FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 2, 2008

CONTACT: Tom Angell: (202) 557-4979 or media@leap.cc

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Three out of four U.S. voters see the war on drugs as a failure, according to a Zogby poll released today. More than one in three voters believe that the single best way to fight drug traffickers and drug abuse would be “legalizing some drugs” or “ending the war on drugs.” That’s more than those who think “stopping drugs at the U.S. border” or eradicating drugs in their countries of origin would be more effective. It is also more than those who think that reducing the demand for drugs in America is the best tactic.

The poll results come as no surprise to Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, a group of police, judges, prosecutors, corrections officials and FBI and DEA agents who fought on the front lines of the war on drugs and who believe that ending prohibition is the only way to begin solving drug abuse and drug market violence problems. “Voters are ready for reform of our nation's failed drug prohibition policies,” said Jack Cole, a former New Jersey State Police undercover narcotics officer and LEAP’s executive director. “But when will lawmakers get the message?”

“With the 75th anniversary of the repeal of alcohol prohibition coming up in December, now seems like a perfect time to put gangsters, terrorists, and cartels out of business through legalized regulation, just like we did in 1933,” Cole continued.

Cole and other LEAP members from across the United States are available for print and broadcast interviews. Please contact Tom Angell at media@leap.cc.

Complete data on the Zogby poll’s drug questions can be found on pp. 43-49 of this PDF: http://www.zogby.com/news/X-IAD.pdf