NUNN MAKES DRUG WAR PRIORITY IN GOVERNOR RACE

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Rep. Steve Nunn said yesterday that if he is elected
governor this fall he will make fighting illegal drugs a top priority and
appoint a state "drug czar" to oversee those efforts.

Nunn, a Glasgow Republican, called for more treatment programs for first
offenders as an alternative to prison, and tougher sentences on drug
traffickers, including medical professionals who improperly prescribe or
dispense legal drugs.

Nunn called for stronger oversight of doctors by the state Board of Medical
Licensure, promised to "force a light upon judicial failures" to impose
sufficient punishment for drug crimes, and said he might allocate more
money for courts that need additional judges or special prosecutors.

Asked to estimate the cost of his plan, Nunn said it could be as much as
$10 million, but he said he hopes to receive money from the federal
government by working with Kentucky's congressional delegation, which is
almost entirely Republican.

Nunn said hospital stays would be cheaper than prison terms, partly because
the stays would be shorter.

In his only call for a specific appropriation, Nunn said the legislature
should spend $1.4 million to improve the program that monitors
prescriptions, making it faster and always available.

Nunn said the federal government could provide money for anti-drug efforts
by making Medicaid more flexible. "What it would take most is an
administration that has made this a priority," he said. "It's not how much
it's going to cost, it's what it's going to cost us if we don't."

Nunn said Kentucky leads the nation in the number of prescriptions per
person, and illegal methamphetamine labs are spreading from Western
Kentucky to Eastern Kentucky, where abuse of the prescription painkiller
OxyContin has caused many deaths.

"The worst and most destructive public-health epidemic is now sweeping
across our state," causing crime and death, he said. "I am prepared to take
whatever action is necessary to end this epidemic, stop the danger and fear
in our homes, and save our children from a lifetime of destruction,
addiction, death or suicide."

Nunn said he would be willing to call out the National Guard to fight
drugs, but was unclear on how guardsmen would be used. "I don't think they
have powers of arrest, but they have powers of detainment," he said.

"It's not how much it's going to cost, it's what it's going to cost us if
we don't," Rep. Steve Nunn said in announcing that as governor he would
focus on drug enforcement.