KUB: Re: Invitation to join LEAP 2008/6/15 Dear Jack, It would be my honor to serve with the dedicated officers, prosecutors and judges who have joined the heroic efforts of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP). Thank you for inviting me to join as a speaker. For the record, Tony Ryan is correct about me serving as a probation officer. It was my first job after grad school and I worked for two years as a juvenile probation officer for the Los Angeles County Probation Department. As a parent, I want to see an end to the violence, corruption and crime that has been created by Prohibition. As a Libertarian, I know that the best way to win the war against drugs is to take the profit out of it through full legalization of all drugs. As a new member of LEAP, I look forward to joining the officers, prosecutors and judges in LEAP who openly support the full legalization of all drugs as the fastest and surest way to end our national nightmare called the War on Drugs. Let freedom grow, Steve Kubby On 14-Jun-08, at 7:47 AM, Jack A. Cole wrote: > Dear Mr. Kubby, > My name is Jack Cole. I am the executive director of Law > Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP). I am also a retired detective > lieutenant-26 years with the New Jersey State Police and 14 in their > Narcotic Bureau, mostly undercover. I bear witness to the abject failure of > the U.S. war on drugs and to the horrors produced by its unintended > consequences. > Tony Ryan said you served some time as a probation officer in > California and has recommended I consider you as a LEAP speaker. I see you > have not yet joined LEAP so I am not sure what your views are about > legalized regulation of all drugs. > I am attaching my bio and the text of the talk I have given over > 650 times around the world in the last four years. That paper was selected > by The International Harm Reduction Association as one of the "50 documents > world wide, which provides the best information on the subject of policing > and harm reduction." > You might also find it interesting to view the 12-minute LEAP > promo at www.leap.cc, or "Cops Say Legalize Drugs" Part 1 at > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEdzZaXwf8o, and Part 2 at > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E48guWoQGa4&mode=related&search=. In the > videos police, judges, and prosecutors give powerful reasons why prohibition > will never work. > After looking them over please feel free to contact me at any of > the below locations with questions or comments. If you think we are on the > right track, please join LEAP and help us in this struggle. > Let me tell you a little more about the progress we have made. > LEAP is an international nonprofit educational organization created to give > voice to law-enforcers who believe the US war on drugs has failed and who > wish to support alternative policies that will lower the incidence of death, > disease, crime, and addiction, without destroying generations of our young > by arrest and imprisonment. > As our name implies Law Enforcement Against Prohibition wants to > end drug prohibition just as we ended alcohol prohibition in 1933. When we > ended that nasty law we put Al Capone and his smuggling buddies out of > business overnight and we can do the same to the drug lords and terrorist > who today make over 500 billion dollars a year selling illegal drugs around > the world. > Legalized regulation of drugs will end the violent and property > crimes that are a result of prohibition of those drugs. We can then treat > drug abuse as a health problem instead of a crime problem and save the lives > of our children, which we are now sacrificing at the altar of this terrible > war. > In five years LEAP increased from the five founding police > officers to a membership of 10,000, across the United States and in 90 other > countries, which is fitting since U.S. drug policy has ramifications that > affect the entire world. All LEAP speakers are former drug-warriors; police, > parole, probation and corrections officers, judges, and prosecutors. We even > have state prison wardens, FBI and DEA agents that help make up our bureau > of 85 speakers. > The question exists: how do drug-policy reform groups get voters > together to listen to a presentation? We took that question and reversed it. > Voters already meet everyday. They meet in civic and community > organizations. They attend PTA and school board meetings. They join in > discussions based on their political alliance. So, instead of getting them > to come to us, we went to the voters. This idea is a proven and effective > way to sway public opinion. > LEAP presents to civic, professional, educational, and religious > organizations, as well as at public forums but we target civic groups; > Chambers of Commerce, Rotaries, Lions and Kiwanis Clubs, etc. The people in > these organizations are conservative folks who mostly agree with the > drug-warriors that we must continue the war on drugs at any cost. They are > also very solid members of their communities; people who belong to civic > organizations because they want the best for their locales. Every one of > them will be voting in every election. Many are policy-makers and if they > are not, they are the people who can pull the coat tails of policy-makers > and say, "We have someone you must hear talk about drug policy." We believe > the vast majority of these audience members agree with the goals of LEAP by > the end of our presentation. > Even more amazing is that we are now attending national and > international law-enforcement conventions where we keep track of all those > we speak with at our educational exhibit booth; After we talk with them on a > one-on-one basis, we find that only 6% want to continue the war on drugs, > 14% are undecided, and an astounding 80% agree with LEAP that we must end > drug prohibition. The most interesting thing about those who agreed with us > is that before LEAP came along only a small number of that 80% realized > anyone else in law enforcement felt the same. Officers are so frightened of > being labeled "soft on drugs" that are afraid to tell each other their real > feelings about the war on drugs. > On January 22, 2007 I debated United States Attorney for Kansas, > Eric Melgren at Wichita State University (see video at > http://mattelrod.org/video/leap/cole-melgren_070123.wmv). With a show of > hands at the end of the debate over 80 percent of the audience agreed with > LEAP. > On April 30, 2007 I debated Thomas Carr, the Director of High > Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) in the Washington, DC and Baltimore > area, an organization funded by the Office of National Drug Policy Control > (ONDCP). The LEAP-HIDTA debate on whether prohibition of drugs should > continue was held at the Greater Baltimore Leadership Council annual > seminar, which had 46 attendees and included upper level law-enforcers, > public health workers and others. After the 90-minute debate, the moderator > ask for a show of hands to indicate those who think we should legalize all > drugs, those who think we should continue the war, and those who wish to > abstain. The moderator estimated that 70 percent agreed with ending drug > prohibition, about 15 percent wanted to continue prohibition and the other > 15 percent abstained. > This also holds true for policymakers. LEAP speakers staffed an > educational booth at the last three National Conferences for State > Legislators in Seattle, Nashville, and Boston. We spoke with 1,942 of the > attendees on a one-on-one basis and 83% of them agreed that we should > legalize drugs-only 6% wanted to continue the war and the other 11% were > undecided. This means if we can show these legislators that they won't loose > one more vote than they will gain by backing drug policy reform, they will > end drug prohibition. The way to do that is to show them LEAP has a huge > membership. By 2009 we want to be able to say we have 10,000 members of law > enforcement calling for an end to drug prohibition and a MILLION private > citizens who agree this is the correct policy. If we accomplish that, we > will convince legislators to support ending prohibition. > > Things are already changing. > > LEAP has created an atmosphere legitimizing the discussion of > legalized regulation of drugs nationally to the point that many politicians > now feel it is safe to raise the issue. > In New York State the prosecutor for Albany County and the > Executive for Erie County both said the failed war on drugs must be > replaced. > On Good Friday in April 2006, Sister Karen Klimczak was murdered > in Buffalo, New York by a self-confessed crack-addict who said he killed the > nun to get her cell phone which he wanted to sell to buy more crack. The > next morning reporters descended on Erie County Executive Joel A. Giambra > demanding to know what he was going to do about the drug problem that was > wreaking havoc on the county. Mr. Giambra took a deep breath and replied, > "It's time to start talking about legalizing drugs." The amazed reporters > immediately set out to demonize him; how could someone with views such as > this have ever been elected to office? The following Monday Mr. Giambra > called another press conference, where he was joined at the podium by Peter > Christ, founding Board member and speaker for LEAP, who explained to the > media why Mr. Giambra was correct in his assessment. Peter then appeared on > many talk-radio and television shows in the Buffalo area supporting > Giambra's call for legalized regulation of drugs. Within two weeks the > Buffalo News decided to allow Mr. Giambra to publish an Op Ed titled "DRUG > LAWS DON'T WORK; IT'S TIME TO TRY LEGALIZING THEM." The next day the paper > published its own article, "GIAMBRA A PIONEER ON DRUGS?" suggesting in the > lead paragraph, "Years from now, they may look at him in the same way we see > Susan B. Anthony and other pioneers for women's rights." This amazing media > turnaround was a direct result of the credibility that LEAP brought to Mr. > Giambra's courageous statement. > In November 2006, the National Hispanic Caucus of State > Legislators passed a resolution condemning the failed war on drugs and > calling for treatment rather than incarceration. > That resolution was echoed by a similar resolution passed > unanimously by the 225 Mayors attending the National Mayors Conference in > June 2007. > That month Newark, New Jersey's Mayor Cory Booker said the war on > drugs is destroying his city and he intends to stop it if it means taking > the issue to the streets and going to jail, as was done by civil rights > protestors. > Three campaigners for the 2008 Presidential race, former Senator > Mike Gravel (D-Alaska), Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), and > Representative Ron Paul (R-Texas) have called for an end to the war on > drugs; something never before done. And for those who want to continue a war > on drugs; see the six-minute debate that ensued when LEAP speaker Bradley > Jardis > confronted presidential candidate John McCain and ask, "What is it going to > take for powerful politicians, such as yourself, to realize that the war on > drugs is a failure and we need to get smart about drugs?" > The very conservative The McLaughlin Group television talk show > has recently even broached the subject by discussing Dr. Ethan Nadelmann's > article in Foreign Policy, "Legalize It." > On October 4, 2007, San Francisco's Mayor Gavin Newsom told > television reporters, "If you want to get serious, if you want to reduce > crime by 70% in this country overnight, end this war on drugs. You want to > get serious, seriously serious about crime and violence end this war on > drugs." > > LEAP also has a worldwide impact > > In addition to the 3,000 presentations we have made in the United > States, LEAP is also affecting policies in other countries. > In 2003 LEAP presented at the European Parliament in Brussels, > Belgium, in Rome, Italy, Tirana, Albania, and the Yucatan in Mexico. > In 2004 we traveled to New Zealand where three LEAP speakers > conducted 90 presentations in two weeks. Then we were off to Melbourne, > Australia for a week to attend the 15th International Conference on the > Reduction of Drug Related Harm and pick up another forty law-enforcement > members from countries across Southeast Asia. > In 2005 and 2006 LEAP was presenting across Canada at 165 venues. > In August 2006 board member, Chief Jerry Cameron (ret.), presented > in England, Scotland, Ireland, and The Netherlands. We started a media > frenzy in Ireland, where Jerry met with reporters from many newspapers, > radio and TV news programs the day after arriving. September 18, 2006 > several senior parliamentarians for United Kingdom's Liberal Democratic > Party called for legalization of all drugs. Inspector Jim Duffy, the Chair > of the Strathclyde Police Federation of 7,700 officers in Scotland publicly > agreed with the MP's and joined LEAP as the latest of our six speakers in > the UK. > In December 2006 I made 18 presentations across the United > Kingdom. The reception to LEAP goals was better than I have ever > experienced. LEAP received support from many other ranking police officers > including retired Cambridgeshire Chief Constable Tom Lloyd, who is working > to supply heroin users with prescribed government heroin. Media coverage of > LEAP's goals was very positive. > December 19, 2006 a federal Senator from Australia visited the > LEAP office in Massachusetts to request that we return to his country and > help him and his colleagues continue the struggle against prohibition. > In May 2007 LEAP presented at the 18th International Conference on > the Reduction of Drug Related Harm in Warsaw, Poland, picking up a hundred > new members and invitations from people in an additional 15 countries who > want to bring LEAP to their locales. > I then traveled to Budapest, where, working with the Hungarian > Civil Liberties Union, in five days I presented at two universities, at the > Hungarian Police academy, and to five parliamentarians. I was interviewed by > the two largest newspapers and appeared on a national TV program seen by > 650,000 viewers. On my last day in Hungary, at the request of the office of > the Prime Minister, I spoke for 30 minutes with Hungary's Senior State > Secretary, who said he is committed to help us in our work to reform drug > policy. > September 4-11, 2007 I returned to Cambridge, England to present to 900 law > enforcers from 90 countries at the Twenty-Fifth International Symposium on > Economic Crime. When I told them of the 500 billion dollars, spent on > illegal drugs each year, which would no longer be laundered by investing in > corporations, with which honest business people cannot possibly compete, the > majority of attendees agreed with LEAP's message that we should end drug > prohibition. > In October 2007, LEAP was invited to the Open Society Institute > conference, "Policing and Harm Reduction" in Bangkok, Thailand. LEAP's > presentation was well received. There were 47 invited attendees from 13 > countries and 28 joined LEAP (most of the rest spoke Russian so I didn't get > the chance to offer them a personal invitation). We are making real progress > with the Harm Reduction crowd who are beginning to understand that ending > drug prohibition will reduce death, disease, crime, and addiction. > In February 2008 LEAP attended the "Beyond 2008 Conference," > which provides a mechanism for NGOs around the world to have input in the > review of the international drug control system that is currently being > conducted through the United Nations office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). > In the coming year LEAP will make another 600 presentations in the > United States, plus return to the International Symposium on Organized Crime > in Cambridge, England and in the fall we will again take our message to New > Zealand. > If you, your family, friends, or associates want to be involved > creating positive change around the entire world, click on > http://leap.cc/cms/index.php?name=Your_Account&file=register and join us > now. Membership is open to anyone and there is no membership fee. The more > members we get the sooner we will end this self-perpetuating and > ever-expanding disastrous policy of a war on drugs. > We are looking forward to working with you to end the agonies > created by the war on drugs and to renew and deepen respect for the > honorable profession of policing that has been severely weakened by the role > police have been required to play in enforcing drug prohibition laws. > Together we can make a better and safer society by serving it in a > more efficient and ethical manner. > > Peace, > Jack > > Jack A. Cole > Executive Director > Law Enforcement Against Prohibition > 121 Mystic Avenue, Medford, MA 02155 > (781) 393-6985 LEAP Office (781) 393 2964 FAX > (781) 396-0183 Home Office (617) 792-3877 Cell > jackacole@leap.cc www.leap.cc > > "You can get over an addiction but you will never get over a conviction." > >