TWO GROUPS COME OUT AGAINST RENEWING JACKSON COUNTY'S ANTI-DRUG TAX

Two groups came out Thursday against the renewal of Jackson County's
anti-drug tax.

The Organized Opposition to the Jackson County Anti-Drug Tax and the
Jackson County Taxpayers Association issued statements that the tax
and the overall war on drugs had failed.

The Community Backed Anti-Drug Tax, called COMBAT, is a quarter-cent
tax expected to generate $19.8 million this year for law enforcement,
drug treatment and drug prevention. Voters first approved the tax in
1989 and renewed it in 1995 through March 2004. Supporters are asking
voters Aug. 5 to renew COMBAT for seven more years.

Bob Gough, Jackson County Taxpayers director, criticized Drug Abuse
Resistance Education, or D.A.R.E., and cited a national study that
said D.A.R.E. was ineffective. COMBAT funds D.A.R.E. programs in nine
Jackson County school districts.

Meanwhile, Organized Opposition spokesman Richard Tolbert listed 10
arguments against the tax, including that drugs remained plentiful and
too much of the tax went to law enforcement instead of to treatment.

County Prosecutor Michael Sanders disagreed with both groups. He said
Jackson County was no longer the methamphetamine capital it was in the
mid-1990s because of COMBAT. He also said COMBAT money allowed area
D.A.R.E. programs to add components that made them more effective than
those nationally.