FARLEY RESPONDS TO HIS NATIONAL CRITICS ON DRUGS

For the regular readers of the Observer, it must be apparent that
either it has become a national publication or I have become the
target of the dope-smoking drug legalizers across the nation. They are
represented by groups like the National Organization to Reform
Marijuana Laws, the Drug Policy Alliance, the Ohio Marijuana Party
Political Action Committee and others with Web sites that spew out
garbage trying to change the minds and mores of our legislators and
the general public.

Quite frankly, I am pleased and somewhat flattered that these people
are so concerned about my articles and presentations that they have
their minions from places like Northhampton, Ma., Washington D.C.,
Green Bay, Wisc., Baton Rogue, La., Denton, Texas and other places
take the time to write to the Observer to attack me personally and the
facts and studies upon which I rely. One of the recent letters
indicated that I have spent my life putting people in jail, neglecting
to note that I was a fairly successful criminal defense lawyer for 20
years; they also indicate that I have taken my anti-drug stances
because I need to keep my job and make a living, neglecting to note
that I left a very lucrative partnership in the largest law firm in
the county at the height of my income-producing years, or that I paid
more in taxes while in private practice than I made as a prosecutor.

It should not surprise anyone that we don't see these letters coming
from the families of drug-addicted individuals who have to live with
this problem or, worse, have lost a child to drugs. Nor do we hear
this type of diatribe from the addicts themselves. In fact, quite to
the contrary, we hear them extol the benefits of our actions such as
our Drug Court, how it helped them overcome the scourge of addiction
to again become productive family members, parents and members of
society; all I might add through the coercion of the criminal justice
system.

I only hope that those pro-legalization forces continue to direct
their venom at me while we work with school authorities, prevention
specialists, treatment providers and law enforcement officers in an
effort to rid our nation of our drug problems rather than making them
incredibly worse through legalization, as they propose.

Terrence P. Farley

First Assistant Prosecutor

Director, Ocean County Narcotics Strike Force