DEMOCRATS' POT PLAN

Delegates to the state Democratic Party convention must be dipping
into the funny stuff. How else to explain a resolution favoring
legalization and sale of marijuana through cafes, bars and liquor stores?

This dumb idea sends the wrong message. Parents do their best to keep
kids away from drugs of all kinds. Then along comes the wacky wing of
the Democratic Party with a conflicting message.

A party chairman walks a delicate line at a convention, trying to
manage fringe elements and inspire passionate party members to work
hard on behalf of candidates.

Party Chairman Paul Berendt suspended good judgment in pursuit of an
issue that might appeal to a certain segment of party members.

The platform adopted last week favors decriminalizing marijuana. A
convention resolution, passed by a narrow margin, calls for
legalization of pot sales to people over age 21 through cafes, bars
and liquor stores.

State voters in 1998 approved a medical marijuana initiative that
makes sense because the pot is used for specific medical needs. It
doesn't then turn up at the corner coffee shop.

If Democrats were worried about inordinately long sentences for
nonviolent drug offenders - hundreds of thousands of them fill prisons
at a considerable cost to taxpayers - the party should have made that
clear. That is a legitimate policy debate.

But legalization is the wrong statement from a party that has worked
hard to prove it is more centrist than in years past.

Apparently fearful that the party will have a difficult time
energizing supporters for fall elections, Berendt let the passions of
the liberal wing fly - over the edge.

It is bad politics to send signals that confuse young people and
alienate moderate, sensible suburban voters.