Pubdate: Fri, 8 May 2009
Source: DrugSense Weekly (DSW)
Section: Feature Article
Website: http://www.drugsense.org
Author: Stephen Young
Note: Stephen Young is an editor with DrugSense Weekly. He is the 
producer of the documentary Government Grown - 
http://www.governmentgrownhemp.com - and the author of How to Inhale 
The Universe Without Wheezing.

FRANK J. MELTON - 1949-2009: THE DRUG WAR WORD MADE FLESH

Frank Melton didn't just become a soldier in the drug war. Frank 
Melton was his own drug war.

He personified all the excesses and hypocrisies that the phrase "drug 
war" suggests.

I suspected he was someone to watch when I first read about him seven 
years ago.

That's when Melton made the sudden transition from television 
executive/commentator to the head of Mississippi's war on drugs.

I never met the man or even saw him in person, but while editing this 
newsletter, I found it difficult not to read the news stories about 
him (all which remain archived by the Media Awareness Project).

After working in broadcast media for decades, Melton was suddenly and 
surprisingly named to lead the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics in 
2002.  Before the appointment, Melton had made a name for himself 
presenting tough-talking TV commentaries in which he ranted against 
criminals and those who were too soft on them.

He had absolutely no experience in law enforcement, criminal justice, 
public health or drug policy.

But, as so often is the case with the drug war, rhetoric is all that 
really matters, even when rhetoric is at odds with reality.

Within a month of his appointment, Melton turned words into action. 
Not content being an administrator behind a desk, Melton went out on 
calls with enforcement units.

He didn't just order constitutionally prohibited roadblocks in the 
state's capitol; Melton knocked on motorists' windows to personally 
inspect licenses.  Without legitimate law enforcement credentials, 
the state's attorney general noted at the time, the Narcotics Bureau 
head had no legal right to even request IDs.

But Melton would not be deterred. He stayed on the streets, 
increasingly disturbed by the legal obstacles blocking a real drug war.

He expressed dismay that obtaining a warrant for a drug search cost 
valuable time, and he pressed legislators to expedite the process.

It didn't take Melton long to realize the resources he had available 
were not enough.  He needed more, and wanted to take it in forfeited 
assets.  He thought the state should take a bigger cut, even if that 
left municipal police with less.

But Melton's visions were derailed by politics. When a new governor 
was elected, a new state drug czar was appointed. By that time, 
Melton had gained enough notoriety to win his own political job.

He was elected Mayor of Jackson, Mississippi in 2005, with the drug 
war still on his mind. He started carrying guns everywhere thanks to 
a law enforcement waiver he obtained (though the federal 
Transportation Security Administration reportedly insisted that he 
cease bringing weapons on planes).

In his most notorious act as mayor, he gathered employees and 
volunteers armed with sledgehammers to destroy an alleged drug 
house.  No warning, no warrant, just a bunch of thugs led by the 
mayor, tearing down a private residence in the middle of the night.

This appeared to be Melton's Col. Kurtz moment, the point be became 
fully integrated into the drug war. It went beyond cause or crusade. 
He was his own weapon of choice, and he didn't believe that weapon 
should have limitations.

In the drug war, results don't matter. Messages matter. Any proposed 
reform will always be met with the reply, "That sends the wrong message."

Though he hadn't been a TV professional for years, Melton was still 
sending a message. He just delivered that message with a sledgehammer 
instead of broadcast television as his primary medium. While it's 
difficult to translate such a primal message into words, I think it 
was intended to say: There's a new drug war in town, and it's named 
Frank Melton.

Other authorities took notice, and Melton soon faced his own legal 
troubles.  Only about a year into his term, Melton was indicted on 
charges stemming from the house beating incident.  But he never 
resigned office and never acknowledged wrongdoing.

By 2007, Reason Magazine ran a story naming Melton as "Worst Mayor in 
America." Aside from the public relations nightmare he created for 
the city, his administration took a balanced budget and ran it into a 
multi-million dollar deficit.

Melton had created a firm power base by exploiting the drug war. But 
as in the larger drug war, personal prohibition victories can be 
completely illusory.

In recent months, he campaigned for another term as mayor. He 
finished third among nine candidates in the primary election. Melton 
died May 7, two days after primary voters rejected him.

Though he was acquitted locally, at the time of his death, Melton was 
preparing to face federal civil rights charges related to the 
sledgehammer raid.

I don't know what killed Melton; press reports have been 
contradictory so far.  But I suspect willing oneself to be an 
instrument of war places a fair amount of stress on a human being.

Some news reports suggest that Melton had a history of heart 
problems, but until very late in his life, he had refused to give up 
tobacco and alcohol.  (Other reports indicate he was actually drunk 
on the night of the infamous raid).

Maybe if he could have broken his own obsession with other people's 
drug use, Melton might have been able to address some personal issues 
related to his own drugs of choice.
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