Pubdate: Fri, 20 Jul 2007
Source: Great Falls Tribune (MT)
Copyright: 2007 Great Falls Tribune
Contact: http://www.greatfallstribune.com/customerservice/contactus.html
Website: http://www.greatfallstribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2502
Author: Gwen Florio, Tribune Capitol Bureau
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

METH PROJECT FOUNDER CRITICAL OF 'CRAZY' DRUG POLICY

HELENA -- The nation's drug policy "is a little bit crazy," Montana 
Meth Project founder Tom Siebel said Thursday.

Far too much money and effort goes toward imprisoning drug users, and 
too little toward prevention and treatment, Siebel said during an 
address before a Hometown Helena civic group meeting.

Pointing out that the skyrocketing rate of incarceration is mostly 
because of drug offenses, Siebel said, "it used to be that we put 
people in jail who we were scared of. Now we put people in jail we're mad at."

Prison doesn't work, he said.

"They just get a better education," Siebel added. "It's like a 
graduate school program in drug distribution."

Siebel, a multimillionaire software entrepreneur, also used the 
occasion to press Attorney General Mike McGrath to divert more funds 
toward the Montana Meth Project. Although Siebel paid millions for 
the original project -- whose graphic ads about methamphetamine abuse 
garnered nationwide attention -- a combination of federal, state and 
private money now will fund the project in Montana.

"We need money," he said.

The project has raised more than $500,000 in corporate and private 
donations in Montana in the last year, which the Siebel Foundation 
will match, he announced Thursday, promising to match up to $5 
million. Montana's congressional delegation is also seeking federal 
money for the project.

The Legislature allocated $1 million in 2008 for the Meth Project. 
The attorney general's office will begin seeking proposals this fall 
to carry on the Meth Project's work, said spokeswoman Lynn Solomon.

Siebel also addressed his political ambitions, which have been the 
subject of speculation.

He said he is "absolutely not" running for U.S. Senate or any other 
office in Montana. "Never," he said, adding that he felt he could be 
more effective in the private sector.

Tom Daubert, a consultant to the Missoula-based Citizens for 
Responsible Crime Policy, praised Siebel's comments about drug policy.

"I agree with him completely," Daubert said. "I think it's time for a 
radical change in policy, a completely new paradigm that looks at the 
problems people have with drugs as health issues, not criminal 
law-enforcement issues. I think that for less money, we will have 
much better results for all concerned."

Last year, Citizens for Responsible Crime Policy backed Missoula 
County's successful Initiative 2, which encourages county law 
enforcement authorities to rank adult marijuana offenses as their 
lowest priority. The policy was amended in March, and no longer 
applies to marijuana-related felonies.

In June, the U.S. Conference of Mayors adopted a resolution that 
termed the war on drugs a failure, decried the rate of incarceration 
for drug users and called for a public health policy focusing on treatment.

"It's easy to fund jails," Siebel said. "It's not so easy to fund 
prevention programs, treatment programs and counseling."

The Montana Meth Project conducts regular surveys on its 
effectiveness. The most recent survey, released in March, shows high 
awareness of the dangers of methamphetamine, with 87 percent of teens 
surveyed disapproving of even infrequent meth use. A survey released 
in January by McGrath's office showed a decline in meth lab busts and 
detection of meth during workplace testing and fewer meth-related arrests.

However, the number of meth lab incidents was dropping steeply well 
before Siebel started the Montana Meth Project in the fall of 2005, 
according to statistics from the federal Drug Enforcement Agency. 
Likewise, arrests for drug violations also were dropping before the 
project started, according to DEA figures. The agency noted that law 
enforcement officers in Montana identify meth as the state's most 
significant drug problem.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman