PROTESTERS AT S.L. RALLY DECRY U.N. WAR ON DRUGS

Tie-dye crowd opposes plans to step up fight

In a scene reminiscent of the 1960s, a large crowd of tie-dye-clad and
bearded protesters held an anti-war rally and burned the flag in Salt Lake
City's Liberty Park Sunday afternoon.

But they were protesting the "war on drugs," not Vietnam, and they torched
the U.N. flag, not the Stars and Stripes.

More than 50 people gathered at the State Capitol to voice their objections
to a proposed escalation of U.N. efforts to combat the international trade
in illegal drugs.

Chanting, "No more drug war," the crowd then marched down State Street and
east to Liberty Park, where they set fire to the U.N. flag.

Organizers said the Salt Lake rally and dozens of others throughout the
nation are targeting a worldwide conference on drug trafficking being held
this week at U.N. headquarters in New York City.

The United Nations is dragging the American people into another unwinnable
war, said Ken Larsen, Independent candidate for Congress in the 2nd
Congressional District.

"We've already thrown away $50 billion in this war with no reduction in the
the supply of drugs into this nation," Larsen said.

The war simply drives up the cost of drugs, which drives up the crime rate
in this country, he said. Declaring an end to the war "would make our
streets and homes safe again," he added.

Also, Larsen said the effort is destroying the economies and victimizing the
citizens of foreign countries. "America's drug war is a war on the rest of
the world," Larsen said.

Ben Valdez, representing a group called Hemp Power Utah, said, " 'War on
drugs' is a misnomer. It's a war on the people of Utah, the United States
and the world."

Valdez said more than 100 different organizations are planning to stage
similar protests in more than 70 cities throughout the country this week.
The group participating in the Salt Lake rally said it will take its protest
to Ogden next weekend.

Checked-by: "R. Lake"