EX-COP: REHAB, NOT JAIL

In his career, Jack Cole put more than 1,000 people behind bars on
drug-related charges. Now he's trying to stop people from going to jail for
drugs.

Cole, a 26-year veteran of the New Jersey State Police and executive
director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, spoke to students
Wednesday at the Law School about his organization's proposal to repeal the
nation's drug prohibition.

The event, sponsored by MU's and the Law School's American Civil Liberties
Union chapters as well as MU Student National Organization for the Reform
of Marijuana Laws, drew more than 30 students to hear Cole's proposal.

"If you give (drug users) hope for the future, they will leave the drugs
behind them," Cole said.

Cole, a former drug enforcement agent, said over the past 30 years the
price of drugs such as cocaine and heroin have decreased while their
potency has increased.

Cole also said the United States has been involved in a 35-year failing
drug war, spending hundreds of billions of dollars on the problem.

Cole helped found LEAP in 2002, to help spearhead support for drug
legalization. LEAP now has more than 1,000 members and a national advisory
board which includes federal judges, a former governor and former police
chiefs.

Cole came to campus after his meeting with the Missouri Association of
County Commissioners in Jefferson City on Wednesday afternoon.

Columbia attorney Dan Viets said he was happy about Cole's visit. The event
was scheduled at the last minute during Cole's week-long Missouri tour.

"We wanted to give people here a unique perspective of drug policy in
America," Viets said.

Viets said Cole's presentation is an important message for Missourians.

"It's amazing to hear someone say the things that he says," Viets said.
"You don't hear about a lot of things he points out and he even uses the
DEA's own Web site in his presentation."

Cole's presentation comes soon after introduction of a bill to the Missouri
General Assembly that would legalize medicinal marijuana.

"This bill is for people who are ill and suffering and have not been able
to find any other types of medication that provide relief," Rep. Vicky
Riback Wilson, D-Columbia, said.

Wilson, a co-sponsor of the bill, said the bill has little chance of
garnering much support in the General Assembly.

"It's an election year, and it is a controversial issue," Wilson said.