EX-POLICE CAPTAIN URGES DRUG LEGALIZATION

SCHOHARIE - Floyd Guernsey II stood at the ready during most of the
Schoharie Rotary meeting Tuesday night, waiting to bang the gong and
interrupt a heated argument.

But, while opinions definitely differed, no fights broke out during
the guest presentation on the legalization of drugs.

Peter Christ of the Syracuse-based ReconsiDer spoke to about 20
members and guests at the Parrot House in Schoharie.

For Christ, a retired police captain from the Buffalo suburb of
Tonawanda, it was the third speaking engagement of the day.

He tries, whenever and wherever he can, to convince people that
society would be better off legalizing drugs.

"I have a rule, if I talk to someone for more than five minutes, I
talk to them about changing the drug war," Christ said. "It is my
passion. It is what I believe."

He and his group believe that the legalization of drugs would cut down
on the violence created through the black market and help people seek
treatment without fear of being penalized.

"This is not the job of the criminal justice system - to protect you
from you," Christ said. Treating drug problems is the job of the
family, religious groups, health care systems and the educational
system, he said.

No one at the dinner lined up to follow Christ back to Syracuse to
help him spread the word, but he did find some support in the audience
of an historically conservative group.

Mary Beth Balliett said she has seen, first hand, the problems created
by drug cannibalization in South America.

"The people there didn't use drugs before," she said, referring to the
start of the "Just Say No" campaign. But now, people in South and
Central American are even using crack cocaine because criminalization
has changed the industry so much.

Fred Wellington, a native of Grenada, agreed with the pretense of
legalizing drugs, but said the idea has to be thought through before
it is implemented.

Christ acknowledged this difficulty and said that someone still needs
to come up with a plan.

"If I could push a button and legalize drugs tomorrow, I wouldn't,"
Christ said.

Others who listened to Christ did not want him, or anyone else, to
ever have a chance to push that button.

"If drugs were legalized, more people would use drugs. The problems
that go along with drug use and addiction would go up," said Ron
Bergstrom, director of the Schoharie County Council on Alcohol and
Substance Abuse.

Roger Barchitta of Hope House in Albany agreed with Bergstrom. He said
most addicts would, too.

"Any recovering addict would say this is not the way to solve the
problem," he said.

The Rotary plans to have a rebuttal speaker on July 13.