Ending the Drug War w/ Russell Jones

Joining us via Law Enforcement Against Prohibtion is Russ Jones. As chronicled in his book, Honorable Intentions, Russell Jones has been involved in the "War on Drugs" on various fronts for 40 years. For 10 of those years Russ worked as a San Jose, California police officer, narcotics detective and member of a DEA-run task force. Later, as a government intelligence agent, Russ worked in Latin America observing narcotics trafficking during the Nicaragua-Contra conflict.

Russ rightly attests that from the advent of drug prohibition in 1914 to the declaration of "War on Drugs" in 1970, to our present-day policies and tactics, the US government has not significantly reduced the use and abuse of drugs. Instead we have incarcerated millions, destroyed the lives of countless youths, while corrupting police, judges, and politicians. "We are taxing our population at over 69 billion dollars a year to support this 'War on Drugs,'" he notes, "and the result is the enrichment of drug lords, foreign government officials, and our own government agencies that are involved in this folly."

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) is a non-profit organization - www.CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.com - formed by cops, judges and others in the criminal justice system who believe the War on Drugs has been an expensive failure that has only made our nation's tragic drug problem worse.