On November 25, 2007, at a Presidential Campaign stop at Franklin Pierce College in Ringe , New Hampshire , Bradley Jardis, a working police officer from New Hampshire, confronted Senator John McCain about the Senator’s support for the US policy of a war on drugs. Historically, this was the most significant confrontation of a Presidential Campaigner on drug policy issues. Here is a portion of the convesation:
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Bradley Jardis: I have served here in my state as a law enforcement officer for going on nine years now. And after nine years of working the street, I have come to the conclusion that the war on drugs is a terrible failure. I saw first hand that the war on drugs causes crime. It causes children to have access to drugs easier and it does nothing to curb the problem of drug trafficking or use—just as alcohol prohibition after the 18th amendment passed. Then we wised up and passed the 21st amendment, which curbed the violence problem within this country greatly. 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? Not tough, we need to be smart about drugs.
John McCain: “Thank you sir. It is going to take a lot before I adopt your viewpoint, although I must say, (Applause) express my respect and appreciation for keeping our families and our neighborhoods in the state of New Hampshire safe and I am grateful for your service. . Now I will agree with you to this extent, that too often we put first time drug users in prison. ... Now I just want to ask one other thing, do you think methamphetamine ought to be legal?
Bradley Jardis: I think what we need to look at is the drug policy.
John McCain: Yea but you know it’s one thing to talk about policy; it’s another thing to talk about specific comments. With all due respect, do you think methamphetamine should be made legal?
Bradley Jardis: I don't think if someone is caught with methamphetamine we should put them in prison, period. We should be helping them. We should help people who are addicted to drugs (Applause) and not spend 69 billion dollars a year to imprison them. (Continuing applause) If you arrest somebody, it does not solve the problem. You just said there are drug cartels. There would not be drug cartels if we were to regulate drugs. In Switzerland they have public heroin clinics where people can come and get help with clean needles and to get off drugs. There is no doubt that drugs are dangerous but our policy does not do anything to help people who are addicted. If you arrest a sixteen year old for marijuana and they get a criminal conviction, you can get over an addiction but you will never get over a conviction. They loose their funding to go to college and no one can ever say, that keeping a kid from going to college because of prohibition sounds good. Not at all. Thank you very much. (Applause)
John McCain: “I’m sorry he didn’t have a position on methamphetamine but I do agree with you. I do agree with you strongly. As I said, we have this program in Arizona which I would like to see adopted nation wide: the first time offender is given an opportunity to rehabilitate themselves and to have clean record. I thank you for your service and I appreciate the discussion and I look forward to continuing this dialogue because I in no way mean to diminish the magnitude of this problem and the terrible tragedies it inflicts on America everyday. Thank you and thank you for your service.
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Law enforcement personnel such as Mr.Jardis are on a mission -- a mission to end the so-called War on Drugs which they see as a war on families, minorities, and the young. Jardis is a member of LEAP - Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.
The mission of LEAP is to reduce the multitude of unintended harmful consequences resulting from fighting the war on drugs and to lessen the incidence of death, disease, crime, and addiction by ultimately ending drug prohibition.
Members of LEAP know their history, and American drug policy. They know that there was no link between drugs and crime in the USA until formerly legal drugs became illegal. When legal access was cut off, organized crime stepped in to fill the gap, and increased the prices a thousand fold.
Regardless of your opinion on the subject of ending prohibition, ascertaining hard facts and factual history is imperative for understanding the link between drugs and crime in America. In the opinion of growing numbers of police, prosecutors, and former DEA agents, the War on Drugs increases crime, not decreases it -- and that is truly criminal. For more information, check out the LEAP website: www.leap.cc
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