Tony Ryan says his organization has an effective tool in the war on the War on Drugs: a T-shirt.

It reads: "Cops say legalize drugs. Ask me why." And people do.

Ryan served 36 years in Denver, Colorado's police department before retiring in 2003. He's now a member of the board of directors of LEAP - Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP.cc). The 10-year-old organization, he said, has 50,000 members, ranging from current and former law-enforcement officers to prosecutors to judges.

The former cop (who retired as a lieutenant) said that although he never worked in narcotics, he watched the effects of drugs - and drug enforcement - firsthand in Denver's poorer neighborhoods. "I saw a lot of drug activity," he said in a phone interview last week. "I saw the damage that is done by drug use and drug addiction, but I also saw the damage that's being done by the country's policy - in those days the War on Drugs. ... I'm of the mindset ... that the damage that has done ... is worse than what the drugs themselves cause."

Ryan will speak at and participate in an August 1 forum organized by Iowa state-representative candidate Mark Nelson. The event will be held at 7 p.m. at Central Perk (226 West Third Street in Davenport).