PROPONENTS GEAR UP TO PRESS FOR RENEWAL OF ANTI-DRUG TAX

Jackson County officials on Wednesday urged voters to renew an anti-drug tax
or witness layoffs of law enforcement officers and cuts at treatment
facilities.

The officials spoke at a news conference to kick off a campaign in support
of the 14-year-old Community-Backed Anti-Drug Tax, called COMBAT. Voters on
Aug. 5 will decide whether to renew the tax for another seven years.

The quarter-cent sales tax is expected to generate about $19.8 million this
year for law enforcement, drug treatment and drug prevention. No organized
opposition has emerged to the renewal effort.

One of the tax's supporters, County Prosecutor Michael Sanders, addressed
reporters at the University of Missouri-Kansas City event.

"I think I can speak on behalf of every chief of police in Jackson County as
well as all the municipal prosecutors and say that if COMBAT is not passed,"
he said, "it would have an absolutely devastating impact on our law
enforcement capabilities here."

Sanders and County Executive Katherine Shields detailed the cuts that would
occur if voters do not renew the tax. They said the county could lose 60 law
enforcement officers and 4,300 drug treatment slots for adults and
adolescents.

Shields credited the tax with reducing crime, changing the lives of
drug-addicted offenders and lessening drug use among teens in Jackson
County.

"Crack (cocaine) was everywhere in the urban core, and in eastern Jackson
County we were quickly becoming the meth capital of the world," Shields
said. "With COMBAT we fought back with a balanced program of law enforcement
and treatment and prevention."

Shields pointed to a Teen Health Behaviors Survey, conducted annually by the
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The 2002 survey showed Jackson County
teens reported less drug use than teens in other metropolitan area counties.
Jackson County's teen drug usage also was below the national average.

UMKC sociology professor Wayne Lucas analyzed the study and spoke at the
kickoff event. The report, indicated, but did not prove, a link between the
tax and lower drug use in the county, he said.

"You really have to give consideration, what is there that's unique about
Jackson County with respect to the rest of the metro area, and COMBAT, I
think, is the unique element," Lucas said. "It provides an infrastructure
through which you can respond to problems and plan for prevention and
treatment initiatives."

Voters first approved the tax in 1989 and extended it in 1995 through March
31, 2004.