GROUP WEIGHS DRUG FIGHT

The war on drugs is a futile undertaking that is causing more harm
than good, a speaker said at a drug forum in Bryan on Wednesday night.

Russ Jones, a former police officer from San Jose, Calif., spoke
before a small but influential crowd at First United Methodist Church
and advocated decriminalizing drugs as a way to decrease crime and
fight social problems in the United States.

Only about 20 people attended the forum, to the chagrin of some of the
attendees, but the group included Brazos County Sheriff Chris Kirk,
District Attorney Bill Turner and Bryan Police Department Assistant
Chiefs David Slanker and Wayland Rawls. The event was organized by
former 272nd District Court Judge John Delaney.

Jones cited overcrowded prisons, social inequality and violent crime
as effects of the war on drugs -- a term first used by President
Richard Nixon in 1972 to describe aggressive efforts to stop the
trafficking and consumption of illegal drugs.

Jones made his case with a 20-minute presentation, which was followed
by more than an hour of discussion with audience members.

Jones said he began his career as a law enforcement officer a year
before Nixon coined the "war" term and saw the negative aspects of the
war increase as his career progressed. He also said that the effort to
stop drug consumption is not working.

"It is easier for kids to get drugs than it is to get alcohol or
tobacco," Jones said.

The reason, he said, is that alcohol and tobacco are legal, which
allows the government to more effectively regulate and control them.

Jones pointed to the 1920s prohibition of alcohol as an example of how
crime rates and deaths increase when the substances are made illegal.
Just as it was for alcohol, legalizing drugs will be detrimental to
organized crime groups that profit from trafficking, he said.

"Street gangs today are not distilling illegal alcohol and they are
not growing tobacco," he said. "When, as a police officer, I arrested
a rapist, the community was safer. When I arrested a drug dealer, all
I did was create a job opening."

The community leaders at the forum, however, questioned some of Jones'
ideas.

"Meth and crack cocaine are ruining people's lives," said Kirk, the
Brazos County sheriff. "It leads to the destruction of families and
the abuse of children, and when you are addicted, you don't care about
these things."

Turner, the county's district attorney, said he was concerned that
some of the disincentives that kept people from using drugs would
disappear if their prohibition were lifted.

"One of the reasons we have law is not just to lock people up, but to
say that this is something that we don't want to happen," Turner said.
"We think that there are a lot of people out there whose conduct will
be deterred."

Many in the crowd disagreed and discussed ways to change public
perception about the nation's drug policy.

Still, Jones and attendees expressed gratitude to the law enforcement
leaders participating in the discussion.

"I am proud to be in a town where the elected officials would be
courageous enough to come and listen to this," Delaney said. "It is a
testimony to their quality that they are here tonight."