New York prosecutor David Soares made waves when he blasted U.S. drug laws in a speech at last week's International Harm Reduction Association conference in Vancouver, Canada. The Albany district attorney was warmly received at the conference, but his words raised hackles among law enforcement officials in his home district.

Soares, who was elected in 2004 on a platform of reforming New York's draconian Rockefeller drug laws, advised Canada not to follow in the footsteps of U.S. drug policy. He said, "The attempt to engage in cleaning the streets of Albany one twenty-dollar sale on the street at a time is a failed policy."

Soares also asserted that criminal justice officials in the U.S. are aware that the current war on drugs is ineffective, but continue to support it because of the jobs it creates for police, judges and prosecutors. This sparked a strong negative reaction from the mayor of Albany, the city police chief, and the county sheriff.

Soares, however, has stood by his statements. Norm Stamper, former chief of police for Seattle and member of the advisory board of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), also spoke out in support of Soares. “I spent 34 years as a cop and saw firsthand the damage caused by the war on drugs, the cost to individual lives, public safety and community health, not to mention the squandered taxpayer money. We all owe David Soares our respect and admiration for speaking the truth," Stamper said.

DPA applauded the courage of Soares in speaking up for drug policy reform as well. Gabriel Sayegh, director of DPA's state organizing and policy project, said, "Albany County and New York State should be proud to have a district attorney who has the intelligence and vision to demand effective alternatives to failed drug war policies."