Hash
New Member
In Carmine F. Ambrosino's Feb. 16 commentary, "Dangerous misinformation on marijuana," the chief executive officer of Wyoming Valley Alcohol and Drug Services, Inc. in Wilkes-Barre did indeed rely on "dangerous misinformation on marijuana" to make his points. Rather than rebut each of his erroneous statements I would direct the reader to drugwarfacts.org for the true facts.
These are also the true facts:
Over nearly four decades we have fueled our nation's War on Drugs with more than a half-a-trillion tax dollars and increasingly punitive policies.
Our court systems are choked with the 1.6 million nonviolent drug offenses we prosecute each year ( fully half of which are for marijuana-law violations ).
In the last 20 years our prison population has quadrupled, making building prisons the fastest-growing industry in America.
Today 2.2 million people are incarcerated in those prisons -- more per capita than any country in the world.
Meanwhile, drug barons grow richer every day, terrorists amass fortunes from drug sales, and people continue dying on our streets.
The only thing we have to show for this terrible war is that, today, illicit drugs are cheaper, more potent, and far easier to get, than they were 35 years ago when, as an undercover narcotics agent, I first started buying heroin on those streets.
This represents the very definition of a failed public policy. Will Rogers said, "If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging."
When a policy has failed so miserably over such a long period, it is time to stop digging this hole of the war on drugs and find alternative strategies.
During alcohol prohibition at the beginning of the 20th century, rate of murder and police corruption in the United States rose to the highest levels in its history. The year we ended prohibition those statistics fell to a low ebb where they remained until we declared war on drugs 55 years later. Thanks to that war we have surpassed both those figures with the new prohibition.
The unintended consequences of this terrible war are needlessly destroying the lives of generations of America's youth. How many young people do you know who have used an illegal drug, then put the drugs behind them and gone on to lead productive lives? U.S. presidents and many members of the our legislative bodies have done exactly that. With imprisonment, those possibilities are eliminated. You can get over an addiction, but you will never get over a conviction.
Moreover, with the economy floundering and all states registering deficit spending, the United States can no longer afford this war, which is estimated to cost 69 billion more dollars each year we continue the fight.
Ending drug prohibition is not a decision I came to lightly. Rather, I made it after 26 years in the New Jersey State Police, including 14 as an undercover narcotics agent.
Mr. Ambrosino suggested that to get the true facts you should "talk with juvenile and family judges, district attorney, county coroner, local and state police officials."
I am not alone in this view. I am joined by increasing numbers of current and former members of law enforcement and informed citizens who believe the cure is worse than the disease.
In 2002, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition ( LEAP ) was founded by five former cops. LEAP's mission is to educate the public about the futility of the U.S. policy, which has become, not a war on drugs, but a war on people.
Today LEAP has more than 2,000 members and we are no longer just cops. LEAP has 85 speakers made up of current and former police chiefs, judges, prosecutors, corrections officers and coroners--even former DEA agents, currently employed prison wardens, and a former Commissioner of the Pennsylvania Crime Commission.
We say society can and must develop a more humane and effective public policy than drug prohibition.
Source: Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, PA)
Copyright: 2005 The Times Leader
Contact: jbutkiewicz@leader.net
Website: Times Leader | Wilkes-Barre, PA News, Obituaries, classifieds, and sports.
These are also the true facts:
Over nearly four decades we have fueled our nation's War on Drugs with more than a half-a-trillion tax dollars and increasingly punitive policies.
Our court systems are choked with the 1.6 million nonviolent drug offenses we prosecute each year ( fully half of which are for marijuana-law violations ).
In the last 20 years our prison population has quadrupled, making building prisons the fastest-growing industry in America.
Today 2.2 million people are incarcerated in those prisons -- more per capita than any country in the world.
Meanwhile, drug barons grow richer every day, terrorists amass fortunes from drug sales, and people continue dying on our streets.
The only thing we have to show for this terrible war is that, today, illicit drugs are cheaper, more potent, and far easier to get, than they were 35 years ago when, as an undercover narcotics agent, I first started buying heroin on those streets.
This represents the very definition of a failed public policy. Will Rogers said, "If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging."
When a policy has failed so miserably over such a long period, it is time to stop digging this hole of the war on drugs and find alternative strategies.
During alcohol prohibition at the beginning of the 20th century, rate of murder and police corruption in the United States rose to the highest levels in its history. The year we ended prohibition those statistics fell to a low ebb where they remained until we declared war on drugs 55 years later. Thanks to that war we have surpassed both those figures with the new prohibition.
The unintended consequences of this terrible war are needlessly destroying the lives of generations of America's youth. How many young people do you know who have used an illegal drug, then put the drugs behind them and gone on to lead productive lives? U.S. presidents and many members of the our legislative bodies have done exactly that. With imprisonment, those possibilities are eliminated. You can get over an addiction, but you will never get over a conviction.
Moreover, with the economy floundering and all states registering deficit spending, the United States can no longer afford this war, which is estimated to cost 69 billion more dollars each year we continue the fight.
Ending drug prohibition is not a decision I came to lightly. Rather, I made it after 26 years in the New Jersey State Police, including 14 as an undercover narcotics agent.
Mr. Ambrosino suggested that to get the true facts you should "talk with juvenile and family judges, district attorney, county coroner, local and state police officials."
I am not alone in this view. I am joined by increasing numbers of current and former members of law enforcement and informed citizens who believe the cure is worse than the disease.
In 2002, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition ( LEAP ) was founded by five former cops. LEAP's mission is to educate the public about the futility of the U.S. policy, which has become, not a war on drugs, but a war on people.
Today LEAP has more than 2,000 members and we are no longer just cops. LEAP has 85 speakers made up of current and former police chiefs, judges, prosecutors, corrections officers and coroners--even former DEA agents, currently employed prison wardens, and a former Commissioner of the Pennsylvania Crime Commission.
We say society can and must develop a more humane and effective public policy than drug prohibition.
Source: Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, PA)
Copyright: 2005 The Times Leader
Contact: jbutkiewicz@leader.net
Website: Times Leader | Wilkes-Barre, PA News, Obituaries, classifieds, and sports.
