The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) Philanthropist George Soros says he's using his
wealth to fight America's drug policies because politicians lack the
courage to do it themselves. ``Our drug policy is insane,'' he said
in an interview in this week's Time magazine. ``And no politician can
stand up and say what I'm saying, because it's the third rail
instant electrocution.'' The billionaire is giving $15 million over
the next five years to groups opposing America's war on drugs. He
says the ``unintended consequences'' of the war, including the
criminalization of a vast class of drug users, far outweigh the
limited and costly success of interdiction. ``I do want to weaken the
drug laws. I think they are unnecessarily severe.'' The currency
trader who supplied his native Hungary with photocopiers to fight
censorship says he has turned his attention to the United States to
stir debate on the role of its government. In the issue that hits
newsstands Monday, Soros says he has spent more than $90 million in
recent years to promote less severe drug laws, needle exchange
programs for addicts and research to reduce the number of people in
jail. Soros worries the U.S. government is relying too heavily on
prisons and has abdicated its responsibility to help new immigrants
get on their feet, treat drug addicts and help people die with
dignity. ``You must understand he thinks he's been anointed by God to
solve insoluble problems,'' his friend Byron Wien, head U.S.
strategist at the investment house Morgan Stanley, told Time. His
work has provoked the ire of critics like Joseph Califano, former
Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare. Califano has called him
the ``Daddy Warbucks of drug legalization.'' Not all of his programs
are controversial, however. He is funding the Algebra Project to
improve students' math skills and giving $25 million to revitalize
Baltimore. APNY082497 1925EDT

Associated Press.