ACTIVIST PREACHES DRUG LEGALIZATION

CAMDEN -- A Camden activist says legalizing drugs is the solution to
bringing down violence, crime and drug-related deaths in the city.

Trying to persuade his audience, Frank Fulbrook, a longtime Camden
activist, said the war on drugs is simply hurting society and cities
like Camden, and therefore, drugs should be legalized.

"Camden can't be revitalized as long as drugs are illegal," said
Fulbrook, who conducted the recent "Forum on America Drug Policy and
Impacts on Cities like Camden" at Rutgers University.

Fulbrook's proposal extends only to people over 21.

"Once you are an adult, you are responsible for what you do, not the
government," said Fulbrook.

However, not everybody in the audience felt that drugs should be
legalized -- saying that would not end addiction and the problems
that come with it.

"Alcohol is legal, and the problems haven't stopped. They still
persist," said Anthony Bertolotti, a math major at Rutgers."My father
is an alcoholic, alcohol is legal and he abused my mother."

Camden Councilman Ali Sloan El, a friend of Fulbrook's, sat in the
audience and also disagreed with the proposal. He believes that
legalization is not the answer to the violence that grips Camden.

"To save Camden, the solution is in gathering young people and
residents to patrol every corner where drugs are being sold," said Sloan El.

Fulbrook said he believes the city's downfall is drug prohibition,
and that the war that policymakers imposed against drugs only creates
devastation.

Fulbrook also argued that instead of spending money on eradicating
drugs, the government could tax and regulate the sale of drugs.

The supply of drugs is endless, and no matter how much the United
States government fumigates coca plantations in Colombia or opium
fields in Afghanistan, drugs will always make their way into the
country, he said.