Hardrock69
04-10-2006, 05:05 PM
WICHITA, Kansas, Apr 10, 2006 -- A group of law enforcement officers is speaking out against the United States’ War on Drugs. They say the real way to beat the drug problem is to simply make them legal.
It sounds a little out of character for cops but this group says legalizing drugs would decrease the amount of death, disease, crime and addiction associated with drug use.
Former New Jersey state trooper and undercover narcotics cop, Jack Cole, has a simple message.
"If we legalized drugs today and we started treating drug abuse as a health problem instead of a crime problem, we could save most of these people who are using drugs," said Cole.
Cole is a member of LEAP, or Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, and he is traveling the country to spread the word.
"When you prohibit a drug, even the most dangerous drug, two things it doesn’t do -- it doesn’t cause the drug to be any better and it doesn’t cause less people to use it," said Cole.
The group points to this country’s "War on Drugs", a decades-old program that is currently spending $69 billion a year to stop drug use. Leap says the hard truth is that it isn’t working.
When the program began in the 1960’s, the government estimated only 4 million Americans had used illegal drugs. Now, decades and billions of dollars later, the estimate is that 110 million Americans have used.
"Marijuana is worth more ounce to ounce than gold. Heroine is worth more than uranium. Heroine is probably the most expensive commodity on the face of the earth," said Cole.
Cole says, once you legalize the drug you put every drug dealer in the country instantly out of business, much like when the United States ended alcohol prohibition. That helps reduce crime. And once the drugs are legal, drug addiction becomes a health issue instead of a crime issue. He argues that would help get more Americans get off of drugs.
"If we legalize this next week, it would be one week too late because, in that week, we’re going to destroy a lot of lives in the war on drugs."
Every year in the United States we arrest 1.7 million people for non-violent drug offenses. That is the equivalent of locking up everyone in Sedgwick County and our 17 surrounding counties.
http://www.ksn.com/news/stories/12250790.html
It sounds a little out of character for cops but this group says legalizing drugs would decrease the amount of death, disease, crime and addiction associated with drug use.
Former New Jersey state trooper and undercover narcotics cop, Jack Cole, has a simple message.
"If we legalized drugs today and we started treating drug abuse as a health problem instead of a crime problem, we could save most of these people who are using drugs," said Cole.
Cole is a member of LEAP, or Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, and he is traveling the country to spread the word.
"When you prohibit a drug, even the most dangerous drug, two things it doesn’t do -- it doesn’t cause the drug to be any better and it doesn’t cause less people to use it," said Cole.
The group points to this country’s "War on Drugs", a decades-old program that is currently spending $69 billion a year to stop drug use. Leap says the hard truth is that it isn’t working.
When the program began in the 1960’s, the government estimated only 4 million Americans had used illegal drugs. Now, decades and billions of dollars later, the estimate is that 110 million Americans have used.
"Marijuana is worth more ounce to ounce than gold. Heroine is worth more than uranium. Heroine is probably the most expensive commodity on the face of the earth," said Cole.
Cole says, once you legalize the drug you put every drug dealer in the country instantly out of business, much like when the United States ended alcohol prohibition. That helps reduce crime. And once the drugs are legal, drug addiction becomes a health issue instead of a crime issue. He argues that would help get more Americans get off of drugs.
"If we legalize this next week, it would be one week too late because, in that week, we’re going to destroy a lot of lives in the war on drugs."
Every year in the United States we arrest 1.7 million people for non-violent drug offenses. That is the equivalent of locking up everyone in Sedgwick County and our 17 surrounding counties.
http://www.ksn.com/news/stories/12250790.html