PRAISE FOR RESTORING A LIFE

There are many tragedies in our War On Drugs, and I have long
considered the case of pain patient Richard Paey to be one of the
most egregious. While his case is unfortunately not uncommon, it is
extremely rare when a tragedy like Paey's turns back on itself and
becomes a victory.

With the full pardon of Paey, Gov. Charlie Crist and Florida Cabinet
members Attorney General Bill McCollum, Chief Financial Officer Alex
Sink and Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson have "voted their
conscience" and made a brave statement.

As a former chief of police and literally, all the way back to my
beginnings as a rookie cop, I've witnessed many drug-related
incidents that made me shake my head in disbelief.

Drunks and stoners and people high on methamphetamine can do some
strange things. However, I have never witnessed a patient, confined
to a wheelchair and burdened with constant and aggravating pain,
behave in a felonious manner.

As much as I was in disbelief with some of the antics of drug
abusers, as much as I was infuriated by the wrongs committed by drug
dealers, nothing was as disturbing as watching the persecution of
Richard Paey in Pasco County.

The inhumanity exhibited by prosecutors in Paey's case was
astounding. It took three tries for Paey to be "successfully"
prosecuted, processes I see as another condemnation of our bullheaded
and failed drug policies.

The disastrous results of these policies can be found all across our
nation. From the case of Richard Paey to the Atlanta death of Kathryn
Johnston, or the deaths of Veronica Bowers and her infant daughter
Charity, shot down over the skies of Peru in April 2001 by
interdiction forces, the disasters of the drug war have a very human face.

Perhaps this move of granting a complete pardon to Mr. Paey portend a
coming epiphany of consciousness on behalf of those who have long
been supporters of our 21st century version of Prohibition.

I believe the time has come for us to consider ending this disastrous
and un-American policy. Prohibition, and all the evidence against it,
is a shameful legacy that I do not wish to hand future generations.
The laws and policies dictating drug policy have failed to
demonstrate any notable success.

I applaud the absolute sanity and humanity demonstrated by Gov. Crist
and the Florida Cabinet members who have returned Richard Paey to his family.

In the words of Attorney General Bill McCollum, who once advocated
using a dangerous mycoherbicide against Florida's illicit marijuana
crops, "I think our laws fundamentally are very much to blame for
this. Justice would truly have to have a blind eye not to grant a pardon."