SPEAKERS DEBATE DRUG LEGALITY

Some Say Police Agencies Need to Focus On Other Social Problems Instead

The government treats the drug war as a fight against the "boogie monster"
instead of giving people true and useful information, said Mike Gray,
chairman of Common Sense for Drug Policy and author of "Drug Crazy" at a
debate on designer drugs at Taper Hall of Humanities.

Designer drugs are laboratory synthesized drugs that come in pill or tablet
form that have the names designer clothing brands imprinted on them.

But some students in the 20-person audience said they were not sure why
designer drugs were different from other drugs.

Michael Quick, a USC neuroscientist and addiction researcher, gave a
definition.

"They're all drugs," he said. "Anything that has a specific interaction
with the brain that interferes with how it works is a drug."

But Judge Joseph Brandolino said there should be a distinction between
designer drugs and other drugs, and what is legal and illegal because he
sees them in his courtroom contributing to serious crimes daily.

Speakers and students, though, agreed there are constant double standards
when dealing with drugs and especially determining their legality.

Daniela Hammeken, a junior majoring in international relations, said
sometimes it is hard to draw the line between what is legal and illegal to
use as a drug because any substance can be used in the wrong way. Inhaling
household products such as glue or cleaning supplies or drinking too much
cough syrup is more dangerous than using drugs, because they are the ones
that are not restricted, she said.

"If the difference between what is legal and illegal is purely based on
what's functional for politics, the way it's working doesn't make sense,"
Hammeken said. "For example, alcohol makes people more aggressive, makes,
them drive faster, and more likely to commit crimes while marijuana is a
sedative."

Students said that drug education in schools puts alcohol and nicotine in
one class of drugs and group all the rest together, although they all act
very differently.

Gray said there should be more focus on education instead of treating drugs
as monster. Experts in drug and biology research should educate students on
what drugs can do to the brain and what long-term effects they have instead
of just saying drugs are bad, he said.

Gray also the government should end drug prohibition. He recounted the
history of alcohol prohibition as an example of society's failed attempt to
perfect itself.

He said drug and alcohol prohibition started together in 1933, and for the
first time kids were given access to illegal substances. Until prohibition,
saloon owners screened whom was allowed in their facilities, but gangsters
who were selling illegal substances did not care who they were selling to.

"Alcohol prohibition ended, but drug use is 50 times what it was when they
started prohibition in the United States," Gray said.

Neetu Mahil, a junior majoring in political science agreed drugs should be
legal.

"If drugs are legal, then the government can regulate what chemicals are
put into designer drugs so they can be as safe as possible, she said. "Now
you don't know what's in the drugs and you don't know who is getting them.
If they were legal the government could determine who is allowed to buy them."

Brandolino said the main goal should be to keep drugs out of kids' hands,
and making them illegal was the government's way to do that.

But Gray said the government only made them illegal because they did not
know how to deal with the drugs.

"We need to get doctors involved and not law enforcement," Gray said.

Los Angeles Police Department narcotics officer Clark John said there are
many drug problems that go by the wayside because there are not enough
officers to deal with them. But he disagreed with Gray, saying that even
though the police department does not have a handle on drug-related crimes,
there is no other way to deal with them.

"There is no one else who has the right to intervene besides police," he
said. "No doctor's going to come up to you and tell you, you have to fix
this problem you have."

Diana Kampa, a junior majoring in psychology, said as long as the drug
problem cannot be fixed, law enforcement should focus on Los Angeles' other
social problems.

"When there are so many kids doing drugs without hurting anybody, why not
focus attention on people who are hurting others," she said.

John said the focus law enforcement puts on drug control comes from the
importance society places on it.

"Parents want to know their kids will be arrested if they do anything like
that," John said.