PENCE UNTRUTHFUL ABOUT PATTON'S RECORD IN FIGHTING DRUG ABUSE

Since Steve Pence is a last minute addition to the GOP ticket, folks around
here haven't seen much of him in the campaign for lieutenant governor.

However, he was in town on Monday speaking to a crowd of jailers and
deputies at the Kentucky Jailers Association conference. That appearance
unfortunately told us a lot about him, and about the deceptive campaign
we're likely to see in the fall.

Pence's speech included an ample share of political rhetoric, and that's to
be expected. But in the middle of the plentiful promises and even more
plentiful barbs there were a few outrageous untruths -- that's something I
don't think you should have to tolerate as a voter, and a record I feel I
need to correct as your state senator.

According to a story in Tuesday's Messenger-Inquirer, Pence said the Patton
administration has never acknowledged the growing drug epidemic of
methamphetamine and OxyContin that Kentucky faces.

Now wait just a minute.

Since he became governor, Paul Patton has signed many pieces of legislation
related to drug abuse and enforcement -- legislation that I'm proud to say
I supported, as did all of our area legislators, both Democrats and
Republicans. These include a statute that greatly strengthened the
penalties for methamphetamine, and specifically defined it as a controlled
substance, and a bill that enabled law enforcement officials to be
proactive and make arrests for the intent to make this dangerous drug,
which can be produced from common household items. Keith Cain, Daviess
County sheriff, testified for this methamphetamine "precursor" bill during
hearings in Frankfort.

Likewise, Patton's signature can be found on the legislation that first
established many of the tools law enforcement use to fight abuse of
prescription drugs, like OxyContin, in our state. OxyContin was the focus
of a governor's task force.

Perhaps the current administration's most important achievement related to
the fight against drug abuse and many other crimes is House Bill 455,
passed in 1998, again with the support of all of our area legislators.
Among many other provisions found in the comprehensive legislation are
those that require that every person who is arrested be fingerprinted, and
that establish a witness and victim protection program in Kentucky. Both of
these measures have proved invaluable in the fight against illegal drugs in
our state.

Bills passed and administrative changes approved in recent years have also
added computer databanks to Kentucky's crime-fighting arsenal, critical in
the illegal drug underworld and in tracking prescription abuse, and
established minimum standards and improved training for our law enforcement
officials, including training in the dangerous cleanup of explosive
methamphetamine laboratories. One of these databanks, called KASPER
(Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Electronic Reporting) tracks all
controlled substance prescriptions and is considered a national model for
states seeking to implement prescription-monitoring systems.

Is there more to be done? Of course there is. Our country has been working
to overcome drug abuse for decades -- there's always more to be done.

As a person who has long been involved in Kentucky's criminal justice
system, Pence knows all of this, and apparently chose not to tell you the
truth.

Ask yourself this: If Steve Pence, as a person who has long been involved
in Kentucky's criminal justice system, is saying that he has a better idea
about how to fight the drug abuse problems in Kentucky, why hasn't he
spoken up before now?

David Boswell is state senator for District 8, representing Daviess and
McLean counties.