Why the War on Drugs is a Failure

Retired State Police undercover officer Jack Cole will give a talk, Why the War on Drugs is a Failure, at the Walpole Public Library on Thursday, May 21, 2015 at 7:00 PM. Jack Cole knows about the “war on drugs” from several perspectives. He retired as a Detective Lieutenant after a 26-year career with the New Jersey State Police—fourteen in narcotics, mostly as an undercover officer. His investigations spanned cases from street drug users to international drug trafficking organizations.

Jack is passionate in his belief that the “war on drugs” has been an abject failure, that it is steeped in racism, is needlessly destroying the lives of young people, has expanded the militarization of our law enforcers, and has escalated the rate of police shootings. For four decades the US has fueled its policy of a “war on drugs” with over 1.5 trillion tax dollars and increasingly punitive policies. Over 50 million nonviolent drug arrests have been made. Jack asserts that despite all the money spent and all the lives destroyed, illicit drugs are cheaper, more potent, and much easier to access today than they were at the beginning of the “war on drugs” 45 years ago. Jack’s talk will give the audience an alternative prospective of the US “war on drugs” from the view of a veteran drug-warrior turned against the war.

Jack is a founding member and for eight years was executive director of LEAP, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. LEAP is an international organization representing cops, judges, prosecutors, and prison wardens which believes that to save lives and lower the rates of disease, crime and addiction, as well as to conserve tax dollars, we must end drug prohibition. It believes that a system of regulation and control is far more effective than one of prohibition. Jack is now their Board Chair and an international speaker.

The Library is at 143 School Street, Walpole, MA. The talk is sponsored by the Walpole Peace and Justice Group.

Walpole Peace and Justice Group is sponsoring a screening of the Documentary Film, 'Broken On All Sides: Race' on May 13, 2015 7:30 PM at the Walpole Public Library

Please join us for a screening of the documentary film, Broken On All Sides: Race, Mass incarceration & New Visions for Criminal Justice in the U.S. on May 13, 2015 7:30 PM at the Walpole Public Library in the Community Room. This compelling documentary by Matthew Pillischer shows how the war on drugs and racial inequities within our criminal justice system have lead to mass incarceration of people of color.

The documentary gives a visual presentation of statistics and personal stories showing the racial disparities in the war on drugs. It shows how people of color are targeted for arrest, get harsher sentences, and experience the terrible impact of mass incarceration. While the majority of illegal drug users and dealers nationwide are white, 75% of those imprisoned for drug offenses have been Black or Latino. Today the U.S has 5% of the world’s population but 25% of the world’s prisoners. “The documentary centers around the theory put for­ward by many, and most recently by Michelle Alexander (who appears in the movie), that mass incarceration has become ‘The New Jim Crow.’

Through inter­views with people on many sides of the criminal justice system, this documentary aims to answer questions and provoke questions on an issue walled-off from the public's scrutiny.” There will be a discussion following the screening. The Library is at 143 School Street, Walpole, MA. The screening is sponsored by the Walpole Peace and Justice Group.