THE VERDICT IS IN: DRUG POLICY NEEDS OVERHAUL

NORMALLY, I don't do stats. Numbers can be manipulated to say
whatever you want them to say. But these facts speak for themselves:

At the end of 1980, Hawaii had 926 incarcerated people. By the end of
2006, there were 6,251 in prison.

Of those, two-thirds were between the ages of 25 and 44, according to
the Public Safety Department 2006 Annual Report. Twelve percent were
under the age of 25.

It gets sadder. The Native Hawaiian Databook says 37 percent of the
men and 44 percent of the women serving time in 2005 were identified
as Hawaiians.

Those sobering statistics were included in a press release about an
important forum that was held on July 17 and which got scant media attention.

It was hosted by the state House Judiciary Committee, and cosponsored by the
Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii, ACLU Hawaii and Community Alliance on
Prisons. The topic was, "Are We Winning the Drug War?" But much of
the talk was related to Hawaii's prison problem, and rightly so.
Experts say 80 percent of the crimes committed here involve alcohol or drugs.

In the past month, there have been news stories about shipping
inmates to the mainland vs. building another prison in the islands.
Either way, it's expensive. Hawaii pays $50 million a year to the
Corrections Corporation of America, a for-profit company that runs 65
facilities in 19 states. Having seen what it costs to put up a single
traffic light, I shudder to think what the price tag on a prison would be.

Yet you hear precious little from the governor's office or chief of
police about the root cause of the prison population boom. They won't
connect the dots for you, so I will.

Go back to the top statistic. What happened between 1980 and the present?

Answer: mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses. Panelist Eric
Sterling, former counsel to the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary
during the 1980s, helped write those laws. He now says it was the
"greatest mistake" of his life. As president of the Criminal Justice
Policy Foundation, he travels the country speaking out against drug
prohibition as being ineffective and inhumane.

Also on the panel was Judge James Gray, author of "Why Our Drug Laws
Have Failed, and What We Can Do About it." He was a Navy attorney and
refers to himself as a former "drug warrior." Even though he's a
conservative judge in California's conservative Orange County, he
firmly believes "zero tolerance makes zero sense."

NEITHER Sterling nor Gray is a bleeding-heart liberal type. But when
they speak about the human costs of the drug war, it's clear how
personal this cause is for both of them.

It's personal for Sterling because the laws he drafted were a result
of political and public pressure on Congress to get tough on drugs,
without any regard for what it would do to addicts or casual users.
The drug weight numbers they used to determine mandatory sentencing
guidelines were sometimes "pulled out of the air," he said. He spoke
about riding with police years later, and learning that cops went out
of their way to bust low-level drug users because they earned extra
pay for going to court when those cases came up. "Collars for
dollars," he called it.

Gray said the "winners" in this war are drug dealers, law enforcement
and security services, the growing prison industry and politicians.
In this perversely symbiotic relationship, crime does pay. When
police or federal agents seize large quantities of drugs, the price
of that drug goes up on the street, which results in addicts
committing more crimes to make enough money to support their drug
habit. Politicians then get re-elected by talking tough on crime.
It's a vicious cycle, perpetuated by the supply and demand economics
of the black market. End result: There are now 2.2 million people in
American prisons today, more than half for drug-related crimes.

But Gray says there are alternatives that work: "honest" education;
treatment and prevention; legalizing certain drugs; and holding
individuals accountable for their actions. "I can go home and have a
mind-altering substance after work -- a cocktail. But I can't go out
and drive if I'm drunk. Marijuana should be treated the same way as
alcohol," he said, emphasizing that he himself doesn't toke up.

Gray added a final thought: "We have lost more of our civil liberties
over the war on drugs than from anything else in our country's
history. The Founding Fathers would roll over in their graves."

Perhaps. But I think our Founders also would be proud of men like
Gray and Sterling who are willing to admit they were wrong to
prosecute an unwinnable war against drugs. By working for sensible
reform, they reaffirm that democracy works if we cast aside our
cynicism and take a stand.

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AIRING THEIR VIEWS

The panel discussion "Are We Winning the Drug
War?" will air on public access television:

When: 9:30 p.m., Aug. 16

Where: Olelo, Ch. 49

Panelists: Honolulu First Circuit Court Judge
Steven Alm; California Superior Court Judge James P. Gray; Eric
Sterling, president, Criminal Justice Policy Foundation.