COPS, D.A.S BLAST DRUG MEASURE BACKERS

There is nothing the cops assigned to the Lynn Drug Task Force like about
Ballot Question 8, but one claim by the measure's proponents particularly
galls them.

"Who says we're losing the war against drugs?" said state Police Sgt. Alan
Zani. "This city is 100 percent better than it used to be. When I came here
in '89, (dealers) were on the street fighting with each other for
customers. We were doing four search warrants a week and busting our way
into drug houses with doors barricaded with chains and two-by-fours. It's a
lot better now."

If passed, Question 8 would allow certain first- and second-offense drug
dealers to escape convictions and jail time by claiming drug dependency and
instead be placed in treatment funded by money seized from drug
investigations.

Among the big-money backers of the question are billionaires George Soros
of New York, John Sperling, head of the University of Phoenix, and Peter B.
Lewis of Cleveland. Soros and Lewis have been proponents in other states
for the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes.

Essex County District Attorney Kevin M. Burke, who oversees the Lynn task
force and another in Lawrence, is more blunt about what the question
sponsors want to accomplish.

"Their concern has nothing to do with forfeiture and treatment. Their
purpose is to decriminalize drug laws," Burke said. "For them to suggest
that drug addicts don't get treatment is flat wrong. The law allows people
who are drug addicted to come before the court and get treatment and if
they complete the treatment, they get their case dismissed."

Burke and the state's 10 other district attorneys, along with Attorney
General Thomas Reilly, are opposed to Question 8. Plymouth District
Attorney Michael Sullivan is scheduled to slam the measure today.

Al Gordon, a spokesman in favor of Question 8, said the measure's intent is
not to free drug dealers but to get people in the early stages of drug use
into treatment before they graduate to other crimes.

"There is no legalization issue here at all," he said. "Under Question 8,
everything that is illegal today will still be illegal tomorrow. It's
strictly about alternative sentencing."

But State Police Sgt. Ken Gill, another task force member, said years of
crime-fighting and partnerships with community groups have improved the
quality of life for residents by forcing drug dealers from their
neighborhoods. Dealers are now forced to sell out of their cars using
pagers and cell phones and Gill is afraid if Question 8 passes, the dealers
will brazenly return to the nearest street corner.

"It's masking the legalization of drugs and it's going to destroy these
communities that have gotten better," Gill said.