog, God, I love her. I wish she was still in office down there, um, is absolutely right. Nothing good. Only bad stuff is coming out of these policies. Uh, it has corrupted policing across this country. It has made the policing profession far more difficult than what it needs to be. It has put police against community at just about every turn. No one will argue about police coming into their communities to find the murderers, to find the rapists, to find the, the child molesters, to find the robbers of people who are sticking you up at an ATM or whatever. No one's going to push back at that. That's what people want. But when the police come into your, your community and, and they're pulling you up on a corner because they think you have marijuana, because they think you might be a drug user, and they're, and they're violating your constitutional rights. They're trying, they're doing knock and talks and trying to get you to open the door so they can get into your home to see if you have drugs violating your fourth Amendment protections and so on. That's what people don't want. 

DEAN BECKER: (12:02)
No. 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLN: (12:03)
When the police stop you and you volunteer information such as, oh, yeah, I have five grand and cash on me. I'm on my way to buy a car that I I found on eBay. And the next thing you know, you no longer have your five grand because they confiscate it, because they believe you might be going to do something else with that money. Right? So they confiscate it, which is legal. They can take it under civil, civil forfeiture policies all across this country. That's what we don't want. So again, these policies have corrupted policing. They have put police and community at odds with one another and, and, and, and what limited resources we have. We're wasting on these dysfunctional drug laws when we should be focusing upon people who are hurting people committing murder, rape, robbery, and crimes against our children. 

DEAN BECKER: (12:58)
You know, it was, um, maybe now a year and a half ago, I don't know, Kim Ogg held a conference that at her office there downtown, and it was to, again, they brought in the DEA to say there's Fentanyl in the drug supply, as if no one had known already at that time. 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLN: (13:16)
I wonder, wonder how that happened, Dean? 

DEAN BECKER: (13:18)
Yeah. But, but you know, it was to say, we're doing this on your behalf and love us and trust us and all that. And, and I, while there, I got to ask the guy, can't think of his name at the moment, uh, uh, anyway, I said, sir, I do a radio show. I've never, for many years, I've been unable to get anyone from the DEA to come on my show. Will you join me? I'll come on your show, Mr. Becker, what he told me, . And the following Monday, they wanted a list of questions. Of course they did , and I sent, I sent them the questions, and Tuesday they said, we're not coming on your show. 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLN: (13:53)
Of course they're not. 

DEAN BECKER: (13:54)
And, but, but my point I'm wanting to get to is that I was at that, that conference. There was A B, C-N-B-C-C-B-S, all of 'em had their cameras there capturing this, this little discussion. And I'm telling those guys, A, B, C, N, B, C, look, if you ever wanna really learn what the drug war is about, bring me on your show. Give me a chance to show there is another side to this horseshit stuff. And, um, um, they, they looked at me like I was crazy, you know, of course, because their bosses aren't gonna let 'em do that. I, I, of course, I have been to 127 major conferences in the US around the world, north and South America and Europe. I have learned some things, and you would think they might want to share some of that information, but they do not because they make their mortgage payments from this drug war. Uh, 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLN: (14:46)
Absolutely. 

DEAN BECKER: (14:47)
Uh, absolutely. Of late, uh, Neil, if I'd like to say this, that I, I brought in, uh, Steve Downing and Judge Gray and, uh, a couple of other folks. We've been doing, uh, some segments or some focus on anti-fascist views, because it is just time to, to have that in America. And that's another reason why I'm trying to see if it's okay to get into Canada. I have a couch reserved up there if, if I can make it . But, but my point is, I would prefer that to a jail cell here in the United States, or a plot in the ground. And, and the, the whole point is, is that I have enough intelligence to at least try to plan ahead, you know, um, they have the power to grab me outta Canada if they want, but my whole point is that they cannot stand the heat of truth of reality itself. It's just the drug war is a fairytale, a fairy grim fairytale, is it? 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLN: (15:45)
Oh, absolutely. It, it, it definitely is. It's, it's this, uh, no pun intended. It's this pipe dream that many have had in this country for a long time. Um, and, and we, we continue to, the more we fight it, the more we use these failed policies, uh, and, and fighting this war, the, the worse it gets. Um, you mentioned fentanyl. Fentanyl wouldn't even be in the picture if it weren't for these policies. Um, I, I've interviewed during the past couple of decades, many of pe, many people who use heroin, um, they would prefer to use a more opiate based product such as heroin, um, that is more natural, more, more kind, is kind to the body. They would prefer to have something that's regulated, something that that is, is known something that's, that's much safer to use. But fentanyl exists primarily because for those who are smuggling it, um, obviously illegally, uh, it's much easier to smuggle a pound of, of fentanyl than it is to smuggle a ton of heroin. 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLN: (17:01)
Yep. Right. So it, it's, you know, it's, it's far as people know, it's as far more potent than heroin. So therefore, I only have to smuggle a fraction of the weight to make the same amount of money once it reaches its destination. And that's, that's a primary law of prohibition. How can I make more money with moving less product? That means I have to make my products more potent, more dangerous, more problematic for use. And there we have it. That's why we have fentanyl now, flooding our communities and and so on. And again, under the policies of prohibition, when that fentanyl does reach its final destination, um, you have no idea what's in it, how potent it is, um, how safe or unsafe it is to use. You just don't have a clue. Um, and that's why we had so many bodies dropping, um, from, from the, you know, the infusion of, of Fentanyl into our products here in the United States. So, uh, prohibition makes these products that you will not be able to stop more potent, more dangerous, more problematic, more deadly, um, when used impro improperly. 

DEAN BECKER: (18:25)
Exactly right. And, and I wanna say something here that, you know, they talk about, uh, fentanyl's coming in from Mexico, it's coming in from China, and I'm wondering, do we not have any scientists smart enough in the United States to actually make fentanyl? We have to depend on these other countries to provide it. We, our scientists are just that dumb. I I think there's a lot more surreptitious BS involved right there as well, because I, I think America could figure out how to make this stuff if they wanted to. 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLN: (18:56)
Uh, oh, of course. Absolutely they do. But again, um, it's, it's, it's the problems of, of, again, what you said, the policies of prohibition that just caused so much heartache in this country for, for everyone, 

DEAN BECKER: (19:11)
Distraction, distortion, et cetera. Now, here's some good news. This, this came out, uh, just a, a day or, uh, uh, or so ago. Uh, it's been reported that as this year's winding down, that law enforcement action partnership has just been, uh, recognized as, uh, the newest inspire change grant partner. And what that means is this is a partnership that reflects the growing recognition that compassion and the community driven solutions are the key to, uh, creating a safer, more vibrant community. And this is from the NFL, this, this is mainstream, as far as I'm concerned. This is good news, is it not, sir? 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLN: (19:54)
Oh, it is. I mean, it's absolutely great news and, and, and glad to hear it coming from a, a powerful organization like the NFL, um, who, in my opinion, um, organizations like that should be involved in, in, in, in helping to direct and making comments about what's going on for in the community and what's best for the community. Um, so yeah, I mean, community solutions, uh, have been and continue to be best, uh, there, there's so much diversity from one community to the next, um, that the solutions for what might seem to be a similar problem across communities, the solutions can be quite different and probably should be quite different. Um, and it should be the people within those communities providing the solutions, especially when it comes to the things and problems that have unfortunately ended up in the hands of policing, you know, most of the issues and problems that we have in, in a community, you don't want someone showing up with a badge and a gun, uh, to deal with a mental health issue to deal with. 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLN: (21:04)
You know, what could be just a simple argument or disagreement between neighbors, you know, which could be even a, a, a loud noise on music complaint. Why do we need a cop showing up? We need somebody who's, who's, who's good at, you know, uh, mediation, showing up, who can settle a difference between, between people, but basically what I'm saying, or, or if it's, or if it's drug use, right? If it's problematic drug use, whether it's from a legal drug or not, it's a legal drug. Um, we don't need a cop showing up. We need someone who's, who's, who's versed in health and mental health to show up, to provide assistance to the person or people. So the, whatever the problem may be, it could truly be solved. But the last thing you want to do for most of the issues that we deal with in our community is have someone show up who's going to eventually, more times than not, place handcuffs on that person, if, if not draw their firearm and unfortunately shoot, maim or kill someone. We don't want 'em to end up in handcuffs and in our, one of our penal institutions because we know whatever issue they had or are dealing with, it's now compounded and it's gonna become even worse. And, uh, uh, which then there's virtually no or very slim chance of any resolution or that their problems being solved. So basically, uh, community response to most of the problems that we have, uh, is, is what we need within our communities, and it should be managed by those community members. 

DEAN BECKER: (22:40)
Well, you bring forward a point there. I wanna kind of address that. Why are cops drug experts? I mean, I, I just don't get it. They have no medical background. They, they're not scientists. They, they, they can't look at a bag and say, well, what is in this bag? They, they, they need to just arrest you for it and go see what it is, I guess, in many cases. But it is just, um, I don't know. I, I, I wanna get back to the, the NFL part there for just a second, that, uh, these guys, you know, they're physically fit. Many, many of them are intellectually, uh, you know, uh, sterling as well. But, but occasionally they, uh, they get brain injuries. And, and there's one who played some NFL that's now being nominated to be the ambassador to, uh, what is it, The Bahamas, uh, Herschel Walker. And, and, and to me, he's an example of the people that Trump is nominating people. He can manipulate people, he can control people that he can use to move his agenda forward. And, and I just don't think Herschel Walker, you know, God bless him, but he's not, he should not be an ambassador to anything. Your thought there, sir? 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLN: (23:59)
Absolutely. Uh, he definitely shouldn't. He's not qualified, um, from what I know of Herschel Walker to be the ambassador to any country. Um, so again, it's about those people who, um, he Trump believes will be loyal to him in doing his bidding. Um, as it relates to what you were saying earlier about the, the NFL and some of the brain injuries that many of the players, uh, have received and are dealing with some of these retired players and are dealing with CTE, um, we already know there's been a number of trials, um, and experience. We already know that things like cannabis can help, uh, to relieve, uh, to make those conditions better, more manageable. Um, again, uh, because cannabis, cannabis has been and continues to technically still be illegal at the federal level, has made research so difficult, um, in, in, in furthering the, the benefits, um, for many of these NFL players and others. 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLN: (25:02)
We already know that many of these athletes in the NFL as well as the NBA, um, the, the, the stress that they put their bodies through does cause pain. Um, and they would much rather use cannabis in managing and dealing with that pain than opiate pain medication. Um, it's already been proven time and time again that cannabis is, is much more beneficial to someone to use less, far less problematic than using an opiate pain medication. It's, it's, it's more natural. Um, and it, it doesn't cause the lingering and, uh, problematic effects that an opiate pain medication does and could. Um, so again, if anyone, uh, should have a say, not just in what we were talking about before, regarding community engagement and, and so on, and solving our problems in our communities, but they should also have a voice in what works for them, uh, in this, again, high stress, uh, uh, environment that they're in, in playing these, these sometimes dangerous sports. 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLN: (26:15)
Um, they should have a say in how to manage their bodies and their minds, um, as they continue to, to play these sports. And, you know, again, our, our, our government should be very engaged and supportive of that, and more open to listening to the concerns of these players. And again, they have a platform. So it's, it's, I'm very happy to see, um, them making use of this platform, whether it's the players or, or the owners. Uh, I do know that the owners are, are, are more reluctant because it's all about money for the most part for them. But the players are more concerned about their welfare, their wellbeing, and the wellbeing and of, of their community. So I value the voice of the players far more than I do of upper management and the owners of these teams. 

DEAN BECKER: (27:13)
Thank you for that. And I, I, I would agree, certainly. Uh, and again, the owners have to look like they're following the mandates of the moral police. We we're protecting your children, et cetera. Um, yeah. And, and it brings to mind a couple of things as we're nearing the end here. Like recently, the Washington Post has been publishing some stories that despite the fact no one's died from marijuana use, it might still be bad. You know, they, they're still clinging to that idea somehow that, that we should always be fearful. 'cause it's, it's a weed, y'all. Um, and, and 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLN: (27:48)
Yeah. 

DEAN BECKER: (27:50)
And, um, the, the other thing is that, uh, uh, classic example, uh, of those who benefit from the psychedelics in, in these brain injuries and recoveries from those type conditions. Uh, uh, a prime example was Aaron Rogers who went to South America and did Ayahuasca, perhaps the most potent psychedelic there is, and said it really helped to clear his head and give him a better focus. Um, it is not speaking too well of his, his playing this year, but last year I think it was, it, it was more exemplary. Um, and Neil, I as always, I, it's just, it's a treat to speak with you. I, I told you, I have, I have a lot of friends, but I only have a few that I, I consider, you know, good friends and, and the fact is, I never see anybody. I, I, I'm a, a house guy. I, I just don't go anywhere. I go to the grocery store, you know, that's my, that's my venture into society. I, uh, I don't know. I, I'm not sure what it.

DEAN BECKER: (26:23)
I I just don't trust humanity that much anymore. I feel we're slipping into some sort of an abyss. That's just my take on it. All, some closing thoughts from you, major Neil Franklin. No, 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLIN: (26:34)
I, I, I think what you just said there goes back to the beginning of our conversation about, you know, what you just said here about humanity and slipping into this, this place of darkness. I think it goes back to what you were saying at the beginning regarding, um, the narrow, uh, narrow sources of information that people are getting, right? They need to broaden their sources of information. They need to do a better job of educating themselves, uh, about what's out there, using many sources of information, many different platforms from the left, from the right, from in between, um, no matter what your political bent is, uh, you just need to be aware of what's out there and, and then do your best at analyzing that information so that you will have a better idea of what the facts are, um, regarding any, any, any topic, any particular topic. So I think that's where it goes. Um, until we collectively do that, and we do it at a high level, um, who knows where we'll end up. Um, but I guarantee you it's not gonna be a good place. 

DEAN BECKER: (27:49)
No, I, I hear you. Well, Neil, once again, thank you. And, uh, once again, folks, I urge you, please visit the, uh, uh, law Enforcement Action Partnership website. It's out there, atap.cc, that's the simple one, uh, or law enforcement, what is it? The long one, 

MAJOR NEIL FRANKLIN: (28:09)
Law law enforcement action.org. 

DEAN BECKER: (28:12)
Okay. And, and again, friends, I thank you for listening. Please do your part. Uh, if I don't speak to you till next year, please have a safe holiday season. And remember that because of the stupid prohibition, you never know what's in that bag of illegal drugs. And I urge you to please be careful and always remember that euphoria is a blessing according to God and Benjamin Franklin, and anybody you want to ask besides the DEA and, uh, it's not a crime to the Drug Truth Network listeners around the world, this is Dean Becker for Cultural Baggage and the Unvarnished Truth, the show produced at the Pacifica Studios of KPFT, Houston Tap Dancing on the Edge of an Abyss.