Press Release: LEAP to Testify for Marijuana Legalization in Massachusetts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 1, 2010
CONTACT: Tom Angell – (202) 557-4979 or media //at// leap //dot// cc

Retired Undercover Narc and Assistant Attorney General Testify for Legalizing Marijuana

Mass. Senate Bill Would Regulate and Tax the Cannabis Industry

BOSTON, MA-- A retired undercover narcotics officer and a former Massachusetts assistant attorney general will both tell Massachusetts legislators on Tuesday that it is time to legalize and regulate marijuana, based on their experiences as front-line soldiers in the “war on drugs.”

“Legalizing and regulating marijuana will serve two purposes. First, and most importantly, it will cut deeply into the profits of the drug gangs and the cartels. Second, it will generate revenues for the state,” said Jack A. Cole, a former New Jersey State Police undercover narcotics detective. Mr. Cole, who is a Medford, Mass. resident, is now the executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), an international group of cops, judges, and prosecutors who no longer believe in the drug laws they once swore to enforce.

Testifying alongside Cole in favor of legalization will be former Massachusetts assistant attorney general, John A. Amabile, also a member of LEAP. The hearing, held by the Massachusetts Joint Committee on the Judiciary, takes place this Tuesday, March 2, at 1:00 P.M. in room A-1 of the Statehouse.

The legislature’s consideration of Senate Bill 1801, which would legalize and regulate marijuana sales, follows the 2008 passage by 65 percent of Massachusetts voters of an initiative that decriminalized marijuana possession. Last October, the Massachusetts Joint Revenue Committee held a hearing about legalizing marijuana sales.

Massachusetts joins several other states that are considering legalizing marijuana sales. In recent months Washington State and California have held hearings on legalization bills. New Hampshire also has legalization legislation pending, and a Rhode Island Senate-appointed blue ribbon commission is studying the topic.

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), is a 15,000-member organization representing police, prosecutors, judges, FBI/DEA agents and others from around the world who want to legalize and regulate all drugs after fighting on the front lines of the "war on drugs" and learning firsthand that prohibition only serves to worsen addiction and violence. More info online at http://www.CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.com.

# # #