WAR ON DRUGS A FAILURE

On behalf of Progressive Dane's Drug Policy Task Force, we would like to
thank you for your July 18 front page article "Bauman Wants to End Drug War."

We applaud the mayor's courage in publicly recognizing the drug war as a
failed policy and are eager to assist her in developing alternative
approaches to the problems of drug abuse.

While she is correct in her statements that there are limits to what can be
done at a city level, we have a few suggestions of ways she may proceed
right now.

First, she can instruct Chief Richard Williams and the Madison Police
Department to enforce Madison City Ordinance Section 23.20(2), which states
"(3) A person may casually possess marijuana or cannabis in a private
place. Such casual possession is not a crime and is not subject to
forfeiture." It also states "(4) No person shall casually possess marijuana
or cannabis in a public place unless [it] was obtained directly from or
pursuant to a valid prescription or order of a practitioner while acting in
the course of her, his, or its professional practice."

One way that the city can give this ordinance teeth, besides refusing to
prosecute marijuana cases in Madison (and we recognize that such
prosecution is not currently a high priority), is to provide a way for
medical marijuana patients to legally obtain cannabis. It is meaningless
and cruel to tell patients that it is legal for them to possess their
medication yet illegal to obtain it. Amending the ordinance to include a
growing provision, especially for medical marijuana users, would be a great
step toward reconciling the spirit of the ordinance with reality.

Inadequate funding for treatment is another concern raised by Bauman. She
states, "users of drugs and abusers of alcohol and prescription drugs have
a health problem" and suggests that the city respond with increased
treatment options. While it is all too true that drug abuse treatment
programs are underfunded and underavailable, and that Madison should
emphasize treatment over incarceration, there must be a distinction made
between use and abuse. In most cases, marijuana use by consenting adults is
not something that requires coerced treatment or any intervention by law
enforcement.

We suggest that the city and county divert resources from prosecuting drug
possession cases and put them toward treatment and community-based
prevention programs. Of course that would not compensate for the current
dearth of resources but it would be a start in implementing a
harm-reduction and public health-focused approach.

While this study is important, it is at least as important for concrete
action to be taken now in order to reduce the harm done to society and to
individuals in the name of the war on drugs.

Like prohibition of alcohol, the prohibition of other classes of drugs has
created a violent and highly profitable illicit market and rendered illicit
drugs completely unregulated. We wholeheartedly agree with Mayor Bauman
that the city of Madison needs to take the lead in reversing this
destructive trend.

Stephanie Rearick, Gary Storck, Yogesh Chawla, James Reinke, Lucy Gibson,
Jon Hain, Bruce Rideout, Dr. Jeff Schiffman and Barb Vedder are members of
Progressive Dane's Drug Policy Task Force