PANEL EXAMINES DRUG WAR

Common Ground Found On Topic Of Nonviolent Offenders

Nearly 50 people participated in a spirited, two-hour discussion Wednesday
night on New York state's drug policy and the criminal-justice system's role
in it.

The forum, at Cayuga Community College, was sponsored by the League of Women
Voters' Balancing Justice Program, the Auburn-Cayuga chapter of the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People and Cayuga Community
College's Student Activities Board.

The league asked its members to set up forums in each county across the
state to stimulate conversation and help educate people about the issues
surrounding drugs in our society.

Moderator Ed Lauckern, a local radio talk-show host, began the evening by
posing an open question: "Are we going in the right direction in the 'war on
drugs?' "

The panel consisted of Cayuga County District Attorney James B. Vargason,
Auburn City Judge Michael McKeon, Auburn defense lawyer Simon Moody and Gene
Tinelli, a doctor who also is a member of ReconsiDer, a Syracuse-based
organization that explores alternatives to the war on drugs.

The panelists agreed that alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent drug
offenders should be explored, although they disagreed on the impact drugs
have on crime, particularly violent crime such as assault and burglary.

Vargason, who reviews all felony cases in the county, estimated that nine
out of 10 cases that cross his desk have some tie to drugs, and that there
is a direct relationship between drugs and violence.

He added that "those who promote decriminalization of drugs have promoted
myths," such as the idea that prisons are full of nonviolent drug users.

"If anyone would suggest to you that the war on drugs is failing, I would
suggest otherwise," Vargason said.

"We support treatment, but it's got to be treatment that is monitored
properly, funded properly and directed at those who are truly nonviolent
offenders," he said.

Moody, who specializes in criminal law, urged people to look at the issue of
community safety as inclusive of drug users.

"When we talk about real people, when we talk about community safety, I
think it is important that we realize that we are all part of the same
community," he said.

Moody also called for reform in sentencing limits and the classification
system of drug offenses.

"The answer (to the drug problem) does not lie in the criminal-justice
system because people have to be arrested before they enter that system," he
said.

Tinelli agreed and called the current system - in which prosecutors and
police officers make decisions over what he called a public health issue
such as drug addiction - "crazy."

"They are as incompetent in treatment issues as I am in legal issues," he
said.

He countered Vargason by saying that many people in favor of harsh drug laws
"want to scare people, and connect drugs and violence, but that's bogus."

"We should not modify or change (the current drug laws); we should end them
and replace them with nothing," he said.

McKeon, who handles misdemeanor and lower-level infractions, said he would
like more options when dealing with people who are at the early stages of
drug use.

"It frustrates judges because they are not given hooks for getting these
people" into educational programs that could curb future drug use, he said.

Questions from the audience focused on sentences for drug crimes and the
role legal and illegal drugs play in overall crime. After the meeting, those
who attended were invited to sign up for "study circles," which would meet
in the coming weeks and discuss drug issues.