FEDERAL ANTI-DRUG MONEY WON'T BE DIVERTED

An effort to divert federal anti-drug money from local police in states
with medical marijuana laws was thwarted this week by a House committee,
which also curtailed other proposed expansions of the White House drug
czar's power.

The House Government Reform Committee on Thursday sliced several key
provisions out of the bill - carried by House Republicans and backed by the
Bush administration - reauthorizing the White House Office of National Drug
Control Policy for the next five years. The bill still needs approval by
the full House and by the Senate.

One excised section would have affected the nation's High Intensity Drug
Trafficking Areas (HIDTAs), of which Northern California is one. The
section had said that in states with medical marijuana laws, some HIDTA
funding would be moved away from local and state law enforcement and given
instead to federal agents.

San Mateo County Sheriff Don Horsley, who chairs the Northern California
HIDTA's executive committee, and San Jose Police Chief William Lansdowne,
an executive committee member, were among law enforcement officials who
decried the proposal as misguided. Methamphetamine and other drugs pose the
biggest threat, not marijuana, they said.

Another controversial section of the bill that was dropped by the committee
would have let White House drug czar John Walters spend taxpayer dollars to
create and air advertisements opposing drug reform initiatives and
campaigns across the nation.

"The Government Reform Committee took a step forward towards reducing the
collateral damage of the War on Drugs to students and taxpayers, but much
more needs to be done,'' said Bill Piper, associate director of national
affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance. "The ban on giving financial aid to
anyone convicted of a drug offense needs to be fully repealed and Congress
needs to put stricter limits on the drug czar's ability to campaign and
lobby on the taxpayer dime.''