Richard Van Wickler, Superintendent for the Cheshire County, NH Department of Corrections, spoke out against the United States’ War on Drugs, which he characterized as ineffective, prejudiced against blacks, and bad for the economy. Winkler, who spoke in PAC 002 on Wednesday evening, is a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), an international non-profit organization made up of both working and retired policemen who work to legalize drugs.

“We need to end the prohibition,” Wickler said, “[Marijuana] is a plant. You can’t make it go away.”

LEAP was founded by four policemen who believed that the War on Drugs is failing, and that law enforcement officials involved in the War on Drugs simply follow orders without understanding the logic behind them. Wickler compared the situation to that of an ignorant soldier.

“You understand the mission, not the objective, and your mission on the battlefield is to survive,” he said.

Wickler added that the Executive Director and co-founder of LEAP had previously been responsible for infiltrating drug cartels as part of the War on Drugs.

According to Wickler, the War on Drugs has had severe negative effects on the US economy. One trillion dollars has already been spent to fund its efforts. The total money annually generated by the worldwide illegal drug trade is $500 billion—enough paper money to fill 2,000 rooms, he noted.

Moreover, LEAP believes that the War on Drugs is racist and specifically targets the black community. Wickler explained that, of all drug users, 72 percent are white while 13.5 percent are black. Despite this ratio, 81 percent of federal prisoners incarcerated for drug felonies are black. The sentencing for the possession of different forms of cocaine is biased against blacks as well, Wickler argued. According to LEAP, the sentence for possession of powder cocaine with the intention to sell is five years in prison, while the sentence for crack cocaine is ten. Wickler explained that white cocaine users tend towards powder, while crack is largely used in poorer black communities.

LEAP differentiates between users, abusers, and addicts. The organization states that 1.4 percent of the US population has a serious drug addiction. According to Wickler, this number has not changed since President Richard Nixon launched the War on Drugs nearly 40 years ago. Every president has subsequently increased its scope, Wickler added.

Wickler found the use of the word “war” as a particularly ingenious method of continuing what he sees as a fruitless and destructive endeavor.

“There are two ways out of war,” he said. “Victory or defeat, and [the US] doesn’t like defeat. If you speak against war, you’re unpatriotic.”