GROUP PROMOTES DRUG POLICY CHANGE

WASHINGTON - A new coalition of black professional organizations
called Wednesday for drug policies that focus on prevention and
treatment instead of imprisonment.

The National African-American Drug Policy Coalition is dissatisfied
with drug policies that keep a large number of black men in the prison
system.

The group is promoting what it calls therapeutic sentencing, in which
judges require those convicted of some drug crimes to undergo
treatment instead of being given jail time.

The coalition will encourage tough sentencing of those who deal drugs,
but will attempt to turn the focus and funding of drug policy toward
public health, said the coalition's executive director, Arthur L.
Burnett Sr., a retired senior judge.