DRUG REFORM PUSH FOSTERS LEGAL DEBATE

If you haven't been already, sometime in the next few months you'll likely
be approached and asked to sign a petition to put a measure on the ballot
that would reform Michigan drug laws. Depending on whom you believe, the
Michigan Drug Reform Initiative, a proposed amendment to the state
constitution, will:

* Decriminalize many drug offenses;

* Focus on treatment rather than incarceration for users;

* Reserve the most severe prison sentences for major drug dealers.

Or it will ...

* Cripple law enforcement agencies in their efforts to apprehend and punish
drug dealers;

* Fail to deliver on treatment promises;

* Put the United States on a path toward the legalization of drugs.

To be sure, the proposal isn't that simple. Opponents point out that the
entire text of the initiative is nearly as long as the U.S. Constitution,
and much of it is written in legalese.

"As a lawyer, I know the devil is in the detail," James Halushka, an
Oakland County prosecutor and avid opponent of the measure said last week.

Halushka was one of several presenters at a "symposium" on drug reform
organized by U.S. Rep. Sander Levin.

Most in attendance were law enforcement officials, social workers and
anti-drug coalition leaders. Most, if not all, opposed the initiative.

But when Hazel Park City Councilman Andy LeCureaux offered that he not only
backed the measure, he favored the legalization of drugs, a pep rally
transformed into a lively debate.

For a few fleeting moments, those cops and social workers and activists who
serve so proudly as soldiers in the "war" on drugs were forced to consider
an outside-the-box approach to a problem that continues to grow despite
their best efforts -- and despite the expenditure of billions of dollars.
LeCureaux offered a chilling observation:

"Millionaire drug dealers are on the side of keeping drugs illegal," he said.

It's doubtful those who attended the symposium changed their minds. These
folks offer a few compelling arguments of their own, and comments by one
man won't sway them.

But if they're objective, free-thinking people, they came away with
something to ponder.

The Michigan Drug Reform Initiative is well financed, and even opponents
concede it will get on the ballot.

If that happens, and the measure fosters the kind of debate it did last
week, then everybody wins, regardless of which side you're on.