Pubdate: Mon, 18 Dec 2000
Source: USA Today (US)
Copyright: 2000 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
Contact:  1000 Wilson Blvd., Arlington VA 22229
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Website: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nfront.htm
Author: Doug Bandow

VOTERS SET TRENDS IN APPROACH TO DRUGS

Lame-duck politicians have a tendency to speak unpopular truths. So 
it would seem with Bill Clinton, who declared in Rolling Stone 
magazine that those using or selling small quantities of marijuana 
should not be jailed.

Nor is Clinton the only politician to criticize the endless war 
against drugs. New Mexico's Republican governor, Gary Johnson, 
another lame duck, has turned drug-law reform into a veritable 
crusade. Johnson, who admits to past drug use, now is a triathelete 
who warns against drugs. But he contends that the drug war is 
misguided. And Rep. Tom Campbell, R-Calif., this year made drug-law 
reform the centerpiece of his unsuccessful Senate campaign.

These three politicians may be anomalies, but their willingness to 
speak out illustrates an important phenomenon overshadowed by the 
presidential contest: Voters are beginning to demand changes in how 
we treat drug problems.

Campbell lost, but the California drug-reform initiative he 
championed, Proposition 36, won  despite opposition from virtually 
the entire political and law enforcement establishment. Proposition 
36, which diverts nonviolent drug offenders from prison to treatment, 
was modeled after an Arizona plan approved in 1996 with the support 
of an unusual left-right coalition.

This was not the only success for drug-reform advocates. Aside from 
Massachusetts, which narrowly defeated an initiative similar to 
Proposition 36, every other statewide drug-reform campaign won Nov. 7.

Over the vehement opposition of the drug warriors in Clinton's 
administration, Colorado and Nevada approved initiatives legalizing 
marijuana for medical purposes. (Previously, citizens in 
jurisdictions as disparate as California and Maine imposed similar 
rules on reluctant public officials.) Nevada's measure even requires 
that the state provide a legal pot supply for eligible users.

Tighter seizure laws

Oregon, where voters earlier legalized medical marijuana and rejected 
a legislative attempt to recriminalize marijuana, joined Utah in 
reforming drug-forfeiture laws. Police and prosecutors routinely 
seize property from people merely accused of a crime and keep it for 
their own use; these initiatives require some proof of guilt.

The most direct challenge to the government's lock-'em-up strategy 
came from California's Mendocino County, where authorities last year 
confiscated more than $200 million worth of pot. Despite opposition 
from the local sheriff and prosecutor, voters decriminalized 
marijuana cultivation for personal use. Although binding on neither 
state nor federal officials, the initiative further demonstrates 
fading popular support for the drug war.

Rethinking the issues

That changing public attitude seems to be affecting some politicians. 
Michigan Gov. John Engler and New York Gov. George Pataki, both 
Republicans, have discussed relaxing their states' Draconian 
mandatory minimum sentencing laws. Hawaii this year became the first 
state in which the legislature legalized the medical use of 
marijuana. Some states have moved to allow the sale of syringes and 
cultivation of hemp, and Vermont has established a methadone program 
to treat heroin users.

So far, the impact of these drug-policy reforms is limited. The 
federal government continues to block access to marijuana by the sick 
and dying. Forfeiture abuses remain rampant. And issues such as hemp 
and needle distribution are peripheral.

Even the success of Proposition 36, which requires that drug 
offenders fail two rehabilitation attempts before being imprisoned, 
remains problematic. It still prescribes prison as the ultimate 
sanction, and will be put into effect by its opponents, including 
Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, who suggests that money may not be 
available to fund the initiative.

But further drug-law reform is inevitable, because the existing 
system isn't working. This country has imprisoned millions of people, 
wasted billions on enforcement, and sacrificed civil liberties. Yet 
the illicit drug trade continues to spawn crime and attract kids. And 
tens of millions of Americans still use drugs  some, like actor 
Robert Downey Jr., even after serving time in prison.

Thankfully, voters increasingly are saying enough. They know the 
answers to drug abuse aren't easy  but they also know the drug war is 
a spectacular failure.
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MAP posted-by: Kirk Bauer