cannabisnews.com: Former Cop Changes Sides in Nation's War on Drugs Former Cop Changes Sides in Nation's War on Drugs Posted by CN Staff on October 03, 2004 at 08:51:26 PT By Douglas Belkin, Globe Staff Source: Boston Globe As a New Jersey state trooper for 26 years and an undercover narcotics officer for 12, Jack Cole watched a drug dealer point a gun at his head and felt a thug hold a knife to his throat.But the violence from the front lines of the war on drugs wasn't what pushed him to conclude it's a failed policy. Rather, it was the one size-fits-all sledgehammer of ''justice" that Cole believes has ruined more lives than any white powder. ''You can get over a drug addiction, but you can't get over a drug conviction," Cole, 66, said last week from his Medford home.So two years ago, more than a decade after he retired with the bad taste in his mouth that maybe he had invested his life's work in a wrong-headed cause, Cole started an organization called LEAP, Law Enforcement Officers Against Prohibition. The purpose of the group: Legalize drugs.''The war on drugs is not a war we're going win," Cole said. ''We're creating as many problems as we're solving."With seed money from the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington DC lobbying organization, LEAP is starting to make its voice heard. And Cole, a former steel worker married to a jazz pianist with a poster of Thelonius Monk hanging over the fireplace, has begun to earn a reputation as an avatar for progressive policing.His organization has grown from five members two years ago to more than 2,000 today, among them former federal judges and retired DEA agents. There are now 85 LEAP speakers crisscrossing the country. They've addressed more than 900 forums -- typically Rotary and Lions clubs -- to try to build grass-roots support against the nation's drug policy. Cole estimates 80 percent of the people he speaks to come away nodding in agreement.''They come up to me afterward and say, 'I never realized what we were doing; yes, naturally we have to change this,' " Cole said. ''All they have heard is what the drug warriors have told them for 34 years."The lecture Cole delivers to just about anybody who will listen has been honed by years on the street and nearly a decade in academia, where he is pursuing a doctorate in public policy at the University of Massachusetts at Boston. By criminalizing drugs, governments have made them infinitely more valuable, he says. That value gives the people who control them power. And that means that no matter what the risks are, there will always be somebody willing and desperate enough to take the risks to deal.Despite his gray beard and a slight resemblance to Willie Nelson, Cole is no pie-in-the-sky idealist. He's a pragmatist. He wants drugs legalized so they can be controlled.''Right now the people that control and regulate drugs are the dealers," Cole said. ''They tell us what will be distributed to the community, what the purity will be, how much it will cost and who and where it will be sold. And then we see to it that they get all the profits."Cole wants drugs controlled by the government, heavily taxed, and easily accessible to adults. And he wants to see some of the $69 billion a year ''thrown down the rat hole" used to educate Americans about drugs. He points to the campaign to inform Americans about tobacco, which cut use nearly in half in eight years. ''And we did it without incarcerating a single human being."Cole's stand is not, of course, without its critics. Ron Brogan, spokesman for the Northeast regional director for DARE America, and a retired special agent with the DEA, argues that drug use has declined dramatically in the US since its peak in 1979 and that an overwhelming majority of Americans support the continued criminalization of drugs.''The war has been tremendously successful," Brogan said. ''And since we started with prevention education, it's been even better."But Brogan acknowledges that sentiment against the war on drugs is growing. Indeed, the Marijuana Policy project -- which supports LEAP -- was founded in 1995. Bruce Mirken, spokesman for the organization, says lending the voice of law enforcement officers to the debate on drug policy is particularly powerful.''So much of the debate is framed by law enforcement who say either you support the war on drugs or you're pro drugs and pro drug abuse," he said. ''That's nonsense and for people who are justifiably worried about crime, Jack and his group add a certain level of trust that's important."Cole's route from drug cop breaking down the doors of suspected dealers to an activist protesting the conventional wisdom didn't happen overnight.The son of a Kansas steel worker, Cole followed his father's footsteps into the steel industry, but as he watched the civil rights movement unfold on television he decided to join the police force to try to change what he perceived as a racist culture from the inside out. He was living in New York at the time, working on the Verrazano Bridge, so he joined the New Jersey State Police in 1964 and started out as a road trooper. Six years later, the same year Nixon started funding the war on drugs, he was tapped to go undercover.His perspective on the war changed forever in 1973, when he was riding through the ghetto in Patterson, N.J., with an informant, looking to make an undercover buy. The deal went bad and he was assaulted by two men. He escaped, but the informant was badly cut on his hand. When a college kid who told Cole he didn't deal or use drugs helped to bandage the informant's hand, Cole asked him where he could go to buy four bags of heroin. The young man pointed him toward another neighborhood dealer. That college kid was arrested and charged with conspiracy to sell narcotics in connection with that incident, a crime punishable by seven years in prison.Cole has told that story plenty of times, but he still visibly winces when he tells it. When asked why he stayed on the force if he felt he was carrying out an unjust policy, he paused briefly. ''I was wondering if you were going to ask that," he said. ''I was addicted to the adrenaline of the job. I think a lot of police are."Cole talks extemporaneously about the drug policy and his own experiences easily and at length. Among the catch phrases he likes to repeat is that the war on drugs is really a war on people. That college kid is one of thousands of young black men in particular who have been wrongly swept up in the tide of overzealous prosecutions.''The war is set up in such a way that it follows you around for the rest of your life. The government does everything it can to ruin you if you've been arrested," Cole said. And yet, he contends, it still isn't working.Heroin on the street costs only a third of what it did 25 years ago, according to the DEA's own statistics, he says. The purity of heroin has jumped from 1.3 percent to 38 percent. ''And every year it gets easier to buy. For the average teenager, drugs are easier to buy than beer and cigarettes," Cole said.The billions of dollars spent on the war are largely wasted, Cole says, but the policy has created an entrenched bureaucracy whose first priority is to protect their own jobs.Slowly, however, the number of people who believe the policy needs to be reversed is reaching critical mass. Last week in Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley endorsed a proposal to issue fines for possession of small amounts of marijuana rather than clog the courts with cases that tend to be thrown out by judges.Mirken said at least 11 states have taken steps to relax criminal penalties in minor marijuana cases. Massachusetts is not among them.''We need to replace mandatory minimums with mandatory adult education," Cole said. ''We need decent health care and decent jobs for everyone that wants to work, and then you can imagine how many fewer drug users there would be out there."Cole pauses for a moment when asked if he's hopeful. ''Yeah, we'll get there," he said. ''Eventually."Note: Money better spent on education, he says.Source: Boston Globe (MA)Author: Douglas Belkin, Globe StaffPublished: October 3, 2004Copyright: 2004 Globe Newspaper CompanyContact: letter globe.comWebsite: http://www.boston.com/globe/Related Articles & Web Sites:LEAPhttp://www.leap.cc/Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/ Retired Cop Lobbies for Legalizing Drugs http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19454.shtmlThe Drug War is Lost, Says Ex-Trooperhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17795.shtmlRetired Cop Rides for Drug Legalizationhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17449.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #30 posted by Hope on October 03, 2004 at 22:09:09 PT Oops! I'm standing in the closet again... I want to shout that last post on the front page! [ Post Comment ] Comment #29 posted by Hope on October 03, 2004 at 22:06:27 PT The Post is reporting this!!! I'm so excited and so grateful that I can hardly stand it. The Washington Post!I can't believe they are reporting this. Finally, real media is saying something. Finally!Oh...I hope they have the stamina to keep this ball rolling! [ Post Comment ] Comment #28 posted by Hope on October 03, 2004 at 21:44:58 PT Bifocals cause a form of dementia. I'm sure of it.I'm going to focus on that article or try to. I saw it in a post to DPFT from Richard and quickly raced to the front page where I realized you probably had already posted it.Now I shall read and understand. Hopefully. [ Post Comment ] Comment #27 posted by Hope on October 03, 2004 at 21:40:42 PT duh I guess I'd best go to bed. [ Post Comment ] Comment #26 posted by FoM on October 03, 2004 at 21:28:41 PT Hope Thanks for the laughs! That was fun. I will forget how to spell it real fast though! LOL! Check out the Washington Post article. I'm impressed! Go ASA! [ Post Comment ] Comment #25 posted by Hope on October 03, 2004 at 21:28:06 PT I still can't spell it right I've typed it about four times...and I just can't get that extra c not to jump in there [ Post Comment ] Comment #24 posted by Hope on October 03, 2004 at 21:24:56 PT lol It is one of those weird words. I wasn't sure about it myself...but I was too sleepy to check. [ Post Comment ] Comment #23 posted by FoM on October 03, 2004 at 21:17:27 PT Broccoli I had to go to dictionary.com to figure out how to spell it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #22 posted by Hope on October 03, 2004 at 21:14:11 PT Broccoli Actually it just says he "has" it...not that he likes it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #21 posted by FoM on October 03, 2004 at 21:12:43 PT Brocoli I know I love brocoli! LOL! [ Post Comment ] Comment #20 posted by Hope on October 03, 2004 at 21:07:13 PT Broccoli I noticed that Teresa says Kerry likes broccoli.He might be one of the "children of peace" after all.George W. hated broccoli. [ Post Comment ] Comment #19 posted by Hope on October 03, 2004 at 21:03:33 PT I'm glad too! This gets to be one of those days when I go to bed a little bit smarter than when I woke up. Thanks. [ Post Comment ] Comment #18 posted by FoM on October 03, 2004 at 20:38:13 PT Hope I'm glad you aren't lost now. I don't use features on web sites I visit either. On the Neil Young board I go to one board and don't check the others. I trust the host will keep everything current about Neil and she does! I just found out Neil played tonight with the Dave Matthews Band and the songs he and Pegi did. They report from the concert. It's so cool. I love the Internet. [ Post Comment ] Comment #17 posted by Hope on October 03, 2004 at 20:35:31 PT Perhaps I need to power up that other mantra...Be aware of your surroundings! [ Post Comment ] Comment #16 posted by Hope on October 03, 2004 at 20:33:50 PT Probably more problems with that hypothetical grizzly bear dna.I don't bother too much with looking anywhere but where I'm going. [ Post Comment ] Comment #15 posted by Hope on October 03, 2004 at 20:17:13 PT features I have gone to to the following pages before and I've used the search feature. I'm usually in a rush..so I just didn't do it. I've noticed you mention the archives before but I didn't think too much about it. I always came for the articles and the comments and I don't click around much for fear of getting lost or carried away...and I got lost anyway. Oh well. I'm found now. Thanks.Of course I knew about Freedom to Exhale...but I usually went there when you posted something in a comment. You do so much...even rescueing the wanderers!Thanks [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by FoM on October 03, 2004 at 19:54:42 PT Hope This seems like a little web site when you look at the front page but when you find the different features you soon see how much more detail CNews has. I love the format of CNews. You can go to the bottom of the front page and click view next 30 articles and go to the bottom of that page and click view next 30 articles and on and on. The nice part is if a person has a slow connection there isn't a lot of extra things to bog a computer down with that feature. The cannabisnews icon will always return a person back to the front page. You can email articles too. [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by Hope on October 03, 2004 at 19:48:26 PT lol I better look around the main page and see what's there.Before I wind up standing in the closet by myself for an hour again wondering where everyone is. [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by FoM on October 03, 2004 at 19:35:09 PT Hope WAMM uses our medical marijuana archives on their web site. The cool reason is when I post an article and pick the icon it goes immediately to that archive. So that way a person who wants to know the most current in a particular topic will see the latest article right away. Ron Bennett made that feature and I use it to help me find articles to put in another article if I am having trouble finding it in the search tool. [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by Hope on October 03, 2004 at 19:28:48 PT Dang! No, I didn't know!I don't click around on different things...I've always gone the direct route to the main thing...the articles. Wow...I feel like a brand new newbie.I might ought to do some exploring. [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by Hope on October 03, 2004 at 19:23:05 PT Sort of Alzheimery feeling there for a minute I still feel like I've wandered into a secret room or something. I was beginning to feel strangely isolated.Thanks for telling me where I am. [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by FoM on October 03, 2004 at 19:23:00 PT Hope Do you know that the icon on each article like the doughnut on this article leads to the police archives and then you can click cannabisnews at the top of the archives and come back to the front page? [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by Hope on October 03, 2004 at 19:18:50 PT Archives I've heard you mention them...I didn't quite realize it was like this and how it worked.My computer is on all the time and right in the middle of everything...so I'm in and out quick and often...you know I only recently discovered the recent comments page.I like to keep my life as simple and as uncomplicated as possible so sometime I find myself "learning" something by having it fall on my head.Thanks. [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by FoM on October 03, 2004 at 19:17:26 PT Hope I thought everyone knew about the archives. I didn't mean to scare you. The articles are in the search tool the day after I post them and on google quick too. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by Hope on October 03, 2004 at 19:14:24 PT Thanks....Brrrrr That was beginning to feel weird. I didn't like it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by FoM on October 03, 2004 at 19:12:00 PT Hope I didn't post it on the front page. I often archive articles. Maybe you weren't aware of the archives. Here's a link. You go thru my Freedom To Exhale site then to Breaking News and you will see all the articles posted in the order they are posted. http://www.cannabisnews.com/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/cnews/newsread.pl?25000 [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by Hope on October 03, 2004 at 19:03:01 PT FoM How is this happening?This story isn't posted on the main page. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Hope on October 03, 2004 at 17:55:10 PT two cannabis stories up on Drudge Report very unusual.http://drudgereport.com/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Hope on October 03, 2004 at 17:23:33 PT another variation I first heard a variation of it from a young woman quite a few years ago. She knew, too. She said, "Drugs may or may not ruin your life...but getting busted will." [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by 13th step on October 03, 2004 at 17:04:49 PT Great Quote ''You can get over a drug addiction, but you can't get over a drug conviction," Cole, 66, said last week from his Medford home.I smell a nice little meme, here.Say it 3 times, you'll never forget it.That's a darn fine quote. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment