SHOULD DRUGS BE LEGALIZED?

Giambra Ways It's Time to Try a New Approach; Others Say No

When County Executive Joel A. Giambra floated the idea of legalizing
outlawed drugs, critics responded as if he was on one.

But Giambra is hardly alone. The idea of using the government to
regulate and control banned substances in order to put the illegal
drug trade out of business has gained ground in recent years, with
support coming from surprising quarters: law enforcement officials.

Their involvement is an example of how calls to revamp the nation's
drug policies are no longer solely the province of the left, which
has historically favored legalization. Conservatives such as William
F. Buckley Jr. and former Reagan-era Secretary of State George
Schultz support liberalized drug policies. So, too, does Walter
Cronkite, known in his heyday as "the most trusted man in America."

Critics such as Erie County District Attorney Frank J. Clark and Erie
County Sheriff Timothy B. Howard, however, shake their heads. They
believe such policies would in the end encourage more drug
experimentation and addiction while doing little to reduce crime.

Giambra and other advocates of a new approach say the "war on drugs"
instituted in 1971 by President Richard Nixon - who called illegal
drug use "America's public enemy No. 1" - has been an unmitigated failure.

"There are more drugs on the street than ever after 35 years of the
war, and they're more potent, more available and cheaper," Giambra
said. "If outcome determines success or failure, then we've failed.
Do you continue a failed policy, or try something different?"

Giambra and members of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) - a
5,000-member organization founded in 2001 that includes 500 former
members of law enforcement - say legalizing drugs would result in far
less violent street crime, fewer prisoners, better access to addicts
and enormous cost savings for drug treatment and education.

Sam Hoyt, D-Buffalo, former chair of the Assembly's Committee on
Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, said Giambra's suggestion warrants serious
consideration.

"Clearly, our current policies and approach have failed," Hoyt said.
"While I'm not prepared to endorse Mr. Giambra's approach, I do
believe he has raised an important question as to what we should do
to address this crisis."

So does U.S. District Judge John T. Curtin, who said he could support
legalization combined with criminal sanctions.

"(Legalization) is something that should be on the table. In our
city, we still have turf fights, and innocent people are the ones who
get hurt. Long sentences don't seem to help at all," Curtin said.

Giambra, who admits he doesn't have "the exact prescription" for what
to do, hopes to convene a conference this fall with experts to keep
the issue before the public.

Comparable to Prohibition

Peter Christ, a retired Town of Tonawanda police captain now living
in Cazenovia, applauds Giambra for his stance.

"The courage of an elected official to say the honest thing was
heroic," Christ said. He founded LEAP in 2001, modeling it on Vietnam
Veterans Against the War.

"Whether you agreed with them or not, you couldn't dismiss them
because they were veterans who fought the war. I thought a group of
people from law enforcement would have the same impact. You may not
agree with me, but don't tell me I don't know what I am talking
about," Christ said.

He said banning the sale and manufacturing of illegal drugs hasn't
been any more successful than the prohibition of alcohol that lasted
from 1920 to 1933.

"Alcohol was legalized because it only took us 13 years to learn the
lesson that alcohol did not create Al Capone. Prohibition of alcohol
created Al Capone," Christ said.

Jack A. Cole, LEAP's executive director, said the law enforcement
officials in its ranks are mostly retired, claiming it is too risky
for active officers to speak against the reigning orthodoxy. The
former undercover narcotics officer for the New Jersey state police
is convinced the war on drugs has been a colossal failure.

"When I arrested a drug dealer, all I was doing was creating a job
opening for hundreds of other people willing to take a chance for
these obscene profits," Cole said.

"We've spent over $1 trillion in 36 years, and all we have to show is
that every year we arrest 1.7 million people for non-violent drug
offenses. We currently have 2.2 million people in prisons and jails
in this country, far more per capita than any other country in the
world, and the majority of them are non-violent drug offenders."

Cole said he believed the far greater proportion of blacks arrested
for illegal drugs constitutes institutional racism, since statistics
show larger numbers of whites are users.

"All we're doing is stirring the pot, and it costs us $69 billion to
stir it," Cole said. "No wonder building prisons is the
fastest-growing industry in the United States."

Still, Cole said he doesn't expect political change any time soon.
Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, comes closest to LEAP's position, and he only
calls for the legalization of marijuana.

Government Rules

LEAP believes all drugs - from heroin and crack cocaine to
methamphetamine and LSD - must be government-controlled to stamp out
the crime and violence orchestrated by organized crime and low-level criminals.

"When you institute a blanket prohibition, you turn that regulation
and control over to the gangsters and terrorists that roam the
streets. They're the ones that set the purity, the age limits, the
distribution points," Christ said.

"What we want to see is a regulated and controlled marketplace. The
only way you can do that is to have it be, in some form, legal."

Randy Credico, director of the William Kunstler Fund for Racial
Justice in New York City, praised Giambra for his "visionary"
outlook. The fund opposes the restrictive Rockefeller drug laws
enacted in 1973, under which about 16,000 people are incarcerated in
state prisons.

"These dinosaur laws destroy lives, cost the state tons of money and
don't do any good," Credico said. "There is no benefit for the state
- - not for the family, the prisoner, not for society."

Credico cited the case of Jasmine Ortiz, a 24-year-old mother of six
at Albion State Prison who was sentenced in 1998 to 121/2 to 25 years
for possession of a small amount of crack cocaine. "She was a heroin
and crack addict, and for that the state is going to spend $500,000
to keep her in prison," Credico said.

Since 1973, 12 states - including New York - have in some manner
altered their laws to reduce the penalties for marijuana possession.
A number of cities also modified local ordinances and criminal
justice practices to decriminalize the drug. And 11 states had
allowed possession of "pot" for medicinal purposes before the U.S.
Supreme Court declared it to be illegal in a June 2005 decision.

A "simplistic' solution

Clark, the district attorney, leaves little doubt where he stands
when the subject of legalization is broached.

"I think it's irresponsible and shortsighted to say legalize drugs
and have the government control it, and then all the problems will go
away. I get very upset when people give simplistic answers to very
complicated problems."

Clark said he's never seen an actual plan on how legalization would
be administered, but he believes doing so would lead to more
addictions and skyrocketing health care costs.

"I see the devastation that drugs cause among people who use it,
families affected by it," Clark said. "It's bad enough now with all
the laws preventing it. Now we're going to make every drug available?"

Clark believes drug laws are a deterrent.

"At least (illegal drugs) are controlled in a certain way. There's a
small percentage of those who use it, and some who experiment with it
and give it up. But I think the restrictions at least eliminate (greater use)."

Howard, the Erie County sheriff, is similarly skeptical. He said one
only needs to look at how there are gang wars over lawful, regulated
medications to see that legalization would be no magic bullet.

"I cannot believe that any of these problems will go away by
regulating these drugs," Howard said.

The sheriff said the answer lies in tough law enforcement and the
elimination of plea bargaining that lets criminals off with light sentences.

"I will look at anything that will reduce crime, except making
something not criminal just because we can't stop it. If it's wrong,
it's wrong. (Legalization is) a coward's way out," Howard said.

Giambra disagrees. "These are individuals who make careers on this
law enforcement issue. It's about turf, and people in law are
protecting their turf."

Giambra and others who share his view are convinced the time is long
overdue to try a radically different approach that they believe can
stop the crime and violence associated with the drug trade and get
more people into treatment.

"The only way there is going to be substantive change after all these
years is breaking with the past," Giambra said. "But first you have
to be willing to admit that the policies so far have been a failure."