DRUG FUNDS THREATENED

Federal funds for fighting illegal drugs in Oklahoma could be cut in
half under legislation passed in the U.S. House of Representatives on
Thursday.

Funding for the Justice Assistance Grant Program, which provides money
to state drug task forces, was approved at $348 million as part of the
Science, State, Justice and Commerce Subcommittee package. An
amendment to restore the program to last year's level -- $634 million
- -- failed Wednesday.

The resolution now will go to the Senate.

"For rural Oklahoma, it means the rug's going to be yanked out from
under our feet as far as narcotics investigation goes," said Tom
Cunningham, drug task force coordinator with the state District
Attorneys Council. "Our biggest concern is that the last two years,
the president has recommended zero funding. Congress keeps it alive."

Last year, the state received about $6 million from the Justice
Assistance Grant Program. The money is used for equipment, training
and drug task forces.

Kevin Ward, state commissioner of public safety, said investigators
are bracing for a reduction that could lower the money available to
Oklahoma to $2 million.

Rural drug fighting will decrease by about 90 percent, Cunningham
said. Urban areas also will be affected, Cunningham said, pointing to
Tulsa, where the gang enforcement program partially is funded by the
federal grant.

In all, Cunningham thinks about 20 percent of the state's
drug-fighting tools will be eliminated if the current projection for
next year is realized.

Bush administration supporters say the decrease actually could help
drug-fighting efforts if drug kingpins are arrested.

"The Bush administration, in both the rhetoric and their policy
changes, are trying to get away from getting low-level offenders to
going after the heads of the cartels," said Bill Piper, director of
national affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance in Washington, which
supports the move. "And why not use that hundreds of millions of
dollars and target it more on the war on terror?"

U.S. Reps. Dan Boren, D-Muskogee, and John Sullivan, R-Tulsa, voted
for Wednesday's amendment to return the grant program to last year's
level.

Reps. Tom Cole, R-Moore, Ernest Istook, R-Warr Acres, and Frank Lucas,
R-Cheyenne, voted against it.

"It has a direct impact on my district in the fight on methamphetamine,"
Boren said Thursday. "We've been facing an epidemic in the state. By taking
away this money ... it hampers our ability to go in and wipe out some of the
problems."

Cole and Lucas said through their press secretaries that they voted
against the amendment because it would have taken funds from the FBI,
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and other federal
crime-fighting agencies.

"Lucas is a huge supporter of this program and always has been," said
his press secretary, Jim Luetkemeyer.

Luetkemeyer said Lucas is looking for ways to increase the program
budget without taking away from other law enforcement agencies.

Muskogee County Sheriff Charles Pearson just wants to see the money
restored. Last year, the department received more than $62,000. He
said the money is about 30 percent of the agency's total drug-fighting
budget.

"Unfortunately, law enforcement seems to be at the bottom of the
barrel," he said. "They don't think about you until they need you. As
long as things are running as they are, they aren't worried about it."

Mark Woodward, spokesman for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, said he
understands federal agencies need money to fight drugs, but that many
of their customers already are in Oklahoma. Arresting them, he said,
would work just as well.

"Yes, we need to protect the borders where the drugs are coming in ...
but the drugs are already here and we need to focus on those," he said.