THEORY: SAFER TO LEGALIZE DRUGS

The federal government should legalize and regulate drugs for
recreational and medical use because they are too dangerous to leave
in the hands of criminals, a former Michigan lawman says.

Howard J. Wooldridge, a self-described education specialist in
Washington, D.C., with the Boston-based Law Enforcement Against
Prohibition, said a $1 trillion war against drugs since the 1970s has
failed to stop the flow of narcotics into the nation and that many
drugs often sell for less, are stronger and are more readily available
than ever.

"These drugs are dangerous, some of them are deadly, and that's why we
(need) the government to control and regulate them" through
legalization, Wooldridge said. "The drug dealers are regulating these
drugs."

Illicit narcotic profits have funded terrorist groups in other
nations, he said.

Saginaw County law enforcement leaders on the other side of the
argument, however, reject the idea and say legalizing drugs would
endanger public safety and add to social ills.

"I could show you a whole jail full of people who have got mixed up
with drugs and it hasn't helped them in any way," said Sheriff Charles
L. Brown.

Some commit violent crimes because of involvement with drugs, he
said.

Wooldridge, a former Bath Township detective near Lansing, visited The
Saginaw News and at least one other media outlet in a swing through
mid-Michigan that included a lecture at Michigan State University to
spread his message.

"As a policy, there is a thundering silence across America," he
said.

David A. Light, a Saginaw Township resident who accompanied
Wooldridge, said he tried to organize a visit to Saginaw Valley
University twice but the college backed out.

SVSU spokesman J.J. Boehm said a scheduling conflict nixed plans to
bring Wooldridge to campus. The SVSU Center for Public Policy and
Service, which would have hosted the visit, had a congressman visit at
the same time.

Both Brown and Saginaw Township Police Chief Donald F. Pussehl Jr.,
dismiss the claim that legalizing drugs is the best alternative to
dealing with the problems narcotics cause.

People under the influence of drugs can act irrationally and pose a
danger to the public and police officers who respond to calls for
help, Pussehl said.

Drug users can suffer ill health effects -- everything from premature
aging to decaying teeth, Brown said.

Medical doctors regulate the distribution of pain killers, but that
hasn't controlled the spread of illegal use of those drugs in the past
few years, Brown said.

"These pills are showing up where? In our schools," he said. "And why?
Because they are easy to hide."

Pussehl, a former Saginaw police chief, said legalization won't end
drug dealing. For example, he said, smugglers bring tobacco into
Michigan from across the border to avoid paying higher taxes on a pack
of cigarettes.

"My question would be, what would stop drug dealers from doing the
same thing?" Pussehl asked.