PERSONAL PROBLEMS SHOULDN'T COST VOTES, CANDIDATES CONTEND

The three candidates for attorney general touted their plans for
attacking the state's drug problem in an hour-long debate last night,
and said problems they've had should not be issues in the race.

Republican nominee Jack Wood of Louisville and Gatewood Galbraith, a
Lexington lawyer running as an independent, focused some harsh
criticism on the Democrat candidate, longtime state Rep. Greg Stumbo
of Prestonsburg, who has far more campaign money and wider name
recognition.

Stumbo avoided criticizing his opponents, but did say Galbraith might
not support his plan to attack illegal drugs because it would probably
catch some friends of Galbraith, who says he smokes marijuana to
relieve emphysema and has a prescription for it from California.

Galbraith, who once called for legalizing marijuana but does not now
support legalizing recreational use, said he resented Stumbo's
comment. Galbraith also defended what he called his constitutional
right to smoke marijuana in the privacy of his home, comparing it to
people in dry counties who have alcohol at home.

"Isn't it refreshing to have some honesty out here in politics,
folks?" Galbraith said during the debate, broadcast on Kentucky
Educational Television.

Stumbo said his plan to attack drugs includes creating a new Kentucky
Bureau of Investigation within the state police, wider use of drug
courts, efforts to strip drug traffickers of assets, and his personal
involvement in prosecuting cases to highlight the problem.

"I believe with all my heart we have to do something about the
terrible drug problem in this state," Stumbo said.

He proposed increasing the state's cigarette tax to pay for new
investigators. Stumbo said that even if lawmakers won't increase that
tax, he thinks they would support his funding requests because of his
extensive contacts after 24 years in the House.

Galbraith said police should prioritize their work to go after hard
drugs such as methamphetamine. He said he thinks the state should seek
$2 billion from pharmaceutical companies to expand education and
treatment, rather than criminalizing addicts.

Asked what would happen if the companies refuse, Galbraith said he
guessed that another good idea would "die on the vine."

Wood, a former district judge and assistant county prosecutor who
switched from Democrat to Republican for the race, said he plans to
attack drugs by funding more police officers and increasing education
and treatment. He did not offer specifics on paying for that.

Each of the candidates has some scars. Among them: Galbraith's
marijuana use; a lawsuit against Stumbo claiming he reneged on a
promise to pay support after fathering a child out of wedlock in 1988;
and suspension of Wood's pay for conduct violations when he was a
district judge in the early 1980s.

Wood said he was the only candidate in the race with real experience
as a prosecutor. He went after Stumbo, saying he neglected his
child-support obligation, sought clemency for a murderer and had been
part of a tarnished Democrat establishment in Frankfort.

Stumbo, however, said he had never been in violation of an order to
pay child support and began supporting the child at issue after tests
showed he was the father. He said his record in public life is
unblemished.

Stumbo said he sought clemency for murderer Kevin Stanford because he
was mistaken on the facts of the case, and later rescinded his
recommendation.

Galbraith, who has made attacking corruption a focus of his campaign,
called his opponents "scala-wags." Stumbo is too partisan and Wood has
shown "erratic and unstable behavior" in the past, Galbraith said.

Stumbo didn't mention Galbraith by name, but said someone can't tout
the use of an illegal drug and be the state's top cop.