Pubdate: Thu, 14 Aug 2003
Source: King County Journal (US WA)
Copyright: 2003, Horvitz Newspapers, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.kingcountyjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2948
Author: Noel S. Brady
Cited: Law Enforcement Against Prohibition http://www.leap.cc/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

WAR ON DRUGS `A DISMAL FAILURE,' EX-COP SAYS 

Jack Cole Advocates Legalization Of Drugs At Bellevue Meeting

BELLEVUE -- The most deadly drug on the streets today isn't cocaine or
heroin; it's nicotine, a retired narcotics detective Jack Cole told a
group of Bellevue professionals Wednesday.

Public education, treatment and support drastically reduced the number
of Americans who smoke over the last 20 years, Cole said. But an
estimated $69 billion a year fueling the United States' war on drugs
has done little more than make drug dealers richer and jails more crowded.

Police arrest about 1.6 million people for nonviolent drug offenses
annually, he said, but the purity and availability of drugs from
marijuana to heroin continues to rise, while their street prices decline.

Cole, who is now executive director of Law Enforcement Against
Prohibition, (LEAP), told a couple dozen members the Bellevue Overlake
Rotary Club that the war on drugs is ``a dismal failure.'' The only
way to stop the misguided effort from ruining the lives of nonviolent
users, he said, is to legalize all drugs once and for all.

``We're destroying lives,'' Cole said, ``literally destroying
lives.

``I submit to you that whole armies of police won't fight their way
out of this,'' Cole said in a small banquet room at the Harbor Club in
downtown Bellevue. ``We are looking to legalize all drugs, so drug can
be controlled and regulated.''

A cop for 26 years, Cole said he first recognized the drug war's
downside just two years into his 12-year stint as an undercover
narcotics officer.

While he says his year-old organization, LEAP, is comprised of more
than 500 current and former police officers, Cole's ardent stance
against prohibition is a unique one among police in the Seattle area.

Cole says drug trade annually generates more than $400 billion. The
only way to fight that figure is to remove the criminal element and
profit from narcotics and put the government in charge of ensuring
drugs are dispersed as safely as possible, he said.

Government oversight would reduce the number of overdoses caused by
poorly blended heroin and cocaine, he said. And treatment, rather than
prison, would give users a chance to abandon their addictions and move
on to happy, productive lives.

``LEAP is not about having one more drug user in the world,'' he said.
``It's about having a million less. If you give people hope for the
future, they leave drugs behind.''

Over the past year, numerous government, legal and medical officials
in Washington state have acknowledged that the drug war isn't working.
Spurred by a group of prominent officials including King County
Prosecutor Norm Maleng, the state Legislature this year passed a set
of bills designed to retool states policies for prosecuting nonviolent
drug offenders.

The idea is to release some low-level offenders from prison in order
to free up money for addiction treatment and education. Just last
month the state Department of Corrections released 280 low-risk
inmates, most of whom were serving time for drug offenses.

The law is expected to save the state about $40 million in the next
two years by eliminating supervision for certain nonviolent offenders
after they're released, and letting others out of prison early by
increasing time off for good behavior.

Still, few people in law enforcement here advocate legalization of all
drugs. Maleng and certainly most police officers fear that would send
the wrong message. ``Using, possessing or manufacturing illegal drugs
is a crime,'' Bellevue Police Chief Jim Montgomery said when Maleng
announced his proposal to the Legislature last year. ``There should be
a penalty attached to any crime committed by any individual. While
rehabilitation has its merits, it should not be the only repercussion
for those who commit this crime.''

Rotary members who listened to Cole's presentation Wednesday said they
were intrigued by the staggering numbers he quoted, and most agreed a
change in policy is overdue.

Anne Alberg, a dietary supplement sales executive who live in
Kirkland, said she agrees that imprisoning small-time drug users
unnecessarily ruins their lives and limits their ability to overcome
their addictions. After hearing Cole's presentation, she said she also
agrees with releasing nonviolent offenders, but total legalization of
all narcotics still scares her.

``It has always perplexed me that there's so much money driving the
drug trade,'' she said. ``I never understood how law enforcement could
fight it. But knowing that more and more kids are experimenting really
scares me.''
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin