HOUSE HOPEFUL SAYS POT SHOULD BE LEGAL

PHILLIPSBURG - The Green Party candidate for Warren County's Congressional
seat says marijuana should be legalized and American drug policy shifted
from enforcement to treatment of drug users.

Since 1986, the United States has followed a drug-control policy that has
proven costly and ineffective, Mike King said.

He cites thousands of citizens serving lengthy prison terms for drug
possession, billions spent fighting drug cartels abroad and the destruction
of inner-city communities by crime as reasons for the nation to revisit and
revise its strategy for drug control.

The Phillipsburg resident would like to see the money spent on jailing drug
users and fighting the South American drug war poured into breaking the
hold of drugs on American culture - and that would mean dealing with addiction.

U.S. Rep. Marge Roukema, a Republican from Ridgewood, has represented
Warren County for many years. She said she disagrees with much of King's
position, but Tom Martin, a Warren County drug counselor and recovering
addict, said King's ideas have merit.

Roukema and Democrat Linda Mercurio of Emerson are King's opponents in the
5th District, which spans from Bergen to Warren counties across the state's
northern tip.

Mercurio could not be reached last week for comment.

Since 1986, when federal sentencing guidelines for people convicted of drug
possession were toughened, the United States prison population has doubled,
King said.

The current sentencing structure was designed to deal with crack, an
inexpensive form of cocaine that flooded American cities in the 1980s, by
providing tougher penalties for users and dealers of the drug, he said.

But the so-called mandatory-minimum sentencing requirement also requires
those found guilty of possessing marijuana, a less dangerous drug, King
said, to serve lengthy prison terms.

The result is an overflowing prison system, he said.

"Incarceration has become a giant business in this country," King said.

More than 400,000 United States citizens are in jail for drug offenses.
Only Russia has more people in prison than the United States, King said.

Most of the people in prison for drug offenses are users at the end of the
supply chain.

Martin said he agrees the wrong people are being targeted.

"The people who are suffering aren't the Colombian drug lord families,"
Martin said. "They're all the poor schmucks who got caught in the middle.

… There are mothers who have never seen their children because they've been
in jail for 15 years. Most of these people are addicts, not arch criminals."

But Roukema said she supports tougher drug penalties.

Drug offenders "should be kept away from the community. There should be
more incarceration," Roukema said.

Roukema and King both said treatment for drug users needs to be made available.

"There should be more treatment for drug offenders in prison. There should
be more funding for drug-rehabilitation programs in prisons," Roukema said.

King said incarcerating drug offenders wastes money that could be spent on
treatment and education. By investing in preventative measures, the demand
for drugs could be reduced, he said.

"The crack cocaine problem is one that has to be dealt with through
treatment," King said. "Treatment has been shown to work. Maybe not on the
first try, but only 7 percent of cocaine addicts receive treatment."

Martin said treatment for drug addicts is a solution, but the availability
and money for such programs do not exist.

"Sentencing guidelines have generally improved in that they include
treatment in their sentence, but the court isn't going to pay for that
treatment," he said. "No one is going to pay for that treatment so
(addicts) never get it."

Drug treatment programs simply are not available to some people. Although
drug use has increased in Warren County, no inpatient drug treatment
facilities exist there, Martin said.

"There is not a single bed in all of Warren County for detox," he said.
"That's a disgrace."

Martin said dealing with drug users as criminals is a misguided policy.

"We need the money for treatment. We don't need to create criminals," he
said. "You don't recriminate an illness, you treat it."

King and Roukema disagree on the wisdom of the United States' attempt to
cut off the drug supply at its source.

Since President Richard Nixon began the "War On Drugs" in 1972, more than
$300 billion has been spent combating drug traffic, King said.

While early efforts focused on providing treatment, the emphasis shifted to
interdiction in the 1980s, he said.

Helicopters and other military equipment are being sent to Colombia to
target drug crops and labs, King said.

"If we were able to get control of it in Colombia, it would shift to
another country," King said. "There are an endless number of places around
where this will spring up because there is money in it.

We are risking being drawn into the Colombian civil war, and our presence
there is not helping them resolve the massive problems they are having there.

There are better things we can do with this money."

Roukema said the United States should stand by its efforts to keep drugs
from entering the country.

Roukema also said as a member of the House Banking Committee, she believes
efforts to a control drug syndicate's ability to hide its profits should be
stepped up.

"As far as I'm concerned, there has to be more law enforcement," she said.
"We need more troops on the border and more enforcement of money laundering."

But King said the attempt to control the flow of drugs has had an adverse
impact on society. As drugs become scarce, prices rise and users go to any
length to make a buy, he said.

The result has been crime in the nation's cities, he said.

By legalizing marijuana, the criminal economy for that drug is eliminated,
King said.

"Society with the government as its agent actually stands a chance of
regulating use and abuse of these drugs when the large financial rewards of
crime are removed," King said.

Roukema said marijuana should remain a controlled substance.

Martin said legalizing any controlled substance will not solve the problem
of drug addiction and will only reduce the number of people sentenced for
drug possession and sales.

People who use drugs, whether illegal or not, commit crimes to get their
fix, he said.

"It isn't necessarily that they are legal or illegal. There are a lot more
crimes involved," he said "It's not just simple possession of marijuana,
it's breaking and entering, manslaughter and murder one, two, three."

Martin said dealing with addicts is often easier when they can be brought
into the legal system.

"Sometimes the law is the only leverage that's available to bring the
individual to treatment," he said.

The desire for the altered reality that drugs bring is ingrained in modern
society from illicit drug use to prescription anti-depressants advertised
on television, Martin said.

Dealing with illegal drug use will never be easy, he said.

"There's a great deal wrong with our so-called culture," Martin said.
"Let's face it, there's a market, and there will be a market as long as we
are looking for the quick fix - that thing outside ourselves."