SMOKE A JOINT, LOSE YOUR CAR UNDER PLANNED LAW

Get caught with drugs in Orange County and you could lose your car -- until
you pony up the cash to get it back. Impounding vehicles may be the
toughest measure in a new strategy by state and county authorities who aim
to clamp down on drugs.

Other efforts unveiled Tuesday involve seeking help from criminologists and
better rehabilitation for drug users, but county officials hope impounding
vehicles will send the strongest message. "That's going to make them stop
and think," Tom Hurlbert, the county's public safety director, said of the
impounding -- and the $500 fee that would accompany it.

County staffers still are working out the details on the law, which
commissioners should vote on before the end of the year.

But Bob Spivey, the assistant director of public safety, said the policy
likely will mirror measures in place in Florida cities such as Tampa and
Clearwater.

Though $500 would be required to get cars back, Spivey said there will be
an appeals process.

That's important because laws that apply penalties before convictions have
raised civil-rights debates in other parts of the country.

Current law allows officers to seize cars only in connection with felony
drug arrests -- and when they can prove that the car was used to commit the
crime.

The new law would allow officers temporarily to take the car from anyone
committing even a misdemeanor, such as smoking a single marijuana joint.
Beyond drug crimes, cars also would likely be impounded if owners are
involved in prostitution crimes. "The two go hand in hand," Spivey said.

The new law may be just one of several from Chairman Mel Martinez's new
drug office -- an office that local officials say is the only one of its
kind in Florida.

Martinez created the office to fight the county's standing as a drug haven,
most notably because of more than 80 deaths from heroin overdoses last year.

Other efforts could include annual report cards on the county's progress
and efforts to replace jail with rehabilitation for repeat offenders.

But before the county gets too far along with its anti-drug efforts,
Sheriff Kevin Beary said he wants to make sure the county doesn't waste any
of the $1.4 million in grant money it will receive from the state over the
next three years.

So as his initial contribution to the effort, Beary has decided to spend
$10,000 to pay for a study by three criminologists at the University of
Central Florida. The study will track drug dealers and users to see what
worked -- and what didn't -- in rehabilitating them.

"I'm sure there are those who will say we don't need to study the problem,
but it is obvious the system isn't working," Beary said.

"We are producing a generation of repeat offenders with little or no hope
of recovery. And pouring millions more into a system that does not work and
expecting a good result is not good public policy," he said.