WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A group of police and judges who want to legalize drugs pointed to new FBI numbers released today as evidence that the "war on drugs" is a failure that can never be won. The data, from the FBI's "Crime in the United States" report, shows that in 2008 there were 1,702,537 arrests for drug law violations, or one drug arrest every 18 seconds.
"In our current economic climate, we simply cannot afford to keep arresting more than three people every minute in the failed 'war on drugs,'" said Jack Cole, a retired undercover narcotics detective who now heads the group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP). "Plus, if we legalized and taxed drug sales, we could actually create new revenue in addition to the money we'd save from ending the cruel policy of arresting users."
NEW YORK― Walter Cronkite, America’s trusted broadcaster and father figure to a nation for decades, has died in New York at the age of 92.
Covering the most important stories of his time – including the
assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Doctor Martin Luther
King, Jr., the ups and downs of the Vietnam War, Egypt’s breakthrough
peace treaty with Israel, and man’s first step on the moon – Americas
trusted Walter Cronkite to report the facts the way they were, as
symbolized by his famous sign off, “That’s the way it is.”
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition makes the LEAP to Brazil
Director Jack Cole presented LEAP’s solution to ending the violence to the Brazilian Commission on Drugs and Democracy
Director Jack Cole on TV-Globo from Rio de Janeiro
(In Portuguese)
Brazilian Judges become LEAP speakers
André Luiz Nicolitt
Maria Lucia Karam
LEAP Board Member
Rubens Casara
Three days before LEAP arrived in Brazil, drug gang violence in Rio de Janeiro killed 33, including two Police officers when their helicopter was shot from the sky.
Take Action!
Sen. Jim Webb Pushes Blue Ribbon Commission to Study the Failed "Drug War"
Click here to sign the petition supporting a Blue Ribbon Commission.
LEAP Russian Translation
Thanks to Kyrgyzstan Police Colonel Alexander Zelitchenko, PhD, the republican Police Newspaper, "Statja"
(Kyrgyz Republic) started to publish information about LEAP's goals and activities 20 May 2009 and
continued in their next edition, 3 June 2009. Please view here.
We are sorry but LEAP currently has no Russian speaking staff so comments to us must be addressed in English.
$815,000 Settlement Validating Police Sergeant Jonathan Wender's Right to Speak out Against Drug Prohibition
On what US policy-reform issue could these 6 people possibly agree?
Political Spectrum
Noam Chomsky
William F. Buckley, Jr.
Barbara Ehrenreich
Milton Friedman
Howard Zinn
George P. Schultz
Legalized Regulation of all Drugs!
COPS SAY LEGALIZE DRUGS!
ASK US WHY
After nearly four decades of fueling the U.S. policy of a war on drugs with over a trillion tax dollars and 37 million arrests for nonviolent drug offenses, our confined population has quadrupled making building prisons the fastest growing industry in the United States. More than 2.2 million of our citizens are currently incarcerated and every year we arrest an additional 1.9 million more guaranteeing those prisons will be bursting at their seams. Every year we choose to continue this war will cost U.S. taxpayers another 69 billion dollars. Despite all the lives we have destroyed and all the money so ill spent, today illicit drugs are cheaper, more potent, and far easier to get than they were 35 years ago at the beginning of the war on drugs. Meanwhile, people continue dying in our streets while drug barons and terrorists continue to grow richer than ever before. We would suggest that this scenario must be the very definition of a failed public policy. This madness must cease!
Jack Cole's presentation "End Prohibition Now!" was selected in 2007 by the International Harm Reduction Association as one of the 50 best harm reduction papers worldwide.
Click here to read or download the document:
Howard Zinn, historian and activist, whose book, "A People's History of the United States," was made into a movie narrated by many of Hollywood’s biggest stars, died at age 87.
On February 21, 2008, Jack Cole took the liberty of sending Howard a five page email explaining LEAP’s position on the war on drugs. Six minutes later, he received an email response saying, “OK, Jack you can list me as a member.” In so doing, he joined intellectual luminaries such as Noam Chomsky and Milton Friedman who understood, from quite different frameworks, the futility and corrupting barbarity of this war.
Former Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper on FOX News
LEAP in the News
US WI: Cannabis Expo in Berlin Saturday
Oshkosh Northwestern, 05 Feb 2010 - BERLIN - The timing may be a little off for a hemp and cannabis expo in Berlin Saturday, coming on the heels of a major drug bust of some 30 illegal drug manufacturers and dealers in the city, but the coordinators of the event make no apologies. The T.H.C Expo is being held to tout the wonders of medical marijuana and the economic potential of hemp farming.
US: Duo Pushes Rhode Island to Decriminalize Pot
Wall Street Journal, 03 Feb 2010 - PROVIDENCE, R.I.--A retired police officer and the proprietor of an organic eatery make an odd couple when it comes to trying to overturn marijuana laws in this tiny state, but Jack Cole and Josh Miller are giving it their best shot. Mr. Cole, 71 years old, is a veteran of decades with the New Jersey State Police, almost all with the drug squad. Mr. Miller, 55, runs Local 121, a restaurant favored among "buy local" diners, and also serves in the state Senate, where he leads a special commission to study marijuana prohibitions. The panel began hearings in January to discuss an overhaul of the state's pot laws, starting with decriminalization of small amounts. As legislators across the U.S. struggle to rescue state budgets hammered by the recession, decriminalization is one idea gaining traction. Advocates say states could cut costs of policing, prosecuting and incarcerating offenders, and even raise money by taxing users. "Any respect for this issue lies right now in its impact on the budget," said Mr. Miller.
US RI: Marijuana Gets Treatment From House, Senate
Pawtucket Times, 02 Feb 2010 - PROVIDENCE - While a special Senate commission continues studying the prohibition of marijuana and perhaps a Massachusetts-style decriminalization of the drug, two House members have submitted legislation to tighten up the state's medical marijuana law. The Senate commission, chaired by Sen. Joshua Miller, will meet Wednesday at 5 p.m. to hear from Rhode Island Public Defender John J. Hardiman, Esq.; Jack Cole of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition; a representative of the Massachusetts Police Chiefs Association; and commission member Joe Osediacz, a retired state trooper. Osediacz will discuss state laws concerning the taxation of marijuana.
CN BC: Cop Says Drug Prohibition Places All the Power in the Hands
Cowichan News Leader, 23 Jan 2010 - David Bratzer enforces the law, but he doesn't necessary agree with it when it comes to illegal drugs. "One of the sad things about the prohibition of drugs in our society is that despite more than four decades of heavy drug enforcement, we see today that drugs are cheaper, more available and more pure than ever before," said Bratzer, an active officer with the Victoria Police Department who sees the war on drugs as a failure.
"Anyone concerned about the failure of our $69 billion-a-year War on Drugs
should watch this 12-minute program. You will meet front line, ranking
police officers who give us a devastating report on why it cannot work. It
is a must-see for any journalist or public official dealing with this
issue."-- Walter Cronkite
"Damage Done
introduces a group of maverick cops - and former cops - who have put in decades fighting the
war on drugs. They may be libertarians, Republicans, socialists or evangelical Christians,
but they all believe strongly that drug prohibition is a terrible mistake and that all
illicit drugs should be controlled by government, not in the hands of criminals.
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Dedicated to our departed colleagues who courageously spoke out about the destructive policy of Drug Prohibition
Eleanor Schockett
Gil Puder
Whitman Knapp
John Perry
Ralph Salerno
Bob Owens
Eddie Ellison
Martin Haines
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