THE WAR ON THE WAR ON DRUGS HITS KIRKLAND

Competing Candidates Share A Common Theme: It'S Time For A Change.

Containing parts of Kirkland, Redmond, Woodinville, and points east,
the 45th Legislative District is hardly a hotbed of radicalism. But
the two candidates for one of the district's two House seats share a
position well out of the political mainstream: They both advocate
wholesale changes to the War on Drugs.

In his time away from the capital, incumbent State Rep. Roger Goodman
(D-Kirkland) heads the King County Bar Association's Drug Policy
Project, where he works on moving drug policy's focus from crime and
punishment to public health. His challenger, Toby Nixon (R-Kirkland),
who held the seat from 2002 to 2006 before leaving to run for the
state Senate (he lost his bid for an open seat to Eric Oemig), has
spoken out in defense of Washington's medical marijuana law and pushed
a bill requiring performance audits of drug-enforcement policies.

If a moderate Eastside district has voted to elect both these
candidates, is the general public ready for wholesale drug policy
reform? "I think people are receptive," says Nixon, "if you can get
them to settle down and have a conversation. Too often it's fear and
hysteria driving our policies." Noting that "some have observed that
it's unfortunate that we're running against each other," Nixon adds
that he's not sure he and Goodman have any disagreements on drug
policy reform. But he wishes Goodman had followed his lead and pushed
more drug policy reform bills as a legislator. "It's unfortunate that
the House leadership has not allowed him to pursue an important
issue," Nixon says.

However, Goodman sees the legislator's role in drug policy reform
differently. Noting that Washington is already more progressive than
most states when it comes to drugs, he says further progress must be
preceded by "cultural change," before adding, "I work on that in my
other job [at the KCBA], and by educating my colleagues. But I was
elected to represent my district. I'm not a grenade-thrower."

Goodman points to his work on public safety and education issues as
the stuff he was elected to do. He recently received the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration's "Safety Champions Award" for
his drunk-driving prevention ignition interlock bill, and also
co-sponsored bills to create Washington's Head Start program and allow
for the expansion of Children's Hospital. Nevertheless, as vice chair
of the Judiciary Committee, Goodman is in line to replace retiring
Chair Patricia Lantz (D-Gig Harbor) if he wins in November. Should he
get the chairmanship, Goodman hopes to advocate for some "innovative
treatment practices in drug courts," such as applying the
methadone/heroin model to other drugs in an attempt to more
effectively transition chronic addicts into treatment.

"With a $3 billion deficit, we don't want to cut health care or
education, but what about Corrections?" he reasons. "Maybe we
shouldn't be locking people up for a health problem."