WAR AGAINST DRUGS LOST, FORMER OFFICER CLAIMS

America Lost Its War Against Drugs and It's Time to Fight a Different
Battle, According to a Group Advocating the Legalization and Regulation of
Drugs.

Peter Christ is treasurer of a group called LEAP, or Law Enforcement
Against Prohibition. He will be in Wilkes-Barre next week to meet with
community groups and Luzerne County Commissioner Greg Skrepenak.

LEAP, a group of retired law enforcement officials from across the world,
has a simple message.

"Prohibition does not work," Christ said. "Not only does it not work, it
also creates problems that exist in our society."

Gangs are dictating where drugs are distributed and controlling the
billion-dollar black market industry, Christ said.

"In a regulated, controlled marketplace, we at least have control over it,"
Christ said. "We can regulate the purity and the distribution points.

"To continue on the course we are on is futile and a threat to our society.
We've created the obscene profit in drugs by making them illegal."
Legalizing drugs and regulating them controls cost, access and drug
profits, Christ said.

Christ, a retired police captain from Tonawanda, N.Y., a suburb of Buffalo
with a population of 85,000, believes law enforcement's role was lost in
the drug war.

"I know what law enforcement's job is," Christ said. "That is to protect
people from each other. It's never been to protect people from themselves.
That is the job of family, friends, education, health care and religion.

"When someone intrudes on you, then call us." Skrepenak is meeting with
Christ to hear a different perspective on how to fight the war on drugs.
The commissioner was adamant: He is not advocating legalizing street drugs.

"I look forward to listening to what he has to say," Skrepenak said. "It is
always good to hear the ideas and opinions of people who disagree with you.
Hopefully, good will come out of this."

One reason Skrepenak is leading Luzerne County's fight on the drug problem
is because it is leading to substantial overcrowding at Luzerne County
Correctional Facility. Luzerne County is not alone; the United States has
the largest prison population of any free country in the world. About half
of that population is non-violent drug offenders, Christ said.

"We can't arrest our way out of this problem," Christ said. "There is
nothing right about what we're doing except for the message 'Don't do drugs.'

"This drug war has never been right and has never done what it has promised."