We have been waging a national war on drugs since 1969 when Richard Nixon was in the White House. American taxpayers have spent half a trillion dollars fighting the drug trade and some now wonder whether the benefit outweighs the cost. This Friday night at 8:30 on Smart Talk we’ll explore whether it’s time to legalize and control street narcotics. And you might be surprised about who is advocating this change in U.S. policy.

A group called Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, or LEAP, argues that America has lost the war on drugs just like it lost public support for alcohol Prohibition which lasted from 1920-1933. Howard Wooldridge, a retired police officer, is one of the founders of LEAP and now serves as an education specialist for the group. He'll appear on the program to argue that ending prohibition against illegal drugs will actually reduce crime and save the lives of children. He says legalize all drugs, not just marijuana. In Wooldridge’s view, our children get mixed messages when they are told it is legal to use alcohol and tobacco, two addictive substances. He thinks tax dollars would be better spent on preventing addiction and treating the addicts.

According to a LEAP website article, Cops Say Legalize Drugs!, “… our confined population has quadrupled making building prisons the fastest growing industry in the United States. More than 2.2 million of our citizens are currently incarcerated and every year we arrest an additional 1.9 million more guaranteeing those prisons will be bursting at their seams. Every year we choose to continue this war will cost U.S. taxpayers another 69 billion dollars. Despite all the lives we have destroyed and all the money so ill spent, today illicit drugs are cheaper, more potent, and far easier to get than they were 35 years ago at the beginning of the war on drugs. Meanwhile, people continue dying in our streets while drug barons and terrorists continue to grow richer than ever before. We would suggest that this scenario must be the very definition of a failed public policy. This madness must cease!”

LEAP advocates a system that controls and regulates the production and distribution of narcotics and claims it would be more effective and ethical than prohibition. “We do this in hopes that we in Law Enforcement can regain the public's respect and trust, which have been greatly diminished by our involvement in imposing drug prohibition,” the website states.

Dauphin County Chief Detective John Goshert also joins the conversation on Friday night’s show. Goshert is the Chief County Detective for the Dauphin County Criminal Investigation Division, an investigative arm of the District Attorney’s Office. The CID coordinates and participates in the Dauphin County Drug Task Force, among others. Goshert also trains other officers on the investigation of street-level drug trafficking. He appeared earlier this week on Radio Smart Talk and said, “We’ll never eliminate drugs. Drugs have been around since ancient times … I agree 100% that we have to regulate drugs and the government should be the one that regulates drugs. Although I’m not so sure that it should just be a free-for-all and we say, ‘Okay, we’re going to regulate and legalize any drug that’s out there,’ whether it be heroin or … cocaine or whatever.”

Goshert pointed out that prescription-drug dealing and abuse prove that even highly regulated narcotics can fall into the hands of criminal organizations that pervert the marketplace. “We’re not doing such a good job right now with prescription drugs, regulating them. I just don’t see the government doing a better job with trying to regulate heroin or regulating crack cocaine," Goshert added. LEAP does not push for a specific model of a legalized drug system but envisions something akin to the regulation, distribution, marketing and sale of alcohol while taking into account the addictive nature and behavior implications of each drug. Goshert believes a black market would still exist for narcotics and that ending “prohibition” of street drugs would not resolve that problem.

It promises to be a fascinating and controversial conversation. Please join us Friday night at 8:30 on WITF-TV or catch the repeat Sunday at noon. And let us know what you think at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

More information:

White House Czar Calls for End to 'War on Drugs'

How America Lost the War on Drugs