DRUG USE AND SUSPICIONS

The fuss and bother over the presidential election has obscured some other
interesting results from Election Day. One of these was the passage of
Proposition 36 in California, with 61 percent of the vote.

The new law is an important step in moving the country toward treating drug
use as a health issue, and not a crime. By sending first- and second-time
nonviolent drug offenders into treatment, officials predict that they will
reduce the state's prison population - the largest in the Western hemisphere
according to the New York Times - by 36,000 and save nearly $250 million in
incarceration costs.

The nation's strict drug laws, and the concomitant philosophy of zero
tolerance, have swelled the nation's prisons to an unbearable degree, and
this proposition is a step in a more sane and mature direction. Four other
states - Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Utah - also passed measures that relax
laws against medical marijuana use and restrict seizure of drug offenders'
property.

Although zero tolerance, on the surface, seems like an adequate response to
the drug problem, it fails to address the difficult nuances. To punish
people unrelentingly who have run afoul of these harsh laws is not right. We
should have learned this lesson from Prohibition.

We have an example locally where the Southington police chief's
daughter-in-law has been arrested for possession of marijuana in her home.
As a result, the couple's children have been placed with relatives, although
it does not seem that her home will be seized.

On a side note, the transfer of the couple's home three days before the
arrest from the police chief to his son - who also is a member of the force
- - and his daughter-in-law can only arouse suspicions that word of the
impending arrest had leaked out, and the chief was maneuvering to distance
himself from the affair, particularly if a asset forfeiture was possibly in
the offing. He has not been available for comment, but upon his return he
should provide some explanation.

In any case, it is not a question of condoning drug activity, but of dealing
with it in a humane and effective way. If, in fact, a person is only guilty
of a nonviolent offense, then jail and harsh seizure laws are not the
long-term solution. It is primarily a health issue that should receive
treatment and counseling if appropriate.

California has set the tone for the nation with the passage of Proposition
36, and it is likely that we will see similar measures pass as more people
realize that the war on drugs is often a self-lacerating war that we need to
rethink.