FORUM ATTACKS UNITED STATE'S CRACKDOWN ON DRUG TRAFFICKING

The fight against the war on drugs took center stage last weekend as the
UW-Madison Students for a Sensible Drug Policy held its first drug policy
reform conference on campus.

The conference brought together speakers from around the country to address
social and political issues relating to the government's attempted
crackdown on drug trafficking and usage.

The prevalent theme of the conference was that the U.S. government's
current war on drugs is ineffective.

David Borden, executive director of the Drug Reform Coordination Network,
cited the immense number of prisoners incarcerated on drug convictions as
one of the main problems of the drug war, as well as mandatory minimum
sentences for drug offenders.

Borden, along with other panelists, argued for the legalization of all
drugs within the United States.

"If we legalize drugs, we can make the condition of addiction less
destructive," Borden said. "With the current high cost of drugs, users are
driven to desperate measures."

Borden said the goal of drug reforms should be regulation of substances,
similar to the regulation of alcohol.

"I'm obviously not in favor of putting crack cocaine in the checkout line
in grocery stores," Borden said, "but the illicit drug market is killing
people 's chances of hope in the inner cities."

Keynote speaker and author of Drug Crazy: How We Got Into This Mess and How
We Can Get Out Mike Gray agreed with Borden, saying that in areas where
drugs are legalized, such as Holland, the rate of use among people of all
age groups is substantially lower than in the United States. In Holland,
marijuana is available in coffee shops to any user over the age of 18.

"When [drug use] becomes routine, it isn't considered cool anymore," Gray
said. "There is nothing romantic about hanging out with Dutch businessmen
in a coffeehouse while they have coffee and a lunchtime toke."

One of the topics most relevant to students in attendance was the Higher
Education Act, in which students applying for financial aid are asked to
report any criminal convictions related to illegal drugs. The Free
Application for Federal Student Aid form states that a drug-related
conviction does not automatically make students ineligible for aid;
however, many students were denied financial aid last year due to prior
convictions, according to Borden.

Organizers and speakers alike considered the conference a great success and
are hopeful that further changes will be made in the near future. Gray said
recent actions in several states across the country will catalyze the
destruction of the drug war.

According to Gray, the Hawaii legislature's recent action toward legalizing
marijuana for medical purposes reflects citizens' growing dissatisfaction
with the drug war and is the precursor for decriminalization of marijuana
nationwide.

"The government will soon be in the embarrassing position of fighting a war
that citizens don't support," Gray said. "We've tried imprisoning our way
out of the problem, but that obviously hasn't worked."

UW-Madison SSDP President Jacob Davis is optimistic about the prospects of
success through SSDP's efforts.

"We have very motivated, determined people working to make a change," Davis
said. "We won't let even the largest obstacles stand in our way of
bettering society."