Providence Journal photo / Frieda Squires
Bill Fried, at left, of Medford, Mass., a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) group at the New Directions Rhode Island conference held at Brown University Alumnae Hall on Saturday. The event brought people from across the state together to discuss the issue of drugs and drug policy in their communities.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The war on drugs has not only failed, it has been disastrous for thousands of youth and families, who have been jailed, kicked out of school and denied meaningful work.
That was the consensus of dozens of experts at a conference Saturday sponsored by the Drug Policy Alliance and the Rhode Island Drug Policy Working Group. The one-day forum drew 300 policymakers, law enforcement personnel and community advocates to Alumnae Hall at Brown University.
The speakers here agreed that the war on drugs, launched by President Nixon in the early 1960s, has not accomplished any of its goals: it hasn't reduced the quantity of drugs on the market, it hasn't decreased drug use among the young and it hasn't reduced the violence associated with drug cartels.