JUDGE TAKES SWING AT WAR ON DRUGS

John Kane Says Current Policies Only Cause More Abuse

America's war on drugs is costly, ignorant and doesn't work, a federal judge
said Tuesday.

Denver U.S. District Judge John Kane Jr., who has been speaking and writing
against the nation's drug policy for about five years, won a standing
ovation from a packed City Club luncheon at the Brown Palace Hotel.

"I don't favor drugs at all," Kane said.

"What I really am opposed to is the fact that our present policies encourage
children to take drugs."

Ending the present policy of interdiction, police action and imprisonment
would eliminate the economic incentives for drug dealers to provide drugs to
minors, Kane said.

He said the government has no real data and no scientific basis for its
approach to illegal drug use.

Since the policy began in the early 1970s, drugs have become easier to
obtain and drug use has only increased, he said.

Last summer, Kane said, a friend in his 60s was being treated for cancer.
The man joked to his family that he wished he knew where to get marijuana to
help him bear the effects of chemotherapy.

The next day, the man's 11-year-old grandson brought him three marijuana
cigarettes, Kane said.

"Don't worry, Grandpa - I don't use it myself, but if you need any more just
let me know," the judge quoted the boy as saying.

Although officials vow zero tolerance for drugs, even children know that's
not reality, Kane said.

"Our national drug policy is inconsistent with the nature of justice,
abusive of the nature of authority, and wholly ignorant of the compelling
force of forgiveness," he said. "I suggest that federal drug laws be
severely cut back."

The federal government should focus on keeping illegal drugs out of the
country and regulating the manufacture of drugs transported across state
lines.

Each state should decide how to regulate sales and what should be legal or
illegal, he said, and the emphasis for government spending should be on
treatment.