CHICAGO | Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle declared the war on drugs a failure Friday, echoing racial comments she made at an April event sponsored by the Executive's Club of Chicago where she said the Cook County prison population was "entirely black and brown."

Speaking at the Protestants for the Common Good Rally to End the War on Drugs held at the James Thompson Center in Downtown Chicago, Preckwinkle continued a similar theme, pointing out, "for every white incarcerated for drugs, six blacks are incarcerated. In Cook County, it's even worse."

"We all know the drug war has failed," she said. "We need to invest in treatment, education and job training," rather than incarceration.

Preckwinkle was one of several speakers to reference a recent published report that claims more than 80 percent of inmates in prison in Cook County test positive for drugs.

Only 16 percent receive treatment, Preckwinkle said.

"My priority is to reduce the jail population and address this problem directly," she said.

The Rev. Michael Pfleger, the controversial long-time pastor at St. Sabina Church on the South Side, echoed Preckwinkle's sentiments.