OPPOSING THE DRUG LAWS THEY ENFORCE

When he's working, Epping Police Officer Bradley Jardis is just like
any other cop.

He's patrolling the streets to catch people with drugs because that's
what he's supposed to do.

But when he's off the clock, this 28-year-old officer is speaking
publicly about why he believes existing drug policies have failed and
why it's time for lawmakers to legalize drugs.

It's an unusual position to take for a police officer charged with
enforcing laws, but Jardis insists that prohibiting drugs leaves the
dealers in control, creating a dangerous black market that breeds
crime and gives kids easy access.

Jardis believes drugs should be regulated by the government just like
alcohol. "We treat alcoholism as a public health problem, but we
treat drug addiction as a criminal problem, and that's wrong," he said.

And he's not the only officer who feels this way.

Jardis, of Hooksett, is among a growing number of current and former
New Hampshire law enforcement officers and others in criminal justice
who have joined a Massachusetts-based nonprofit organization called
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, or LEAP.

Rick Van Wickler, superintendent of the Cheshire County Department of
Corrections, joined LEAP in late 2007, and Ron White, superintendent
of the Merrimack County Department of Corrections, came aboard about
a month ago.

LEAP's membership in New Hampshire has now grown to 132, with as many
as 20 new members joining in the past three months, according to Tom
Angell, the group's media relations director.

LEAP, which began in 2002 with five founding members, now has more
than 11,000 members in 90 countries.

Members argue that legalizing drugs would put the dealers who are
getting rich out of business and the government in control because
people could purchase drugs legally at the store or some other
regulated facility.

Jardis said the government could use revenues from sales to fund drug
education and treat addiction.

Though it supports drug-policy reform, LEAP strongly opposes the use
of drugs and stresses the importance of education to teach people,
especially juveniles, about the dangers of use and abuse.

Opposition to LEAP

Not surprisingly, LEAP has been sharply criticized by many in law enforcement.

"Police officers out on the street should be seeing the problems that
come with drug abuse, especially with marijuana. It is a dangerous
drug. The marijuana on the streets today is not the same marijuana
that was on the streets 20 years ago," said Enfield Police Chief
Richard Crate Jr., 40, a 21-year veteran of the Enfield Police Department.

Crate said marijuana growers have created a more potent drug by
essentially "taking a Michelob Ultra beer and turning it into Moonshine."

But that's exactly why LEAP members say dealers shouldn't be running
the drug business.

Addicts buying on the black market never know exactly what they're
getting, and their purchase could prove deadly.

"Drugs are too dangerous to be left in the control of criminals,"
said Jardis, who joined LEAP in 2005 and has given public talks and
testified before lawmakers.

As they try to spread their message, Jardis, White and Van Wickler
say they're careful not to promote LEAP while they're on the job.
Jardis said he never lets his views prevent him from enforcing the
current drug laws when he's at work.

Officials in Cheshire and Merrimack counties are aware of Van
Wickler's and White's affiliation with LEAP, as is Epping Police
Chief Gregory Dodge, who said he knew that Jardis joined the group
two years ago and voices his views publicly.

Dodge said Jardis has a right to be part of LEAP as long as his work
with the group occurs when he's off duty. "I do not conform to his
beliefs," Dodge said, "and I would just as soon see him not part of
that group."

LEAP: Drug War Is Failing

Van Wickler has been the Cheshire County jail superintendent for 16
years and has seen his share of drug addicts come through his doors.
He estimates that 13 percent of the inmates at his facility are
nonviolent drug offenders.

"The bottom line is, this is a country that, through policies over
the last 30 years, has spent over a trillion dollars to create a
drug-free society. But we in law enforcement can't find anybody who
can even make believe that that's a possibility," he said.

"We can't arrest our way out of this problem, and in the United
States people are spending far too much money believing that they can."

All too often addicts turn to crime to feed their drug habit, LEAP
members say. With the price of drugs inflated on the black market, an
addict can spend big bucks.

"In 10 years in law enforcement, I've seen over and over again how
drug prohibition itself causes crime to occur," said Jardis. "I can't
think of a burglary that occurred in the recent past that didn't
involve someone needing money to buy drugs."

Van Wickler, who also teaches justice studies and correctional
operations at Keene State College, has spoken on behalf of LEAP at
public presentations around New England.

"We at LEAP understand very clearly through our experience that by
legalizing the drugs, you eliminate the criminal element," Van
Wickler, 48, said. "We believe that a mission statement on drugs
should be to reduce crime, death, disease and addiction."

Too many young people also are being locked up and branded as
criminals, in some cases caught for the first time with marijuana or
another drug, Jardis said. A conviction for making a poor choice then
follows that person forever, he said, jeopardizing student loans and
other aspects of their lives.

"You can get over an addiction, but you can't get over a conviction,"
Jardis said. "People make stupid choices, and they should be able to
learn from them."

LEAP members also contend that it's easier than ever for kids to get
their hands on marijuana.

A Cost to Society

Many in law enforcement who oppose the legalization of marijuana and
other drugs insist that legalization would lead to a higher incidence
of drug use and more societal problems.

"People will assume that if it's legal then doctors and the medical
field feel it's OK," said Berlin Police Chief Peter Morency, who
serves as chairman of the New Hampshire Drug Task Force. "We're going
to have a huge cost to society for rehabilitation, for clinics for
people that have told me that they're hooked, and they have a
problems with this.

"People need to look at longer-term effects. On the surface, they say
this is no worse than alcohol, but look at the long-term effects and
the potential cost to the state."

Lincoln Police Chief Ted Smith said he wasn't familiar with LEAP, but
added that he's well aware of the ongoing debate over the
decriminalization of marijuana.

"We do not believe that legalizing marijuana would not cause
problems," said Smith, who is also president of the N.H. Association
of Chiefs of Police.

LEAP members don't buy the argument that legalization will tempt more
people to experiment.

"If you want to use these drugs, you would be using them now," Van
Wickler said. "The fact is that some people have a propensity to
addiction and many others do not. If marijuana were legalized ...
would people start smoking (it) on the job? No."

But legalizing drugs would create other problems as well, opponents
say. Police officers would have no way to measure the amount of drug
in a person's system, as they can with alcohol, Morency said. Police
can use a blood test to detect the presence of a drug, but unlike
alcohol, there's no impairment rate for drugs.

Morency also questions how the drugs would be regulated and whether
there would be limits set on the amount of drug a person could possess.

Yet no matter how the government tries to educate, LEAP members
insist, some people still will abuse drugs just like some do alcohol.

"We have speeding laws and people still speed," said White, the
superintendent of the Merrimack County jail and one of LEAP's newest members.

The Merrimack County jail holds an average of 230 inmates a day, many
of whom are there for drug offenses, White said. The new jail opened
in 2005 and was "crowded from the day that we opened it," he said.

"From a practitioner's standpoint, I think we have to do something,"
White said. "I don't think jail is the best place for them."