Many Cities Beginning to Challenge Drug War

by **proldic** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 8:14 pm

Deprioritization Decriminalization Legalization Medicalization Pharmaceuticalization Somatization "It's not if, but when." 3 pieces here. Overview: Aetna sponsors decriminalization conference, founder of Progressive Insurance gives millions to drug legalization movement. Soros gives multi-millions yearly, chanelled through Ethan Nadelman. Cities are crushed under a crippling heel. Syracuse New Times- cover story Scales of Injustice Syracuse could be spearheading a nationwide dialogue regarding the unfair casualties from America's war on drugs By Walt Shepperd Can one city impact America's drug law madness? The question blared in a Jan. 3 Washington Post headline and amplified a Neal Peirce column: "Can a single city do anything to change drug policies that are delivering terror to our inner-city streets, diverting police, clogging our courts, breaking up families and making a once-proud America quite literally the incarceration capital of the world?" A way tall order, he admitted, given the intransigency of state and federal drug laws. But Peirce also noted that with a detailed 2003 analysis of the drug laws' impact by outgoing City Auditor Minch Lewis, followed by a series of Common Council public hearings, Syracuse was "courageously asking tough questions and searching for alternatives." ... "I've always felt that money was the key,"... "Money was the thing that would get everybody's attention in this issue. There have been many books published about all the suffering and the inordinately long prison sentences, but when it comes down to it, it's an incredible waste of money. You read in the paper about drug busts with 50 and 100 officers and three-month investigations. They must cost a mint." Initial discussions between Eyle and Lewis began about a year ago at ReconsiDer advisory board meetings. Lewis suggested a questionnaire requesting the relevant statistics directed at the Syracuse Police Department. Eyle maintains it went nowhere. "After playing the game for awhile," he says, "I went to Minch and said, 'You're the city auditor. Can't you just do an audit? We decided that was the way to go. Minch was able, by virtue of his position, to get massive amounts of records. The numbers were strong enough to get some notice." Lewis did not quote a dollar figure in his audit, citing a number of intangibles involved in making a computation. "This is at the heart of what is killing our city," he says now, "really every city, but especially those six neighborhoods where drug arrests were concentrated." The audit found that concentration in the Southwest Side, Valley West, the South Central business district, the Southeast Side, the near Southwest Side and the near West Side. The audit also cited the city's Consolidated Plan for 2003-2004, the blueprint for spending the annual Community Development Block Grant, calling these neighborhoods "areas of minority concentration, with high percentages of households with low to moderate incomes." Generally, Lewis stressed the millions of dollars in property value lost to the homeowners in those neighborhoods. Specifically he cited the $35,000 it costs to incarcerate a person for one year in the New York state prison system. Eyle adds that in response to Peirce's column he got calls expressing interest from city councilors in Seattle and the Connecticut cities of New Haven and Hartford, and from screenwriter Mike Gray (The China Syndrome), whom the Los Angeles Times asked to discuss the issue in an Op-Ed piece. To further spread the Syracuse message on the issue Eyle has gone audio-visual, preparing Plan B for Syracuse, a DVD which he has mailed to those who called after reading Peirce's column (which also appeared in 50 other newspapers, including the Jan. 16 Post Standard). A free screening of the DVD is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 9, 7 p.m., at the Westcott Community Center, 826 Euclid Ave. with a discussion to follow. For information, call 422-6231. "I was tremendously impressed that this was such a serious effort on the part of the city auditor," Gray says in a telephone interview. "After I read about the hearings and watched the video, I said, 'This is something the L.A. City Council has to see.' I am presently working to force the issue." Author of Drug Crazy (Random House, 1999), a history of drug laws since 1909, Gray's perspective is far from California dreaming. "We're closing emergency rooms because we just don't have the dough," he says. "We can't put enough cops on the street because we can't pay them. And drugs are easier to get, there are more of them and the people using them are getting younger." Tale of the Tape Gray is scheduling a showing of the video for Los Angeles councilors, seeing council hearings as a jumping-off point to establishing a similar investigation by that city's comptroller. "Then we'll move on the county board of supervisors and the county comptroller," he says. "It'll take months. But it took years in Syracuse and I hope we can show them it was worth the effort." In Connecticut several cities may soon be following Syracuse's lead in holding public hearings on their own municipal war on drugs. Cliff Thornton is executive director of Efficacy, a Hartford-based group dedicated to finding peaceful ways of solving social problems, which has concentrated on urban drug policy over the past two years. "City councilors from Hartford and New Haven are very excited," says Thornton, reflecting on several visits to Syracuse to lecture and conduct workshops over the past six years. "They're earnest. They're ready to roll. The one in Hartford I had been working with already are planning a three-day conference on drug policy. Another three, from Waterbury, New Britain and Norwalk, I can't say are reluctant because they called me. But they're wait-and-see until they look at the video." The sudden responsiveness of mainstream politicians to an issue that has been perceived as countercultural comes as no surprise to Thornton. "We're giving them what they need," he says. "This is really the exit strategy to the financial crisis every city in Connecticut, and I would venture to say every city in every state in the union, has suffered over the past three years. The three biggest items impacting their budgets are law enforcement, mandatory minimum sentences and prison building. And they just don't have the money." After testifying at the Syracuse hearings, Roger Goodman, who directs the Bar Association Drug Policy Project in Seattle, worked with the chair of the public safety committee of that city's council to schedule similar hearings. After four years of background work, the Seattle association has approved a resolution to be sent to the Washington state Legislature recommending total overhaul of the state drug laws. "But we can work with the Onondaga County Bar Association and the Monroe County Bar Association on the street-level operational issues," Goodman observes. "You don't have to wait for major changes in the law. Between the Seattle resolution and the Syracuse hearings we're laying out menus of alternatives." For Goodman, focusing on the adequate funding of treatment becomes a priority. "Our state will increase the budget for treatment by more than $50 million this year for those who couldn't afford it otherwise. On the city level, early intervention is key. This means comprehensive education for life skills. It means easier access to social and health and housing services, not automatic booking and lockup. Once you arrest and book, the meter's running. The one thing you don't want to do is pay undercover police to dress up like homeless people to buy from and bust other homeless people who are desperate for drugs. We really don't have the money for that." Goodman and other critics of war-on-drugs strategies point to the wasted costs of time police officers spend on marijuana arrests that are eventually dismissed. "After reading the Peirce article," Eyle notes, "Eddie Ellison, the former head of Scotland Yard's drug squad, wrote me, 'It's posted on all the major UK boards, some good news from the U.S. drugs scene at last.' British laws are similar to ours, but they're dealing more honestly with the issue. It's still prohibition, but they realize the harm and the debate is much more open. They recently lowered the seriousness of marijuana offenses." Closer to home, Mike Smithson, speakers bureau coordinator for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) and former ReconsiDer colleague of Eyle's, bid on and won an on-line National Public Radio regional auction for lunch with Rochester Mayor William Johnson. Smithson saw an opportunity to take his cause directly to a city's chief executive. "We met one-on-one," Smithson says. "He's in his last year in office and he's not going to run again, so he's feeling his oats, like he can do things and not have to be so careful." Smithson presented Johnson with material from the Syracuse Common Council hearings and pitched the need for a similar series in Rochester. "He brought up the murder rate in his city, 57 last year, the highest of any city of that size in the country, and he knew it was related to drug prohibition," Smithson recalls. "He asked how you can make a pitch against prohibition with the state and federal laws in place. I referred him to the suggestions Roger Goodman had made to the Monroe County Bar Association, a lot of steps possible prior to changing the laws. I pointed to the reduction in the state education budget and the corresponding increase in the corrections budget and the resulting raises in SUNY {State University of New York} tuition, an issue for his constituents who are parents. He's African-American, so he was sensitive to my question asking why with blacks only 13 percent of the drug-using population, 98 percent of the state=s drug felons were people of color." Johnson invited Smithson for a follow-up lunch and Smithson will bring Eyle, who will suggest that what may be most helpful to Rochester and other municipalities from the Syracuse approach is the strictly budgetary argument in Lewis' audit. Noting that his final report started with a search for statistics and ended with a focus on dollars and sense, Lewis cited the Syracuse Police Department as the largest unit of city government, with more than 500 employees and a budget of $35 million, more than any other city department. Pot Shots The statistics Lewis started with would seem astonishing even to those who never leave their homes for fear that crime is waiting just outside their door. In the year ending June 30, 2002, Syracuse Police received more than 200,000 calls for help. "In responding to service requests," the audit reported, listing items that affected the resources of the city, "the SPD completed a total of 479,000 actions or 1,300 per day. Of the 479,000 actions, 28,800 actions resulted in arrests. Drug-related incidents resulted in the highest number of arrests, over 6,300." From the statistics and listening to concerns expressed at neighborhood meetings, Lewis gained some operating perspective. "We were surprised to learn that twice as many people are arrested for drug-related incidents than for any other violation," he stated in the introduction to the audit, "and the violence in our neighborhoods is worse every year. Arresting people is not working." The report noted that of the 6,300 drug-related arrests, more than twice the next highest category of larceny with more than 3,000, included 1,984, or 31.5 percent, for possession, sale or use of marijuana. Lewis' recommendation to explore alternatives to the local implementation of the war on drugs' total assault strategy stemmed from what seemed a general consensus at neighborhood meetings. "Most people are concerned about the violence that happens when drugs are sold on the corner," he maintained in his report. "They don't care if someone uses drugs in private. Our policy today may be contributing to the violence, just as Prohibition did for the last generation." If Eyle had a magic wand to change local drug policy, Plan B would first need a shift in the federal breeze. "When the federal government realized that alcohol prohibition didn't work, they had to repeal a constitutional amendment to give the policy-making decisions back to the states," he explains. Achieving that, his wand would orchestrate a model reflective of the one developed by Goodman. "On Jan. 20, the {Seattle} Bar Association passed a resolution proposing that the state set up a system to regulate all drugs and control the manufacture and distribution of all drugs," he says. "It would eliminate the black market and make drugs a public-health issue rather than one of law enforcement. Now, legalization does not mean putting 50-gallon drums of crack out in front of the schools for people to help themselves anymore than we have vending machines for alcohol. It's regulated and controlled. Right now there's no control on illegal drugs. People are selling them to 10-year-olds. Every maximum security prison in the state is full of drugs. If you can't keep them out of Attica, how can you keep them off your streets?" While advocating locally, Eyle sees the big picture globally. "The United Nations says illegal drugs is the eighth largest business in the world, about equivalent in dollars to the textile industry. America faces three choices in control of its vast drug market: the government, free enterprise--big business--or the criminal cartels. For some reason we've turned it over to the criminals. You can certainly argue whether the government or the free market is better suited to the task, but we've made the dumbest of the three choices. I'm a free-market kinda guy, but if the government took it over, I could live with it, it would certainly be better than this." After a decade of working intensely on the issue, Eyle believes the general public is ready to consider another alternative. "People don't care about inordinately large numbers of black people in prison," he laments. "They don't care about families being broken up. They don't care about invading other countries to put supposed drug lords out of business. They don't care about spraying poisonous chemicals on the rain forest in South America to eradicate coco crops uselessly because they crop up again in the next country. Those issues appeal to some people, but for the general public, they don't care. They care that their taxes are going up and their streets are not safe and the house they own in the city is worth half as much as it should be. And now, in Syracuse, N.Y., they held hearings on the issue that relate to what people care about. The hearings were held based on budget." Lewis believes that the budget function provides the path for the Common Council to take action on the issue. "The City Charter requires each city department to submit program budgets with work plans," he says. "The council can vote on those budget items." Stephanie Miner, who originally called the hearings as council finance chair, wants to see more, but thinks they should be called by the Public Safety Committee, where the discussion about the function of police officers could get sticky. "People look at you weird when you start talking about that," she says. Police Chief Stevie Thompson is taking a wait-and-see stance, saying that he wants more time to study the issue. According to Miner, total overhaul of the drug laws may take a very long time."While we pay the price," she reflects, "we're the ones who see what a heavy toll it takes on our community and our financial bottom line. That problem is going to have to be effectively solved at the state, and perhaps the federal level. The Rockefeller drug laws {the draconian punishments initiated in 1973 by then-New York state Gov. Nelson Rockefeller} are going to have to be solved at the state level. But just because somebody else at another layer of government has the ability to solve, or at least address, the problem, doesn't mean that you shouldn't ask the question, doesn't mean that you shouldn't call attention to the fact that, 'Guess what, Gov. Pataki, maybe where you live the war on drugs seems like a good idea, but here on the front lines we spend an inordinate amount of money and nobody feels any safer." Yet Miner does see some action as possible on the local level. "The Common Council can talk about the level of priority the police department gives to marijuana arrests. It's in our control to ask the question 'Is it worth it?' The other thing we can do is look at the toll that the Rockefeller drug laws take in our community and say to the state legislators and the governor that those laws are not helping anybody. In fact it's just the opposite. They're clogging up the courts, they're destroying lives of citizens and we're just moving backward under them. We need change. I don't know what that change is, but if you don't ask the initial question then you're not going to get to the solution." XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX The Finance Committee of the Syracuse Common Council will be holding hearings as a response to former City Auditor Minch Lewis' audit of the police budget. The hearings are scheduled for October 14th and October 28th from 5-7 p.m. and the public is invited. "It's time to stop talking tough on crime and start acting smarter on crime…” Syracuse Post Standard editorial, January 03, 2004 "We need to have a complete and comprehensive… debate on drugs and the present drug laws, It is a debate that has to come out of the closet, and all of us have to participate. There's no question that has to occur…” Syracuse police Inspector Mike Kerwin With former Syracuse City Auditor Minch Lewis, Syracuse Police Inspector Mike Kerwin, District Attorney William Fitzpatrick and the Post Standard all calling recently for a reviewing of our drug policy comes a truly unique opportunity to change the image of the city. That image can change from that of an undistinguished declining rust-belt city to a progressive community actively working to improve itself. Cities across the country are struggling desperately to survive in these times of tight municipal budgets. The Federal and State government’s drug polices force Syracuse to enforce laws that not only cost the city millions of dollars each year, but are totally ineffective at either reducing illegal drug use or making our streets safer. So what can Syracuse do about it? The Syracuse Post Standard said “ neither the state nor the city can afford to maintain the current approach. Reform attempts keep stalling, mostly likely because many politicians fear they will look soft on crime to their constituents if they change the system. We all must be smarter than that. It's time to stop talking tough on crime and start acting smarter on crime…” Syracuse Post Standard editorial, January 03, 2004 The problem facing cities like Syracuse in their attempts to change is that federal and state laws trump local laws. No matter what city officials decide, they cannot make such serious changes as those suggested by Lewis and endorsed by the newspaper. There are, however, some things that can be done. A series of hearings are going to be held by the Finance Committee of the Common Council to look into what changes the city could make that would improve things here without running afoul of state and federal laws. These hearings will be a way of gathering specific information to assist the Council in its legislative function. There are many things, all perfectly within the law, some of which other cities have done, that could reduce the harms incurred under the current policy. New policies that would ease tensions between the police and the communities they police. Policies that would free up limited police resources to focus on violent crime making our streets safer without additional expense. Policies that would put abandoned properties back on the tax roles and improve neighborhoods, improve our schools, and attract business to the city. Experts testifying at these hearings will examine these alternatives, see which could be implemented here, and what the benefits would be. The Post Standard got it right when they titled the above-quoted editorial “Where's Plan B? “ The defenders of “Plan A”, the war on drugs, have been heard from, and their policies implemented, for some thirty years, clearly to no positive effect. The hearings will focus on those offering a “Plan B”. The hearings will offer an opportunity for Common Councilors to hear experts talk about the problems with the current policy and what alternatives could be pursued by the city to save money and reduce crime without violating state and federal laws. While other cities have made changes in their policies along these lines Syracuse will be the first city in America to hold hearings to look into a broad range of ideas the city administration could institute. Among those testifying in the Council chambers will be Jack Cole. Cole knows about the war on drugs from several perspectives. Cole retired as a Detective Lieutenant after a 26-year career with the New Jersey State Police. For twelve of those years Cole worked as an undercover narcotics officer. His investigations spanned the spectrum of possible cases, from street drug users and mid-level drug dealers in New Jersey to international “billion-dollar” drug trafficking organizations. Cole holds a B.A. in Criminal Justice and a Masters degree in Public Policy. Cole has taught courses to police recruits and veteran officers on ethics, integrity, moral decision-making, and the detrimental effects of racial profiling. He has also presented papers at international conferences and spoken on drug policy reform in the European Parliament, as well as over 300 times to students, educators, professional, civic, benevolent, and religious groups in Australia, Canada, Central America, Europe, New Zealand, and across the United States. Cole will testify on Oct. 14th, at 5:00 p.m. Economist Jeffrey Miron, is probably the country’s leading expert in the economic issues states and municipalities face in combating drugs. Miron has served on the National Bureau of Economic Research, and the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Drug Use and the Workplace, and has just completed a book on the costs of drug prohibition to the states. He currently serves as a professor at Boston University. Dr. Miron will testify on Oct. 14th, at 6:00 p.m. Roger Goodman directs the Drug Policy Project at the King County Bar Association in Seattle, which is leading a high-level partnership of professional and civic organizations in Washington State in a critical examination of the War on Drugs and in promoting cheaper, more effective and more humane alternatives to current drug policies. He is currently an appointed member of the King County Substance Abuse Administrative Board and chair of its Legislative and Public Affairs Committee. He is also on the Leadership Council of Physicians and Lawyers for National Drug Policy. Goodman will testify on October 28th. at 5:00 p.m. Senator Pierre Claude Nolin chaired the Canadian Senate’s Committee on Illegal Drugs. Under his leadership the committee completed a thorough study of the illegal drug markets and the efforts to eliminate them and made many recommendations for changes in Canadian drug policy. Senator Nolin is a member of the Conservative Party of Canada and has served in the senate since 1993. Senator Nolin will share the podium with Eugene Oscapella, director of the Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy. Oscapella is an attorney and does consulting work for the Canadian government on matters relating to both trade issues as well as drug policy. His organization has completed many studies of various aspects of drug interdiction and law-enforcement policies that relate to drug prohibition. Nolin and Oscapella will testify on October 28th. at 6:00 p.m. We hope the public will make it a priority to attend these important hearings and make up their own minds about we can do to make Syracuse a better, safer place for us all. A city with a strong future. A city that can attract business with good schools, safe streets and an enlightened municipal government. <a href="http://reconsider.org/issues/Syracuse%20Hearings.htm">reconsider.org/issues/Syr...arings.htm</a> XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX SPONSORED BY AETNA and the city of Hartford, CT: (Hello!! That's AETNA, people!) “Hartford’s Drug Burden—Where to Put our Resources” October 21 and 22, 2005 8:00-8:45 am: Registration and Coffee 8:45 am: Welcome Bob Painter with thanks to sponsors and enunciation of goals Mayor Eddie Perez Jimmy Jones, President of Trinity College 9:10 am: The State of the Drug War in Hartford James Thomas, State’s Attorney for Hartford region Chief Harnett or designee 10:00 am: Speaker The Camden Experience, position of the Black Caucus of State Legislators, and other alternatives (Eric Sterling, President of the Criminal Justice Foundation) 10:30 am: Coffee Break 11:00 am: Speakers Washington State Bar Association position (Roger Goodman, Director, Drug Policy Project, King County Bar Association) What is behind the arrest records? (Ivan Kucyk) Prevention policies and Hartford Youth (Merrill Friedman, CACAC) 12:15: Box Lunch Breakout Action Sessions Topic #1 for all groups (facilitators: Robert Rooks, Dorian Gray Parker, Roger Goodman): “What are the drug related problems in Greater Hartford?” Roger Goodman will collate input from breakout sessions for presentation later in the afternoon. 1:45 pm: Panel Discussion #1 What would help Law Enforcement units in the War on Drugs? From Federal viewpoint: local DEA representative (?Mark Kaczynski) From State Viewpoint: State’s Attorney’s office (James Thomas) A Contrary law enforcement view: Jack Cole of LEAP 2:30 pm: Open Microphone and Questions for Panel 2:45 pm; Break 3:15 pm: Panel Discussion #2 “Incarceration and Drug Policy” (facilitator: Barbara Fair): Treatment/rehab in prison and what should follow (DOC representative) The Drug Court Experience in New Haven (Judge Jorge Simone) Discharge planning, probation, etc The drug related felon after discharge (?Robert Garcia DMHAS? Or Deputy Director Peter Rockholz?-Cheryl Breetz suggested since his has backgoround in mental health, addiction, and corrections issues and this is an area DHMAS is emphasizing) Cost of treatment Unavailability of jobs Supportive Follow up 4:00 pm: Open Microphone and Questions for Panelists and facilitator 4:20 pm: Speaker: Dr. Dale Garinger, The Marijuana Experience in Oakland, California Scarlet Swedlow (Exec. Director of Student for a Sensible Drug Policy) 5:00 pm: Summary of Luncheon Breakout Session Roger Goodman 5:20 pm: Dismiss and challenge for the next day (the focus on action) -- Bob Painter 5:30 pm Cocktails and Conversation (Hamlin Hall) Supper on your own -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SATURDAY 8:00 am: Coffee 8:30 am: Introduction for the Day Bob Painter Welcome from Marilda Gandara or Dr. John Rowe, CEO of Aetna—or if preferred, this welcome could take place on Friday. 8:45 am: Speaker: Cliff Thornton: “Beyond Prohibition” 9:15 am: Panel #3 “The impact of the Drug trade on the local economy” (facilitator: Lorenzo Jones) Representative from Syracuse (Nick Eyle) Where have all the young men gone? (Judge Arthur Burnett) What happens in Hartford if there is no drug prohibition (Cliff Thornton) 10:00 am: Open Microphone and Questions for Panelists and Facilitator 10:30 am: Coffee 11:00 am: Panel #4 “What else might add value to drug use management?” (facilitator: Dr. J. Hughes) Topic #1: Methadone Clinics, Buprenorphine, and Heroin Maintenance (Robert Heimer, Yale School of Public Health) Topic #2: Needle exchange and Hold Harmless programs (Mark Kinsley, Yale School of Public Health) Topic #3: What more can we do/what do we need? (Ken Talge, Exec. Director of ADRC) 11:45 am: Open Microphone and Questions for Panel and Facilitator 12:15 pm: Box Lunch Panel Discussion (facilitator Cornell Lewis) Topic #1: “Why are laws so hard to change?” Attorney Dave Biklin Topic #2: “The Voice of the Streets” Dorian Grey Parker Topic #3: “Addiction Recovery” Phil Valentine, Executive Director CCAR Topic #4: “Transition from Incarceration” Maureen Price, Community Partners in Action 1:40 pm: Speaker: Kay White: “Are Methamphetamines a Threat in Hartford? What should we do?” 2:15 pm: Action Breakout Action Session Topic #1: “What more can Hartford do?—shift money (where does it come from?) to more treatment; is addiction a medical, not criminal problem? ) and Next Steps in forming Action Plan (Treatment) facilitator: Megan O’Hanley) Topic #2: “What more can Hartford do—more police; treat marijuana like alcohol; repeal minimum sentences, etc?: (Law enforcement) ) and Next Steps in forming Action Plan facilitator: Ivan Kucyk Topic #3: “What more can Hartford do?—regarding prevention in youth) and Next Steps in forming Action Plan facilitator: (John Daviau, Governor’s Prevention Partnership) 3:45 pm: Wrap up of Breakout Action session and Next Steps 4:30 pm: Dismissal XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

by **proldic** » Sun Sep 04, 2005 8:32 pm

TIME TO LEGALIZE DRUGS The drug law that Gov. Pataki made sure to get his signature on before it passed into the books without his mark this week is a good beginning. It is an extension of the legislation he signed in December after rap mogul Russell Simmons and his crew joined the fight against laws many now consider almost medieval - the Rockefeller drug laws. With this new legislation, 540 prisoners can petition for their release, just as 400 have since the December signing. All of this is good, but it is far from enough. Our nation has yet to face the fact that recreational drug use is part of modern life and shows no signs of losing its appeal to the millions of customers who are not drug addicts but who fuel the trade. Comparisons are often made to Prohibition - and they're accurate, not far-fetched. We will continue to be plagued by an underground drug economy in which big piles of money are not taxed, and a situation in which underclass men become drug runners and murderers because the cash is too heavy for them to ignore. Whether or not we think they should ignore the money is not the point. They will not ignore it and will stay in the game until they are put into a bloated prison system where they will not be discouraged from breaking the law. The only way to keep those men out of the welfare of imprisonment is to remove the profit from the trade. This means that, as I have written before and believe more deeply with each passing day, we have to legalize drugs and pull those billions of dollars out of the shadow economy. There are some basic facts that will make themselves very clear once the appropriate decisions are made. The moment the big drug companies get just a whiff of the profit available, a lobbying battle will break out between them and the illegal druglords. Those who now make untaxed fortunes in the world of crime are not going to lie still and see their product put into the world of legality, where they will suddenly find themselves incapable of competing with real businessmen. This means that our big drug corporations will have to supply the necessary money to combat the lobbies sponsored by the criminal fringe. In essence, the hard fact is that illegality works in the interest of criminals, not the public. So that is where we find ourselves in this wing of modern life. We need to make the moves necessary to keep our young men out of the drug trade and responsibly make use of the tax money that could address many of the needs looming over our society. Let us see if Simmons and the others are able to move on to the next and much more important page in the evolution of facing the facts. Men such as William Buckley and Kurt Schmoke, the former mayor of Baltimore, have made clear what actual thought on these matters adds up to: We have to face the need for legalization. Will it be easy? Of course not. Is it important? Without a doubt. Op-Ed by [right-wing] Stanley Crouch <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/">www.nydailynews.com/</a>

by **proldic** » Sun Sep 04, 2005 8:36 pm

NYT Aug 31 '05 PATAKI SIGNS BILL SOFTENING DRUG LAWS Gov. George E. Pataki signed a bill into law last night that will soften the so-called Rockefeller drug laws, his office said. The new law will allow about 540 inmates - those convicted of Class A-2 felonies - the chance to petition for resentencing and early release. It is the second piece of reform to the drug laws that were passed in 1973 and that established mandatory sentences that in some cases were longer than those for murder convictions. Last December, Governor Pataki signed a bill allowing 446 inmates serving time for A-1 felonies to petition for a reduction in their mandatory sentences. The bill, one in a batch of about 100 that the governor signed about 7:30 p.m., would have gone into effect at midnight without Mr. Pataki's signature unless he had vetoed it. The governor, who is weighing a run for president, signed the bill "based on its merits," a spokesman, Kevin Quinn, said. While reformers hailed the new law last night, they said they would like to see more done to dismantle the drug laws. "We took 2 steps forward on Rockefeller reform last December, and we're taking another step forward today, but we have another good 10 steps to go," said Ethan Nadelmann, the executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, a nonprofit group focused on changing national drug policy. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/">www.nytimes.com/</a>

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