CONGRESSIONAL HOPEFULS OFFER VIEWS ON CRIME, MEDICAL POT

The idea of allowing marijuana for medicinal purposes has little support
among Arkansas candidates in contested congressional races. The same is
true of federal legislation to punish crimes motivated by hate.

The candidates are U.S. Rep. Marion Berry, D-Gillett; Republican nominee
Susan Myshka of Jonesboro; and write-in George Moody of Jonesboro, all in
the 1st District; U.S. Rep. Vic Snyder, D-Little Rock, and GOP nominee Bob
Thomas of Little Rock, both in the 2nd District; and U.S. Rep. Jay Dickey,
R-Pine Bluff, and Democratic nominee Mike Ross of Prescott, both in the 4th
District.

The election is to be Nov. 7.

Berry did not link his response to each question singly. Portions of his
response are presented here with particular questions where it seemed clear
that he was addressing them. The rest of his response is presented below.

The questions, with the candidates' responses:

1. Should the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes be made legal at the
federal level?

Berry: "I am against the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes."

Myshka, Moody, Snyder, Dickey and Ross: "No."

Moody: "Yes."

Thomas: "If you can extract the chemical that makes marijuana useful for
cancer patients and put it in a pill form controlled through a pharmacy,
then I am all for it. However, I am not a proponent of getting a doctor's
note to allow anyone to smoke marijuana."

2. If so, why?

Moody: "Because it has been found to be medically useful for relieving pain."

3. If not, why not?

Myshka: "Too much potential for abuse."

Snyder: "The pharmacological properties of marijuana and other plants can
be made legally available if found efficacious through the normal FDA [Food
and Drug Administration] process."

Dickey: "The dangers to society of the legalization of marijuana far
outweigh any potential benefits. Several studies have shown that marijuana
is often a gateway drug to more serious drug use, a major burden for our
country."

Ross: "Other drugs can be used for those medicinal purposes, which are not
common to street sales or abuse."

4. Would you support capital punishment for people convicted of
international drug trafficking? Moody, Snyder and Thomas: "No."

Myshka, Dickey "for appropriate crimes," and Ross: "Yes."

5. If so, why?

Myshka: "Criminals that engage in this kind of behavior calculate the
'costs of doing business' against the perceived 'benefits.' Such drug
traffickers view the present punishments as an acceptable level of cost
given the huge monetary rewards. Raise the cost to capital punishment and
the cost will become too great for all but only those willing to take very
great risks."

Dickey: "The Office of National Drug Control Policy estimated that
drug-related illnesses, death and crime cost the nation approximately $66.9
billion annually. Every man, woman, and child in America pays nearly $1,000
annually to cover the expense of unnecessary health care, extra law
enforcement, auto accidents, crime and lost worker productivity resulting
from substance abuse. As with all crimes that result in the senseless
taking of American life, that person should be subject to the death penalty."

Ross: "We need to send a message to drug traffickers -- stop smuggling
drugs into the U.S. More importantly, the drugs sold in the U.S. kill
thousands and thousands of lives, and traffickers should be found guilty
for that."

6. If not, why not?

Moody: "I don't believe in capital punishment."

Snyder: "The possibility that citizens of a foreign country may face the
death penalty in U.S. courts makes it less likely in many cases that the
country will cooperate in extraditing those criminals to the United States.
The death penalty should be reserved for heinous crimes that intentionally
lead to the death of the victim."

Thomas: "It doesn't make sense."

7. Should capital punishment be imposed for additional federal crimes?

Myshka, Moody, Snyder, Thomas, and Dickey ("at this time"): "No."

Ross: "Yes."

8. If so, which ones?

Ross: "Drug trafficking."

9. Would you propose in Congress any changes in sentencing laws?

Myshka, Ross: "Yes."

Snyder: "Justice in federal courts is better served if federal judges have
more discretion over sentencing."

Thomas: "No."

Dickey: "I would oppose any change in sentencing laws that would weaken our
enforcement of laws."

10. If so, what changes would you propose?

Myshka: "One I would propose would be stiff mandatory sentences, such as 10
years in prison, for any person convicted of selling drugs to a minor, to
be served in addition to any other conviction that person received as a
result of that action.

This relates to my philosophy spelled out in Number 5 above."

Moody: "Life sentence should have parole."

Snyder's answer is recorded under Question 9.

Ross: "We need truth in sentencing -- 40 years should mean 40 years."

11. What would you propose in Congress to curb the problem of illegal drugs?

Myshka: "Raise the cost of doing business by increasing the punishment to
levels that even most hardened criminals would find unacceptably risky and
costly."

Moody: "Rather than imprisoning people for drugs, I think these people
should be treated for addiction. This is a mental problem and not a
criminal problem. With over 60 percent of females being put in jail for
drugs or drug-related problems, we could free up a lot of jail space by
treating them as a medical or psychological problem."

Snyder: "Unfortunately, we will always have a small part of humanity with
addiction problems, either alcohol or drugs. We need to recognize that
fighting the influence of drugs is difficult without available treatment. I
support increasing funding for treatment research and programs. Finally, we
must recognize that America's addiction problems have wide impacts -- the
narcoguerrillas in Colombia threaten to destabilize democracy in the area."

Thomas: "Strong education policy about the downside and dangers of drugs."

Dickey: "I have endorsed Arkansas' application for the federal designation
as a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA). It is my hope that
successfully obtaining this designation will provide Arkansas with
additional resources to stamp out the illegal drug trade in our state. We
must also strengthen the integrity of our national borders. Currently,
drugs flood into our country because we have failed to deploy adequate
resources along our borders."

Ross: "Tougher penalties for drug dealers and mandatory rehabilitation for
drug addicts."

12. What would you propose in Congress to deal with the rising inmate
population?

Myshka: "Build prisons as we need them. The rising inmate population has
paralleled the drop in crime that most of the country has experienced. This
is not a coincidence."

Moody: "I think we are giving prisoners the easy life by giving them
air-conditioned shelter, good food, etc. They should be made to work during
their incarceration, they should be paid for their work in jail or be put
on a work-release program if they qualify. In addition, they should be
offered education so they will have a marketable skill when they are
released and won't have to resort to their former criminal behavior to make
a living. It is a crying shame that we jail more people than any other
country in the world."

Snyder: "If federal judges have more discretion in sentencing, it would
likely free up beds in prisons. We should also make better treatment
options available for inmates with addiction problems. We should focus on
providing training to teach better parenting skills. Congress should act to
modernize schools, improve teacher quality, and reduce class size. We
should continue to support law enforcement programs, such as Cops on the
Street."

Thomas: "Inmate population may be up, but crime is down. Maybe there is a
cause and effect relationship."

Dickey: "Crime is declining in our country because we are finally keeping
violent criminals behind bars. We must provide adequate resources to ensure
that we never release a prisoner into the general population because we
have run out of space."

Ross: "Require inmates to support themselves while incarcerated, and
require participation in rehabilitation programs."

13. Would you support legislation to provide for crimes based on sex,
sexual orientation, and disability to be prosecuted as federal hate crimes?

Berry: "I would not support hate crime legislation."

Myshka: "No."

Moody: "No. This question is unclear, but in general the state should jail
people who commit crimes regardless of their sex, etc."

Snyder: "Yes."

Thomas: "Crime should not be classified by victims. No, I do not support
federal hate crime legislation."

Dickey: "No. It would be a mistake to believe that these acts are allowed
within our current legal system. Though not classified as crimes of hate,
these crimes are already acts of violence prohibited by law. With all
violent crimes, we have a judicial system in place that prosecutes these acts."

Ross: "Murder is murder, torture is torture -- we should enforce the laws
we have."

Berry's response to the questions also said:

"I think the best way to combat crime is to educate our children, and to
show them the difference between right and wrong.

However, when someone has chosen to engage in criminal activity we need to
send them a strong message, which is why I have supported COPS (Community
Oriented Policing Services) when it has come before Congress. The program
grants local and state police with the resources they need to fight crime,
and gives community police the tools they need to cater to their specific
needs and crime trends.

"Punishment for any crime should be swift and sure.

"I believe current laws are sufficient to punish offenders, regardless of
his or her motivation."

U.S. Rep. Asa Hutchinson, R-Fort Smith, was omitted from the questionnaire
because he is unopposed for re-election in the 3rd District.