REGULATE DRUGS, DON'T JAIL USERS, JUDGE URGES

U.S. Should Stress Rehab, Treatment Instead Of Punishment, Expert Says

WILKES-BARRE - Terrorists, drug kingpins and prison officials are all
winning the war on drugs, a California judge said Saturday. Meanwhile, the
country's children are losing.

That was the message from Judge James Gray, a former federal prosecutor, who
called Saturday for sweeping changes to the nation's anti-drug policies.
Gray's comments came during a lecture sponsored by the Public Policy and
Social Research Institute at King's College. "In my view, the most critical
issue facing our country today is our drug policy," Gray said. Gray, an
Orange County Superior Court judge, is the author of "Why Our Drug Laws Have
Failed, and What We Can Do About It," a book critical of the nation's drug
laws.

As a judge and former prosecutor, Gray said he has seen the country's law
enforcement dollars go into prosecuting lower-level drug dealers - without
offering enough rehabilitation and treatment programs for drug addicts. The
country's current drug policy is "a failed, failed system," Gray said. "The
system we have, in my view, is hopeless.

"According to Gray, the country's excessive drug laws have punished
lower-level drug users and dealers while ignoring the social issues that
lead to drug problems. Gray - who said he did not support the complete
legalization of drugs - said the government should find a way of regulating
drugs, similar to the government regulation of alcohol. "Why don't we get
smarter in regards to crime, instead of getting so tough?" he asked. "Just
because we have this discussion, doesn't mean that we condone drug use and
abuse."

Gray acknowledged that no program would effectively remove illegal drugs,
but said a new way of combating drugs could reduce the national crime rate
by between 35 to 50 percent. During his speech, Gray criticized the
country's high number of prisons, saying incarcerating drug abusers - while
providing inadequate drug treatment - only increases their drug habits.

He also widely criticized the country's hesitancy to discuss the drug
problem, saying that the only way to begin decreasing drug abuse was to
admit that millions of Americans use drugs. "Our education (on drugs) is not
true and we're paying a real price," he said. Instead, Gray suggested that
prison wardens be provided financial incentives for creating and maintaining
effective drug treatment programs for users.

And, he suggested the country adopt a program devised in Switzerland, where
drug abusers who had failed rehabilitation programs be provided drugs in a
hospital setting. Unlike the United States, Switzerland correctly fought
drug use "as managers, not as moralists," Gray said. The United States
"addresses it as a character issue," he said. "It is a crime not to have
these programs going on."