WAR ON DRUGS CHALLENGED AT FURMAN FORUM

The professionals argued at a lively Furman University forum Wednesday
night that one way to win the nation's losing war on illegal drugs is to
decriminalize the substances and declare victory.

But panelist Kathleen Rice, executive director of the Greenville County
Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, said she opposed decriminalization
unless the money from the war till went into treatment and education. She
also said it could make the problem worse, particularly for young people.

And some of about 325 students who attended a panel discussion said they
opposed decriminalization.

Graham Boyd, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer, estimated 115,000
people are jailed on drug charges yearly. He said the nation's increasingly
costly prison population has quadrupled since the 1980s.

He said the federal government has spent an estimated $200 billion in
attempt to eradicate drugs since the mid-1980s.

"Are we winning the war on drugs?" he said during a 40-minute talk, which
also covered alcohol prohibition in 1919. "I can't say in any way we are."

Boyd said government's battle against drugs has included building 400
prisons since 1990.

"It seems to me it's time to do something different," he said. "People
should not be locked up for using drugs."

Earl Burnett, who retired after working 21 years in the Greenville County
Sheriff's Office, said he has concluded an alternative to jailing drug
users must be found.

"Strict criminal enforcement is a failure," said Burnett, one of five
panelists. "Drugs is a consensual crime and hard to detect."

"We're locking up more people," he said, but that has "failed to reduce
drug use." "My feelings overall is drug prohibition should be ended."

Marty Wicks, 20, a junior, said the comments of the speakers made sense but
she said she worries about a slippery slope of decriminalizing drugs.

"I don't agree with it," Wicks said. "If it's the decriminalization of
marijuana, what happens with the other (harder) drugs."

She said she worries about people who begin using drugs such as pot and
eventually move to more serious drugs and will crave a bigger thrill. "I
worry about who they will hurt," she said.

Justin Fincham, 21, a senior, said he had strong feelings about the issue.

"I don't think it should be decriminalized," Finchman said.