WISE CALL FOR DRUG WAR TRUCE

Madison Mayor Sue Bauman is not the first prominent elected official to
publicly recognize the so-called war on drugs for what it is - a "failed
strategy." Calls for an end to policies that advocate punishment over
treatment of drug and alcohol abusers have come from mayors of big cities,
prosecutors, jurists, legislators, members of Congress, and New Mexico Gov.
Gary Johnson.

Nonetheless, when the mayor of Wisconsin's second largest city used her
annual State of the City address to describe current drug enforcement
polices as having failed, she was taking a bold and important stance. There
are still far too few officials, even in liberal Madison, who have the
courage to say, as Bauman did, that it is time for policy-makers and law
enforcement officials to recognize that "users of drugs and abusers of
alcohol and prescription drugs have a health problem" and respond with
treatment options and programs to prevent abuse.

To her credit, Bauman has made it clear that she wants to be part of a
major policy shift at the local, state and national levels. She recognizes,
rightly, that Madison is the place to begin making such a change because
the city "has a history of turning its back on failed strategies that cause
job loss, break up homes and further destroy the lives of people around the
abuser."

As the mayor of a city with a significant national profile, Bauman has the
ability to force a broader dialogue. And so she will. The mayor says she
hopes to convene a group meeting this fall with county officials - and
possibly U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson - to
"develop a systematic approach to how we can address this problem at its
earliest stages rather than by having to resort to law enforcement and
incarceration to address it."

Involving Thompson is a wise move, as he has the authority - and the
obvious link to Wisconsin - that could allow for the allocation of funds
that would make Madison a model city for the development and implementation
of new and successful strategies. It is notable that, even within the
conservative Bush administration, Thompson has shown himself to be the sort
of maverick who is more willing than most of his colleagues to take
"responsible risks."

Bauman need not wait for a signal from on high, however. She has worked
with police and area prosecutors to shape the city's already relatively
enlightened drug enforcement. Now she should step up that work to place an
even greater emphasis on treatment rather than punishment. Bauman can and
should ally herself with County Executive Kathleen Falk and other county
officials who have worked to increase funding for treatment programs while
resisting pressure to greatly expand the Dane County Jail.

The mayor should also turn up the volume on her advocacy for sound policies
within city departments. In particular, she should make it clear that she
favors treatment rather than punishment for Madison Fire Department
employees who have been accused of off-duty drug use. It is difficult to
imagine a better example of the drug war gone awry than the approach
embraced by Fire Chief Debra Amesqua and the Police and Fire Commission.
From the start, Bauman has been a more responsible player than Amesqua,
but at this critical stage the mayor needs to aggressively advocate for a
more sensible approach.

Ultimately, "sensible" is the operative term here. A drug war that costs
America hundreds of billions of dollars, destabilizes our country and
hemispheric neighbors such as Colombia, fills the criminal justice system
with people who should be in treatment programs rather than jail cells, and
fails to promote responsible behaviors among young people is not
"sensible." The "sensible" approach is the one Mayor Bauman has proposed -
declare an end to the war, and start caring for the wounded.