The War on Drugs Has Failed

A Google Tech Talk
August 17, 2010

ABSTRACT

Presented by Stanford "Neill" Franklin, Police (Ret.) Executive Director, LEAP

"It pains me to know that there is a solution for preventing tragedy and nothing is being done because of ignorance, stubbornness, unsubstantiated fear and greed."

Hear Neill Franklin, Executive Director of LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition), speak on the problems and costs of the war on drugs, and the reasons society would be better off if it were ended.

Founded on March 16, 2002, LEAP is made up of current and former members of the law enforcement and criminal justice communities who are speaking out about the failures of our existing drug policies. Those policies have failed, and continue to fail, to effectively address the problems of drug abuse, especially the problems of juvenile drug use, the problems of addiction, and the problems of crime caused by the existence of a criminal black market in drugs.

Although those who speak publicly for LEAP are people from the law enforcement and criminal justice communities, a large number of our supporting members do not have such experience. You don't have to have law enforcement experience to join us.

By continuing to fight the so-called "War on Drugs", the US government has worsened these problems of society instead of alleviating them. A system of regulation and control of these substances (by the government, replacing the current system of control by the black market) would be a less harmful, less costly, more ethical and more effective public policy.

Please consider joining us and helping us to achieve our goals: 1) to educate the public, the media and policy makers about the failure of current policies, and 2) to restore the public's respect for police, which respect has been greatly diminished by law enforcement's involvement in enforcing drug prohibition.

Neill Franklin
Major Neill Franklin is a 33-year law enforcement veteran of both the Maryland State Police and Baltimore Police forces. His career has not only spanned three decades, but he's been promoted and recruited so many times that he jokes, "Every time I turned around, I was in a new position." He worked the streets. He investigated. He supervised and trained others. Neill oversaw 17 drug task forces, and he instituted and directed the very first Domestic Violence Investigative Units for the Maryland State Police.

Early in his career, Neill served as a narcotics agent with the Maryland State police, focusing on everything from high-level drug dealers in the Washington suburbs to that guy growing one pot plant on his apartment balcony. Neill was proud of his work and proud of the hundreds of arrests he executed. "I had been taught that the people who use and sell drugs are trash, and that we needed to put those people behind bars forever."

Two people permanently changed his steadfast belief in fighting the drug war: the Mayor of Baltimore, and Ed Toatley, one of the best undercover agents the State of Maryland had ever seen.

Sometime in the mid nineties, Kurt Schmoke, the sitting mayor of Baltimore, declared on television that the drug war was not working. "We need to have a discussion about where we go from here," Neill recalls him saying, "because the drug war is not working." Schmoke put forth the reasoning that fighting a war on drugs was not only violent, but also counterproductive to fighting the high rates of AIDS and Hepatitis C in the city.

"I knew instantly," Neill says, "that he had said something profound, and that this deserved some looking into." This was the beginning of Neill's new direction, and it started with researching and evaluating his own experiences in law enforcement. He compared the areas in his jurisdiction with the people and cases that came across his desk.

"We worked in predominantly white areas, but most of our cases and lock ups were minorities. There were only a couple of cases in the outlying areas that involved whites."

Not too long after Schmoke's announcement, Neill's good friend, Corporal Ed Toatley, was killed in Washington, DC, while making a drug deal as an undercover agent.

"When Ed was assassinated in October 2000, that is when I really made the turn. That's when I decided to go public with my views. I even contacted my police commissioner at the time and warned him that I was going to start speaking out on this. I didn't want him to be blindsided."

The institutionalized racism and cost of life to both civilians and police officers are just two of the many unintended consequences of our drug policy that keep Neill Franklin speaking for LEAP.

In July of 2010, Neill became executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. Additionally, he volunteers his time by serving on many boards .

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• google tech talks
• drugs

[PieJacker1]

Oh shit, this is an hour? Sorry, I'm out.

[MegaHomonaama]

A huge thank you LEAP and Google! This was one of the greatest presentation I've ever seen! Very interesting and informative 70 minutes!!

[bloodybrit127]

if you cant beat em join em

[bacon6661000]

Just saw this guy on fox

[Scifire]

@ninetailschris Do you drink alcohol or smoke tobacco? If the answer is no, why not? I mean, it's legal right?

[cyberwaffles]

(part 3) a lot of the money generated from the drug trade is in return fueling the drug laws and special interest groups who run this corrupt country. its a sad fact. why else do you think the government has such a hard time (or desire) to change at least marijuana laws? they have been indoctrinated and brain washed about pot and know its easier to keep it illegal and have the status quo remain the same in the country.

[cyberwaffles]

(part 2), because they know marijuana was a threat to competition to the timbre industry years ago and is a threat to the pharmaceutical company now; and lastly because the government makes a lot more money through money laundering and sales of drugs when they are illegal rather than legal. it is extremely common to find correctional officers selling dope within prison, or bad cops who are bribed or a part of the trafficking themselves. you will find CIA people distributing drugs themselves.

[cyberwaffles]

this is what legalization promotes: harm reduction, as it takes the criminal element away from drugs; the ability to tax the substance and recirculate the money back into our economy instead of it getting lost to other countries (ie Mexican drug cartels); instead of incarcerating people for drugs, we could be spending money for treatment and awareness. why they don't want drugs like weed legalized? because the privatized prison system makes billions for overcrowding prisons (part 1)

[cyberwaffles]

@AndrewKH85 this whole "drug free america" propaganda is straight up bullcrap. the government and pharmaceutical companies know people run on drugs. like you stated, they want you on sugar, energy drinks, and caffeine to be more productive at work; they want you take prescribed medications to help that leak from your nose to move to your ass as a side effect; they would rather have the firearms, alcohol, and tobacco committee demonize weed because they know it's much safer and effective.

[cyberwaffles]

@nagone11 so true that it sickens me. one of the best examples is how the CIA distribute crack cocaine in the inner cities of places like Los Angeles just to fuel the Iran-Contra War. it's far easier to get funding illegally due to the fact there are no taxes and the money doesn't have to be documented. the CIA, its own entity basically, does whatever the hell they want, even if that means to increase street violence and gang activity in our homeland for the sake of a foreign country.

[cyberwaffles]

@Thez0mb13s1ay3r you are clearly clueless.