CAMPBELL URGES CHANGE IN DRUG WAR

Senate Candidate Would Put Greater Emphasis On Treatment For Addicts

Republican Rep. Tom Campbell, running for the U.S. Senate against incumbent
Democrat Dianne Feinstein, said yesterday he would win the war on drugs by
turning away from prosecuting drug addicts while getting even tougher on
drug pushers.

Speaking to the Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco, Campbell
began a weeklong effort to draw attention to his candidacy by restating
that the money being spent on the war on drugs should be channeled to a war
on drug addiction.

That would include, he said, allowing local governments, if they choose, to
establish centers that might distribute hard drugs as part of a treatment
program.

``Nothing I saw is more likely to be misquoted and contorted by my opponent
than this,'' Campbell said. ``I do not propose that we legalize drugs, or
that we allow pushers to stay on the street. What I propose is a return to
this war's original intent -- getting Americans cleaned up, out of danger
and back into the mainstream.''

While shifting the emphasis to treatment, Campbell said the war on drug
dealers should escalate, and include the death penalty for anyone who sells
heroin, cocaine or methamphetamines to children under 12, even if the child
does not die from the drugs.

``What does it mean (when) you intentionally sell such a drug to a child?
What does it mean except you wish that child to die?'' Campbell said.

Campbell promised a new ``fall offensive'' around the state aimed at
gaining attention, and support, for his maverick style of politics.

``I'm not within the confines of normal politics,'' Campbell told an
audience of 85. ``I'm willing to say what's unpopular. If I get some
attention for doing what's right, not what's politically safe, I'll be your
U.S. senator.''

Campbell has lagged well behind Feinstein in public and private polls,
including one released yesterday by the Public Policy Institute of
California, which showed him 17 points back among likely voters.

Feinstein was favored by 48 percent, Campbell by 31 percent. For the first
time, the poll also measured voter support for the third-party Senate
candidates on the November 5 ballot.

Green Party nominee Medea Benjamin was favored by 3 percent, Libertarian
Gail Katherine Lightfoot by 2 percent and Reform candidate Joe Camahort by
1 percent. Fifteen percent of the voters said they were undecided.

Feinstein led among women, men, in all regions of the state and held a
2-to-1 lead among voters who described themselves as unaffiliated with
either of the major parties.

But Campbell's approach to the drug issue may have won him one high-profile
convert.

San Francisco District Attorney Terence Hallinan, whom Campbell invited to
the Commonwealth Club event, is an outspoken advocate of treatment rather
than prosecution of drug users, and he said he is rethinking whether to
support Feinstein.

``I like his approach to drugs,'' said Hallinan. ``She has such a bad
position, I'm really rethinking what I'm doing.''

Endorsing Campbell ``is within the realm of possibilities,'' he said.

Meanwhile, Feinstein campaign manager Kam Kuwata said Campbell is only
attacking the drug problem on the supply side, while Feinstein is tackling
the issue from both sides.

He said she has been a vigilant watchdog of the federal war on drugs to
ensure that it is conducted effectively. But she also was an early
supporter of Delancey Street, the San Francisco-based rehabilitation and
treatment program that is privately financed.

``I'm not saying he's soft on drugs,'' Kuwata said. ``I'm saying he's wrong
on drugs. I don't know think it's a good message to send to heroin addicts
around the world: `Come to city X and we'll give heroin out as a way to
combat drug abuse.' ''

E-mail Mark Simon at msimon@sfchronicle.com.