http://www.wickedlocal.com/weston/homepage/x1946828235/Ending-the-losing-War=
-on-Drugs
By Isabella Jancourtz
Thu May 22, 2008, 10:31 AM EDT
WESTON - A mighty, mighty warrior for truth and justice stopped by the
library the other night for a sparsely attended talk sponsored by the
Weston Democratic Town Committee. His subject, as ever, was "Ending
the War on Drugs."
Retired Detective Lt. Jack A. Cole served 26 years with the New Jersey
State Police, including 12 years undercover with the Narcotic Bureau.
He figures he was personally responsible for putting over 1,000 non-
violent drug offenders in jail, a fact he is not proud of now.
Gradually he came to see the errors of the "War on Drugs" and to
regret his role in it.
In 2002, Officer Cole and four of his friends started LEAP (Law
Enforcement Against Prohibition). There are now over 10,000 members,
mostly present or former cops, lawyers, judges and others in law
enforcement. But anyone can join and there no dues. Cole would like
member****p to reach the million mark soon.
The goal of LEAP is to end drug prohibition, thus reducing the
incidence of death, disease, crime and addiction. "When FDR ended
alcohol prohibition in 1932, overnight Al Capone was out of business."
LEAP speakers go all over the country and the world to share the
message that the War on Drugs does not work. It merely destroys the
lives of millions of people at great cost to all of us.
Here in the U.S. we spend $69 billion each year on the drug war. There
have been 38 million arrests for non-violent drug offenses since 1970.
We now have the highest incarceration rate on the planet, with 1 out
of every 100 adult Americans in jail.
Yet there has been a dramatic increase in addiction, and hard drugs
have become more prevalent and are cheaper and more available than
when the drug war started.
It is now easier for kids to buy drugs than it is for them to buy beer
or cigarettes. Why?
They have to show ID for beer and cigarettes, which are regulated by
the government, as LEAP believes that drugs should be.
"Cops are no good at protecting people from themselves," says Cole.
"We are only good at protecting people against others."
Back in the 1950s, 90 percent of all homicides were solved. Now only
40 percent of homicides are solved and the figures are lower for other
crimes as well. These days, 46 percent of assaults, 60 percent of
rapes, 75 percent of robberies and 83 percent of property crimes are
never solved. Cole believes that cops are too preoccupied with the
drug war to protect and serve the public the way they used to.
Statistically there has always been 1.3 percent of the population who
are addicted to drugs.
The War on Drugs has not helped these people with their health
problem. Instead it has treated both addicts and casual drug users as
criminals and stuffed them into our ever growing number of prisons.
"Prisons are big business. They are the fastest growing U.S.
industry," said Cole. Companies which build and run "privatized
prisons" have big Wa****ngton lobbyists who push for mandatory
sentencing so they can build more prisons.
Police officers and others in the criminal justice system are
corrupted and compromised by the huge amounts of money involved in the
illegal drug trade. Police departments become dependent on funds they
receive when assets are forfeited in drug busts.
"You can get over an addiction but you will never get over a
conviction," says Officer Cole. He explains that a CORI record will
follow you for the rest of your life. "It will keep you from getting a
government grant for college. It will keep you from getting a job. It
will keep you from being licensed by the state in many different
professions. In many states, a convicted felon also loses the right to
vote."
The family is always adversely impacted, if not shattered, by the
hard****p of a child or parent in jail. If the family lives in
subsidized housing, the whole family will be evicted because of the
drug conviction of one member.
"Grandma has to hit the bricks too," said Officer Cole. A couple of
years ago the U.S. Supreme Court approved this group punishment
because "we are fighting a War on Drugs." All of us have paid for this
failed policy with the loss of our civil rights and liberties.
It is no accident that black men are incarcerated out of all
pro****tion to their numbers. For every white man in prison, there are
seven black men in there with him.
Richard Millhouse Nixon declared this war in 1968 when he was running
for the presidency for the second time. The War on Drugs allowed Nixon
to go after the young black male population and get lots of votes from
a frightened, manipulated white middle class, all without appearing to
be overtly racist.
In 1970, Congress passed massive funding for the War on Drugs. Officer
Cole=92s New Jersey State Police Narcotic Bureau expanded from 7 to 76
persons overnight, all paid for by the federal government.
Although Nixon was a Republican, each succeeding president has only
made things worse, says Cole. With mandatory sentencing and the three
strikes laws, we now have 2.3 million people in jail, far more than in
any other country.
The political implications are startling. In Texas, for example, 31
percent of black men cannot vote because of past felony convictions,
mostly for non-violent drug offenses.
"Do you think that could affect an election?" asked Cole.
He ended his presentation with some solutions. The government needs to
remove the profit motive. It should control, regulate and keep drugs
out of the hands of children. He cites the success of such legislation
in Switzerland and Holland, where rates of addiction and crime have
plummeted.
He suggests that all the money we could save by ending the War on
Drugs would be better spent on health care, education, housing, job
training and employment programs which provide jobs at a livable wage.
In Massachusetts we spend $46,000 per year on each prisoner.
Cole feels that education is the only way to reduce drug use and
addiction and cites the dramatic decline in cigarette smoking as an
example. In 1985, 42 percent of Americans smoked tobacco. In 2005,
thanks to widespread education of the public, it was just 21 percent.
In November we will all have the chance to vote on a binding state
referendum to limit the penalty in Massachusetts for possession of one
ounce of marijuana to a $100 civil fine, with no criminal record.
In Congress, Massachusetts Democrat Rep. Barney Frank has introduced a
bill to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana. On the federal
level, you can presently get 10 years in prison for growing one
marijuana plant.
At age 69, Jack Cole is writing his PhD dissertation at UMass Boston
as well as broadcasting his message of change. He has spoken on drug
policy reform at hundreds of conferences and at the European
Parliament, traveling between the Medford home he shares with his jazz
musician wife and their farm in Tuscany.
Officer Cole could kick back now if he wanted to, but he is a man on a
mission. He is not going to quit until he and his colleagues help put
a stop to the War on Drugs.
It is almost 9 p.m. and the library is about to close. All 18 of us
seem to have been inspired by Jack Cole=92s talk and the ensuing
discussion. Some are all set to join LEAP and spread the word.
Officer Cole packs up his gear and gets ready to hit the road. He=92ll
be driving his Toyota Prius all the way to New York City, where
sometime after midnight he will crash at his son=92s Manhattan
apartment. When he gets there, he says he=92ll unwind with a glass of
Jack Daniels and enjoy the spectacular view of the city.
The very next morning Cole will be giving testimony in favor of
reforming New York=92s notoriously harsh Rockefeller Drug Laws. We
wonder out loud how he does it all. With a charming smile and a shrug,
this handsome former state trooper says he just keeps on going, no big
deal.
With that sort of grit and determination, Officer Jack Cole and his
buddies in LEAP just might finally bring an end to the ill-conceived
boondoggle known as "The War on Drugs."
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