Pubdate: Wed, 14 Jun 2000
Source: Post-Standard, The (NY)
Copyright: 2000, Syracuse Post-Standard
Contact:  P.O. Box 4915, Syracuse, N.Y. 13221-4915
Website: http://www.syracuse.com/
Forum: http://www.syracuse.com/forums/
Author: Melanie Gleaves-Hirsch

COMMITTEE RECONSIDERS DRUG-PANEL NOMINEES

Two candidates, who favor some legalization, had been approved two months
ago.

In April, the Onondaga County Legislature's health committee voted
unanimously to appoint two men who support the legalization of some drugs to
the Syracuse-Onondaga Drug and Alcohol Abuse Commission.

In July, the committee will vote again on the appointment of the same two
men - plus seven other people whose names were later floated to fill four
commission vacancies.

To committee Chairman Thomas Smith, the vote in April was a "mistake" he and
other committee members can learn from.

To County Legislator Bill Kinne, who recommended the two men, July's vote
will be more than a just a case of deja vu. Kinne, a Democrat from Syracuse,
is incensed that the committee didn't vote on the nominees during its
meeting Tuesday. He also charges that behind-the-scenes political
maneuvering is behind the delay.

"They didn't tell me they were going to do this," Kinne said of the
committee's decision to postpone the vote until next month. "My problem is
that for four months, they had no names at all, then I present two names
they didn't like - and all of the sudden they magically have all these new
names."

Smith, a Republican from Clay, has a different view.

"We learn by our mistakes," he said after Tuesday's meeting, adding that he
and other committee members didn't know the full extent of the nominees'
backgrounds before the panel voted to recommend them in April.

Kinne nominated Dr. Gene Tinelli, a staff psychiatrist at the Veterans
Affairs Medical Center Chemical Dependency Clinic, and Nicholas Eyle, also
of Syracuse.

Eyle is executive director and Tinelli is a member of ReconsiDer, a
Syracuse-based drug policy group that supports the legalization of some
drugs, with governmental regulations. The two men - who listed their
connection to ReconsiDer on resumes given to the health committee - were two
of four people Kinne nominated to fill four vacancies.

After the committee approved Tinelli and Eyle in April, their nominations
went before the full legislature for a vote in May.

A few hours before the legislature's meeting, Executive Assistant U.S.
Attorney John G. Duncan told Legislature Chairman William Sanford that
Tinelli and Eyle favor the legalization of some drugs. Sanford pulled from
the agenda a resolution that would have appointed Tinelli and Eyle to the
commission.

Tuesday, Eyle and Tinelli told health committee members why they want to
serve on the 45-member commission - and why they believe diverse views among
commission members make the body stronger.

"The drug war is failing to protect our children," said Eyle, whose son is
7. "... Quite obviously, the approach we're using is not working."

Kinne said the postponement of the vote underscores a persistent problem
with the legislature.

"What good are committees if they have no power?" he asked. "My argument is
that we have a committee process and a (legislature) chairman who usurps
it."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Don Beck