Retired police captain: 'legalize illegal drugs'

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A retired police captain from New York told the Polk County Tiger Bay club Monday he thinks the U.S. is losing the war on drugs, and he thinks it's time to legalize drugs.

Peter Christ, a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) said government regulation of currently illegal  drugs would cut back on crime and save money.

"Eighty-five percent of the drug violence in our society today is associated with people fighting over the marketplace, not with people being high, not people fighting over the money," Christ said. "I know a way to deal with that and that is to create a legalized, regulated controlled marketplace."

Polk County sheriff Grady Judd disagrees.

"That's absolutely insane," Judd said."That's like saying why don't we legalize burglary, why don't we legalize robbery, why don't we legalize murder and then we won't have any crimes."

LEAP said they have 7,000 members across the country. In the next two weeks, LEAP will tour the Bay area and meet with a dozen other political groups.

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