Pubdate: Fri, 21 Jun 2013 Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA) Copyright: 2013 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. Contact: http://www.utsandiego.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/386 Note: Seldom prints LTEs from outside it's circulation area. Author: Diane Bell WAR ON DRUGS IN U.S. FOCUS OF DISCUSSION Mayor, U.K. entrepreneur Richard Branson join town hall-style panel in Balboa Park BALBOA PARK -- Mayor Bob Filner stopped short of calling for decriminalization of all drug use Thursday night but took a strong stand on local governments' right to choose how to address the issue. Filner was on a panel with British entrepreneur Richard Branson, who speaks passionately about what he calls our country's failed war on drugs. Branson arranged for Thursday's town hall-style discussion of the issue after a screening of the documentary "Breaking the Taboo" at the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park. Produced by Branson's son, Sam Branson, and narrated by Morgan Freeman, the film interviews several former South American leaders who admit they were unsuccessful in quashing the drug trade through eradication and force. Although Branson jokingly announced, "I'm here for a free pass to the city," he took his mission seriously. The founder of the Virgin Group sits with former presidents, prime ministers and other world leaders on the Global Commission on Drug Policy. It has issued reports on the failure of the hard-line war against drugs and its negative impact on public health, where hepatitis C and HIV infections are on the rise. This is the second of 25 screenings scheduled in the United States and abroad. Branson pledged to give his time and money to get out the word. Several of the panelists criticized politicians for not being brave enough to stand up for what needs to be done while in office. "Not one politician I've ever met doesn't think you should treat drug use as a health problem, not a criminal problem," said Branson. "I think it's cowardice that is at the heart of it." Moderator Scott Lewis, CEO of Voice of San Diego, asked Filner if a coalition of mayors urged him to sign a letter proposing decriminalization of all drugs, would he? "We'd like him to be mayor a bit longer," Branson quickly interjected. Filner responded: "How brave do you want me to be? A political leader has to take a position but not go off the deep end." Filner said he prefers to re-brand the issue to put the emphasis on treatment. Instead of "decriminalization," Filner said, perhaps it could be called "clinicization of drugs." The mayor has been at legal fisticuffs with the U.S. Attorney's Office over the federal crackdown on local medical marijuana dispensaries, which Filner labeled a "policy of persecution not just prosecution." Medical marijuana should be sold in pharmacies, he added. ACLU panelist Margaret Dooley-Sammuli urged support of state Senate Bill 649, which would give prosecutors the flexibility to make heroin or cocaine possession a misdemeanor or a felony. The most cogent plea, though, came from Daniel Romero, 40, who spent 20 years in California prisons on drug-related offenses but has been clean for 4 = years. "The state spent over $1 million incarcerating me," he said. "It took two years for someone else (the Amity Foundation) to teach me how to live life. I'm a citizen today -- I'm not taking you guys' things anymore." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom