WINNERS - POT SMOKERS

Regardless of who ends up sitting in the Oval Office come January, the
national War on Drugs will march forward. But here in Oregon, at
least, police will find the spoils much less rewarding.

Thanks in part to the work of its Marijuana Task Force, the Portland
Police Bureau last year seized more than $6.6 million worth of drugs,
cash and other loot. Much of the property was returned--but some was
sold, bringing $727,000 to local drug-enforcement efforts.

But now that funding source is about to dry up, because Measure 3
changed the rules governing the way law enforcement funds the drug
war. Previously, local police could seize cash and sell property that
was merely suspected of being linked to a crime. Now, a criminal
conviction will be required before the goods can be unloaded, meaning
the $2 million derived annually from forfeiture statewide will be
reduced. More importantly, 75 percent of the proceeds are to go to
drug-treatment programs, not law enforcement.

The upshot of this is that the Marijuana Task Force, as well as other
special drug units, will probably bite the dust if Measure 3 cannot be
overturned in court, says John Bradley, a Multnomah County senior
deputy district attorney. If the goal of the measure was to put a huge
crimp in the drug war, "that will be achieved," he says.