OPPOSING VIEWS CLASH OVER DRUG POLICY

During a heated debate in Fisk Hall on Thursday, two experts could
agree on only one point: Drug policy in the United States needs
reform. About 40 students attended the discussion on drug policy in
the United States sponsored by the National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws-Students for Sensible Drug Policy. The event
was the culmination of Drug Week, which aimed to raise awareness on
campus about drug policy.

Kevin Sabet, a former drug policy adviser for the Office of National
Drug Control Policy under the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush
administrations, advocated more effective law enforcement policies.
The other debater was Jim Gierach, a semi-retired criminal defense
attorney and member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, who
supported drug legalization.

Sabet and Gierach both agreed that drug policy needs reforming, but
they disagreed as to the most useful approach.

Gierach said the War on Drugs has been the source of other problems,
including dropout rates, terrorism, health care problems, AIDS and gun
control issues.

"Not only does the War on Drugs not work," he said. "But the War on
Drugs is the hub of any other crisis you can name."

Sabet agreed that there are problems with the nation's current drug
policy, but said he does not believe legalization is the solution.

"We can reform the worst parts of what's going on with our drug
policy," he said. "And that's implying that there certainly are
problems. As Bill Clinton said about welfare: 'Mend it, don't end it.'"

The problem of the "revolving door of justice," by which offenders are
incarcerated multiple times, could be fixed by more effective
treatment programs, Sabet said.

"We do a terrible job handling those people," he said. "We don't give
them employment opportunities."

Law enforcement and health improvement do not have to be "incompatible
and mutually exclusive," he said, pointing to Illinois as a
"trailblazer" in effective intervention and re-entry programs.

Sabet and Gierach concluded the debate by emphasizing their
fundamental disagreement on the role of government in conducting drug
policy.

"People in a free society should have the right to do things that
aren't brilliant," Gierach said.

Sabet countered that drug use does not occur in a "vacuum." It harms
other people, so the government has a responsibility to act, he said.

Chris Dion, a senior visiting from the University of Michigan, said
neither Gierach nor Sabet was "completely right" because the issue is
"more complicated than anyone wants to admit."

"I liked Sabet's viewpoint more because it was based more on cold,
hard facts, not anecdotes," he said. "They made an interesting attempt
to show both sides."

Music and Weinberg senior Andrew Haynie agreed that the debate was
balanced and fair, but said he sided more with Gierach.

"The audience was clearly in favor of one side, being on a college
campus," he said. "I didn't completely agree with either, but I agreed
less with Sabet."

James Kowalsky, the outgoing president of Northwestern's chapter of
NORML, said the event was successful because it got people to "think
about things and hear arguments they hadn't heard."

The Communication senior said he hopes Drug Week gave NORML positive
visibility as a club that is more than "a bunch of people who smoke
pot."

"We're not that," he said. "The Drug War is a real issue, like health
care or anything else. We're open-minded enough to bring a debate."