EDWARDS: WAR ON DRUGS TOO PUNITIVE

Grinnell, Ia. - America needs to reconsider its punitive approach to
"the so-called war on drugs," presidential candidate John Edwards said
here today.

"We're not going to build enough prisons to solve this problem," he
told a crowd of about 800 at Grinnell College.

The former North Carolina senator grinned when a young man sitting
behind him on stage asked about drug policy. "Only on college
campuses," Edwards joked before answering.

He said he's especially concerned about mandatory minimum sentences
for first-time drug offenders, which he said should be reconsidered.
He added that too few drug offenders get treatment.

"You go to jail, you come out of jail, and a lot of people go right
back to the environment that got them in trouble to begin with," he
said. "...We need to get them the help that they need; if they need
education, if they need job training, if they need drug
rehabilitation."

He also said he favored drug courts, in which non-violent offenders
often are given alternatives to prison. And he said he would beef up
the probation system, so probation officers aren't each expected to
oversee hundreds of cases.

The original questions came from Gerad Ryan, a 21-year-old Grinnell
College junior from Long Island, N.Y.

Afterward, Ryan acknowledged that it's politically risky for any
presidential candidate to criticize America's drug policy. He said he
generally was pleased with Edwards' response, though he said it was a
bit vague in spots. Ryan, who said he might take part in the Iowa
caucuses, said marijuana should be legalized. "I think it's ridiculous
that nature is illegal," he said.

The exchange came during a rally kicked off by prominent singers
Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne, who were accompanying Edwards on a
two-day campaign swing through Iowa.