DRUG WAR HAS FAILED

Editor:

Executive members of a unique drug-policy organization will be gathering in
Niagara Falls, Ontario this weekend to discuss strategies for ending the
"War on Drugs."

The advisory board for the organization is made up of: Honorable Warren W.
Eginton, Judge, US District Court, Bridgeport, Connecticut; Honorable Gary
E. Johnson, Governor of the State of New Mexico; Honorable John L. Kane,
Judge, US District Court, Denver, Colorado; Sheriff Bill Masters, Sheriff
of San Miguel County, Colorado; Mr. Joseph McNamara, former Chief of San
Jose, California Police Department; Mr. Patrick V. Murphy, former Police
Commissioner, New York City Police Department; Mr. Nick Pastore, former
Chief of New Haven, Connecticut Police Department; and Honorable Robert W.
Sweet, Judge, US District Court, New York City, New York.

But what makes this newly formed international group so unique is that its
membership consists of current and former drug-warriors who believe the
drug policies of the United States have failed in their intended goals of
reducing drug use, addiction and crime. Fighting a war on drugs has only
expanded and intensified the drug problems of the United States and many
other countries. Modeled after "Vietnam Veterans Against the War," the
membership of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition believes a system of
regulation rather than prohibition is more effective in lowering the
incidence of crime, death, disease, and addiction.

I was a member of the New Jersey State Police for 26 years and served in
their narcotic bureau for over twelve years, mostly as an undercover agent.
I can bear witness to the abject failure of the war on drugs. After three
decades of fueling the war with over half a trillion tax dollars and
increasingly punitive policies, illicit drugs are easier to get, cheaper,
and more potent than they were 30 years ago. While our court system is
choked with ever-increasing drug prosecutions our quadrupled prison
population has made building prisons this nation's fastest growing
industry. With two million people incarcerated -- more per capita than any
country in the world -- innocent victims still die in our streets while
drug barons and terrorists grow richer every day.

The message LEAP hopes to send is not about glorifying or promoting drug
use. However, to continue treating drug use as a law enforcement issue
rather than a medical one is folly.

It is poignant that LEAP is meeting in Niagara Falls two weeks before the
Hells Angels hold their national convention there. The anticipated spread
of this group into Ontario has caused great concern to both the citizens of
the region and the policing authorities. Although this is an entirely
legitimate concern, a policy of continuing to use the same old law
enforcement tactics against them is doomed to fail.

We must attack criminal and terrorist organizations where we can have the
greatest effect -- removing their sources of funding. Over $400 billion is
spent on illegal drugs each year and organizations such as the Hells Angels
make obscene profits from the sale of some of those drugs. LEAP maintains
that if we remove those profits their activities will be severely
curtailed. End drug prohibition today and tomorrow no criminal or terrorist
will make a single dollar from selling drugs.

Jack A. Cole, Executive Director,

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition

www.leap.cc

Medford, Mass.