SUMMIT SKIPS ONE IDEA ON DRUGS

I was not at the Emergency African American Leadership Summit convened
Saturday by Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) because journalists weren't invited.

So I cannot give you a detailed account of the solutions discussed by some
of the 600 participants who came together to map out a strategy for
addressing the violence that plagues predominantly African-American
communities.

What I can tell you, though, is the one approach that really should have
been considered as a possible solution to the violence was not debated. That
is: How do we take the profits out of the illegal drug trade so that drug
dealers and gang-bangers will stop fighting over turf and killing innocent
people in the process?

Drug decriminalization is a topic that scares politicians. Still, it is
getting harder to ignore the obvious. Drug dealing is big business and as
long as there's a lot of money to be made, the street violence will
continue.

Some of the juveniles killed will be foot soldiers in this war. Some of them
will be innocent bystanders. All of them will be victims.

We are at war with ourselves just as we were during Prohibition when the
so-called mob guys were thrown into prison for distributing liquor to the
so-called good guys who were demanding the stuff.

Before the summit, Rush indicated that decriminalization would be on the
agenda. "I believe that somehow we've got to look at, at least have a
discussion about . . . how do we take the profit out of drug use? And we've
got to be bold in it," he said.

But it never happened.

"No, Rush did not bring it up," Robin Wheeler, director of communications
for his office, said on Monday. "He didn't bring up anything per se. It
wasn't like it was going to be one of the major issues we were going to talk
about."

James E. Gierach, a long-time advocate of drug policy reform who attended
the summit, was disappointed that the subject was not broached.

"I am just as frustrated now as I was in 1992 when I attended another "Stop
the Killing" conference and couldn't get a word in edgewise. It was just a
repetition of where we were. We are just going to continue burying the
bodies if we don't get rid of this drug war," he said.

"Somebody has got to have the courage politically to say I care more about
stopping the killing than getting elected."

Gierach and others who have suggested that drugs be decriminalized are
viewed as being too radical or irresponsible. But let's think about this for
a moment.

Most of the suggestions that emerged are good ideas that, if implemented,
could help reduce crime and empower communities. But we already know that
community activism, better education, more jobs and strict law enforcement
can help reduce crime.

But let's get real.

People aren't selling drugs because they can't find jobs. They are selling
drugs because other people are demanding marijuana, cocaine, crack and
heroin, and dealers can reap a hefty profit supplying these illegal drugs.

Gov. Ryan's proposal to put 100 more parole officers on the street to track
ex-convicts will put the heat on those involved in the drug trade. So will
strict enforcement of the new "15-20-life" law that imposes stiffer
penalties when a gun is used to commit a crime.

But this is the problem: Fewer people are willing to support tougher
anti-crime laws at a time when police are under fire for allegations of
police brutality, corruption and racial profiling.

There is also minimal support for martial-law tactics, even when kids are
being killed, because these crimes are being committed in neighborhoods that
many people do not even drive through.

So where does that leave us: fighting the same drug war with more of the
same tools.

More importantly, how much more rending of society are we willing to bear
before we question the role drug use in America plays in creating a
situation where the most vulnerable members of society pay the greatest
price.

Besides the murders of innocent children, the drug war has contributed to
fatherless--and more and more often--motherless homes, as drug offenders are
incarcerated for longer period of times.

"The drug war is not helpful, but harmful," Gierach said. "Nobody who is
somebody has got the guts to say it."

In the effort to end street violence, every suggestion is worthy of
consideration. Decriminalization of drugs is one of them.