Pubdate: Thu, 18 Jan 2001
Source: Idaho Statesman, The (ID)
Copyright: 2001 The Idaho Statesman
Contact:  Letters to the Editor, P.O. Box 40, Boise ID 83707
Fax: (208) 377-6449
Feedback: http://www.idahostatesman.com/f_letter2editor.htm
Website: http://www.idahostatesman.com/
Author: Gene Fadness

COLES MAY FIND THAT MANY HAVE OPINIONS ON DRUG WOES

Boise Mayor Brent Coles may be getting more of a taste of the divergent 
views about drug abuse in America now that he's under consideration to be 
the next drug czar.

Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of a leading drug-reform organization, 
has heard of Coles. Nadelmann, of the Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy 
Foundation, said a recent commentary by Coles in the Washington Post, while 
containing some good information, was "kind of an old mind-set piece that 
says we should use the criminal justice system to make society drug-free."

In the article, Coles recommended that prisoners be treated for drug abuse 
while in prison and be tested before they are released.

Nadelmann's organization advocates treatment instead of incarceration for 
the first two drug-possession offenses. Nadelmann criticized drug czar 
Barry McCaffrey, who recently retired, for not emphasizing treatment.

"McCaffrey's rhetoric was better than his predecessors'," Nadelmann said. 
"He talked about giving two-thirds of drug money to treatment, but instead 
gave it to law enforcement and interdiction and only one-third to treatment."

Eric Sterling was the legal counsel for the House Judiciary Committee that 
wrote the legislation creating the drug czar position in the 1980s.

Sterling, now president of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, said the 
Office of National Drug Control Policy has not been used as Congress 
intended under either Republican or Democratic administrations.

The czar should have authority over the drug-fighting portions of each of 
the 13 major federal budgets, to make sure money is used effectively and 
consistently, Sterling said.

The next czar will have to be prepared to lock horns with Cabinet members, 
Sterling said. "Especially if you have a vision of doing anything different 
than the status quo."

But Nadelmann and Sterling may be locking horns with Coles if he becomes 
drug czar. They favor legalized, but regulated, use of some drugs, 
clean-needle programs, and methadone treatment, a sort of nicotine patch 
for heroin addicts. Those aren't positions espoused by Boise's conservative 
mayor.
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