CITY URGED TO RELAX ITS DRUG STANCE

Madison should change the way it confronts drug abuse and become a national
model for a new approach, the influential political party Progressive Dane
says.

The city should let people possess small amounts of marijuana on private
property, let medical marijuana patients grow some plants, explore safe
injection rooms for narcotics users, not prosecute 911 overdose callers or
victims unless there's evidence of foul play, educate police on the effects
of pressing drug charges and more, the party says.

Mayor Sue Bauman should instruct police to follow a 1977 city law that
makes it legal to possess up to 112 grams of marijuana on private property
and make the penalty for having the same amount in a public place subject
to a fine up to $100 with no criminal record, it says.

Meanwhile, the city should direct more resources to economic development in
troubled neighborhoods, deliver more youth activities and break pockets of
poverty by requiring low-cost housing in new developments and ending
discrimination against poor people who use federal Section 8 vouchers to
help pay for market-rate housing, the party says.

"It's widely believed our present course of action runs on inertia," said
Stephanie Rearick, co-chairwoman of Progressive Dane and chairwoman of its
Drug Policy Task Force. "We want the city to be open to new ways of doing
things."

Progressive Dane, which has been studying drug issues for 18 months, is
beginning its push for change with a public forum today involving city and
county officials, drug treatment professionals and others. The party has
elected members and influence but not majorities on the City Council and
Dane County Board of Supervisors.

The proposals got a mixed reception from Bauman and Madison police, who
have said that the current focus on enforcement is inadequate and that drug
abuse should be treated as a health problem but who have not pushed
specific changes.

"I want to take a look at current policy - what's working, what's not
working," Bauman said.

"It's important for us to be at the table participating in these
discussions," Assistant Police Chief Noble Wray said. "This is a
complicated problem that will take a multifaceted approach to work."

The police already don't focus on marijuana use in homes but target major
dealers, Wray said.

The Dane County Narcotics and Gang Task Force, comprised of personnel from
the city, county and UW-Madison and with a budget of $3 million, made 679
drug-related charges and seized $763,000 in cash and drugs last year,
records show.

The city is preparing for its own look at drug policies.

In May, after more than two years of delay, Bauman and the council agreed
to create a nine-member "work group" to assess the local war on drugs
through public hearings and round-table discussions and to make
recommendations for further action no later than Oct. 15. It's not clear if
the target can be met.