SPEAKER TO ADDRESS RACISM IN 'WAR ON DRUGS'

DURHAM - A retired undercover narcotics officer is scheduled to speak
at 6 o'clock this evening in the Strafford Room of the Memorial Union
Building on campus at the University of New Hampshire. The
presentation is being sponsored by the UNH Peace and Justice League.

Speaker Jack Cole, from an organization known as Law Enforcement
Against Prohibition, used to work with the New Jersey State Police,
where he posed as an undercover fugitive drug dealer in order to track
members of drug-trafficking organizations.

Cole has spoken at many colleges and universities, on radio programs
and at conferences across the United States; he has also addressed the
European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium. Now he focuses on educating
people about the issues of racism, gender bias and the brutality and
corruption in law enforcement. He believes the current policies of the
war on drugs are steeped in racism. Cole also teaches courses to
police recruits and veteran officers on ethics, moral decision-making
and the negative effects of racial profiling.

LEAP is a nonprofit educational organization whose goal is to address
the current drug policies by presenting the history, causes and
effects of drug abuse and drug-related crime. Leaders of the
organization believe the current policies are a failure, and Cole will
address alternatives to these policies. Their goal is also to help
restore the public's respect for law enforcement and reduce the harm
that results from fighting the war on drugs.