STAMPER DELIVERS CRITICAL DRUG REPORT TO KERLIKOWSKE'S OFFICE

The Seattle Times Political Team Explores National, State and Local
Politics.

WASHINGTON -- They are two former Seattle police chiefs on opposing
sides of the debate on legalizing drugs. And on Tuesday, Norm Stamper
walked to the office of the nation's "drug czar" Gil Kerlikowske in
Washington, D.C., to deliver a critical report on the Obama
administration's failure to pull the plug on war on drugs.

Stamper appeared at the National Press Club at a news conference of
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), a national group which
favors regulating sales of all illicit drugs, including marijuana,
heroin and cocaine. Kerlikowske, who succeeded Stamper as Seattle's
top cop in 2000, opposes legalization.

LEAP members planned to walk four blocks from the Press Club to
Kerlikowske's office at the Office of National Drug Control Policy
near the White House. It wasn't clear if Kerlikowske, who was told
about planned visit, would be on hand to accept the drop off.

Since President Richard Nixon declared drug abuse "America's public
enemy No. 1" in 1971, millions of Americans have been incarcerated on
drug-related offenses (including Kerlikowske's adopted son). About 1.5
million people in this country have been arrested over drugs for each
of the past 10 years.

Yet the prevalence of drug use Americans hasn't changed much over the
decades. In 2009, nearly 22 milliion people 12 and older, or 8.7
percent of the population, admitted to taking illicit drugs in the
prior month, according to a federal survey.

The solution, according to LEAP, is to legalize all drugs. That would
wipe out violent drug cartels, avert needless imprisonment and free up
money for drug prevention and treatment.

"We can not arrest ourselves out of this problem," Stamper
said.

Stamper said he was "personally disappointed" that Kerlikowske hasn't
matched his rhetoric two years ago to treat drug abuse less as a
matter of law enforcement than as a public health problem. Stamper
also said Kerlikowske was wrong to doubt the medical benefits of marijuana.

Stamper, who lives in San Juan Islands, said Washington state's
regulation of medical pot is a mess. It's legal for patients to
privately grow marijuana plants, but efforts to clearly legalize
public marijuana dispensaries collapsed in this year's
legislature.

Stamper said Americans are increasingly coming to accept the notion of
making pot legal, although California voters recently rejected making
marijuana sales legal for anyone, not just for the ill.

Still, Stamper acknowledged that going from legal pot to legal crystal
meth is a big leap. But the war on drugs is really a war on American
people, "and I find that fundamentally immoral."