TALKS A GIANT STEP IN DRUG REFORM

THE MOVEMENT to understand and improve our nation's struggles with drugs
and drug policy took another giant step this week, comparable in scope to
the step it took with the movie Traffic.

Much as that Hollywood film excited the public to discuss drug issues and
the need for change as never before, the peace talks at Rice University's
James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy may inform and motivate our
political leaders.

The conference, "Moving Beyond 'The War on Drugs,' " on Wednesday and
Thursday, brought to Houston U.S. Drug Enforcement Administrator Asa
Hutchinson, who provided a traditional defense of prohibition-and-prison
drug policies, and a list of speakers who favor drug reform, including
doctors, a judge, a district attorney and others.

But the conference presentations represent only the lifting of the foot for
the giant step. Now conference organizer William Martin, who is a Rice
professor and Baker Institute senior scholar, is going to spend the next
few months organizing a book from all the information presented at the
conference, and from other sources as well.

Martin, by the way, is a fine writer whose credits include the book A
Prophet With Honor: The Billy Graham Story.

Conference provides a kickoff

The giant foot will come down when the conference report/book comes out. In
closing remarks, the founding director of the Baker Institute, Ambassador
Edward Djerejian, said the institute publishes such reports only when it
involves something meaningful and when it can make a difference.

He compared the drug war to the Arab-Israeli conflict. He served as
ambassador in both Syria and Israel and reportedly has had numerous
conversations with key figures involved in efforts to resolve the current
fighting.

The conference is "the beginning of an intense analysis and assessment of
what works and doesn't work," he said, and the findings will be taken to
Washington.

One of the conference speakers who has long served as an elected official
said in a conversation at the end of the first day that drug policy reform
efforts do not hinge upon facts and evidence. He said the facts and
evidence clearly cry out for reform. But he said that reform depends now
upon politics.

Those who want changes and improvements know how difficult it will be to
get officials in charge of the current policy to relinquish any power or
control or funding.

Or even discuss it. A couple of top government drug-war officials rather
emphatically turned down invitations to participate in the Rice conference.
But an invitation issued by a top rung at the Baker Institute proved
successful in attracting Hutchinson.

Djerejian emphasized that "the need for public dialogue, as we have here,
is essential." He said the conference is a good start.

No one is predicting precisely what changes will come or how quickly they
will come, but the ambassador's assessment is that the areas of drug
treatment and drug education are open windows of opportunity.

Targeting after-school plans

And perhaps a prime target for early reform efforts is increasing
after-school programs. A couple of speakers mentioned the impact they could
have.

Much drug use among teens occurs between the time school lets out and
parents get home from work. Many teen pregnancies begin during these hours,
also, as well as a large portion of the crimes such as shoplifting and car
thefts and burglaries that are done by kids.

Health issues such as medical marijuana and needle exchange programs are
gaining momentum in much of the country.

Many of the speakers mentioned that they are parents and want to see better
control and management of drugs and drug problems than the drug war has
provided. They want a more realistic approach.

The peace talks at Rice were a giant step in that direction.