VOTERS SET TRENDS IN APPROACH TO DRUGS

Lame-duck politicians have a tendency to speak unpopular truths. So
it would seem with Bill Clinton, who declared in Rolling Stone
magazine that those using or selling small quantities of marijuana
should not be jailed.

Nor is Clinton the only politician to criticize the endless war
against drugs. New Mexico's Republican governor, Gary Johnson,
another lame duck, has turned drug-law reform into a veritable
crusade. Johnson, who admits to past drug use, now is a triathelete
who warns against drugs. But he contends that the drug war is
misguided. And Rep. Tom Campbell, R-Calif., this year made drug-law
reform the centerpiece of his unsuccessful Senate campaign.

These three politicians may be anomalies, but their willingness to
speak out illustrates an important phenomenon overshadowed by the
presidential contest: Voters are beginning to demand changes in how
we treat drug problems.

Campbell lost, but the California drug-reform initiative he
championed, Proposition 36, won despite opposition from virtually
the entire political and law enforcement establishment. Proposition
36, which diverts nonviolent drug offenders from prison to treatment,
was modeled after an Arizona plan approved in 1996 with the support
of an unusual left-right coalition.

This was not the only success for drug-reform advocates. Aside from
Massachusetts, which narrowly defeated an initiative similar to
Proposition 36, every other statewide drug-reform campaign won Nov. 7.

Over the vehement opposition of the drug warriors in Clinton's
administration, Colorado and Nevada approved initiatives legalizing
marijuana for medical purposes. (Previously, citizens in
jurisdictions as disparate as California and Maine imposed similar
rules on reluctant public officials.) Nevada's measure even requires
that the state provide a legal pot supply for eligible users.

Tighter seizure laws

Oregon, where voters earlier legalized medical marijuana and rejected
a legislative attempt to recriminalize marijuana, joined Utah in
reforming drug-forfeiture laws. Police and prosecutors routinely
seize property from people merely accused of a crime and keep it for
their own use; these initiatives require some proof of guilt.

The most direct challenge to the government's lock-'em-up strategy
came from California's Mendocino County, where authorities last year
confiscated more than $200 million worth of pot. Despite opposition
from the local sheriff and prosecutor, voters decriminalized
marijuana cultivation for personal use. Although binding on neither
state nor federal officials, the initiative further demonstrates
fading popular support for the drug war.

Rethinking the issues

That changing public attitude seems to be affecting some politicians.
Michigan Gov. John Engler and New York Gov. George Pataki, both
Republicans, have discussed relaxing their states' Draconian
mandatory minimum sentencing laws. Hawaii this year became the first
state in which the legislature legalized the medical use of
marijuana. Some states have moved to allow the sale of syringes and
cultivation of hemp, and Vermont has established a methadone program
to treat heroin users.

So far, the impact of these drug-policy reforms is limited. The
federal government continues to block access to marijuana by the sick
and dying. Forfeiture abuses remain rampant. And issues such as hemp
and needle distribution are peripheral.

Even the success of Proposition 36, which requires that drug
offenders fail two rehabilitation attempts before being imprisoned,
remains problematic. It still prescribes prison as the ultimate
sanction, and will be put into effect by its opponents, including
Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, who suggests that money may not be
available to fund the initiative.

But further drug-law reform is inevitable, because the existing
system isn't working. This country has imprisoned millions of people,
wasted billions on enforcement, and sacrificed civil liberties. Yet
the illicit drug trade continues to spawn crime and attract kids. And
tens of millions of Americans still use drugs some, like actor
Robert Downey Jr., even after serving time in prison.

Thankfully, voters increasingly are saying enough. They know the
answers to drug abuse aren't easy but they also know the drug war is
a spectacular failure.