ERIE COUNTY EXEC: DRUG LEGALIZATION WORTH A LOOK

BUFFALO, N. Y. - A recent spate of drug-related killings should prompt
a discussion about legalizing some narcotics, Erie County Executive
Joel Giambra said.

"Until we get real about it, this problem is going to continue to
build on the streets of urban America," Giambra said Wednesday. "We
have to talk about legalization."

The comments followed a violent week that included the killing of a
Roman Catholic nun, allegedly at the hands of an ex-convict who told
police he had smoked crack cocaine before the attack and was trying to
steal the victim's cell phone so he could buy more.

Drugs are also thought to be involved in other recent slayings and in
many of the city's 56 homicides last year, police said. Ignoring some
type of legalization amounts to "pretending" that current anti-drug
efforts are working, Giambra said.

The idea had little immediate support in the local law enforcement
community, though it drew praise from a Boston-based group called Law
Enforcement Against Prohibition, which supports legalizing drugs as a
way to devalue and regulate them.

Some national figures like conservative commentator William F. Buckley
and former Secretary of State George Schultz have raised the issue of
legalization, while U.S. District Judge John Curtin of Buffalo also
has publicly discussed it.

"It's easy to set back and pretend you can fix the problem, but based
on the number of homicides and deaths we're seeing, the criminals are
winning," Giambra said.