Pubdate: Thu, 24 Feb 2000 Date: 02/24/2000 Source: Herald Journal, The (NY) Author: Nicolas Eyle One can't help agreeing with Mario Rossi when he says sometimes the right things are done for the wrong reasons. And sometimes wrong things are done for the right reasons. ReconsiDer does believe that our country's drug war is a failure and that America needs to reconsider it's drug policy. We do not advocate any one specific solution such as legalizing marijuana as he claims. ReconsiDer seeks to encourage discussion of alternatives. We raise questions about drug prohibition because it's racist, costs billions of dollars per year, and has made America, the land of the free and home of 5% of the world's population, home of 25% of the world's prisoners. Add to that the fact that Mr. Rossi's ,as well as everyone else's liberties, as guaranteed under the constitution, have decreased tremendously because of the drug war he is so fond of. Then take into consideration that our drug policies have failed to reduce drug use, let alone come close to giving us the "drug-free America" we were promised for the year 2000, and I think you can see why we think they need reconsidering. ReconsiDer does not, and never "campaigned assiduously for ... measures which they euphemistically label as drug reforms". ReconsiDer does not use euphemisms. It has no hidden agenda. We have ,however, worked with New York state senators and wrote legislation that would have limited the sale of tobacco products to liquor stores and taverns instead of putting them next to the Hershey bars in the candy store across from the school as we do today. That's drug policy reform. ReconsiDer has urged policy makers to study what other countries are doing to reduce their drug use, and provided detailed information to help them in that study. We have spoken at hundreds of colleges and Rotary Clubs to interested, receptive audiences who know our drug policies have failed and want information on alternatives. Our members include several law enforcement officers including a former Syracuse police chief , a US District Court judge, several physicians , attorneys, policy analysts, drug treatment providers, educators and other professionals. These people disagree on what the alternative should be, but agree that to continue to do the same things over and over hoping for different results next time is foolhardy. Of course legalizing marijuana is one of many reasonable alternatives to throwing people in prison for years at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars. In the Netherlands it is sold in hundreds of stores all over the country to anyone over sixteen. Their teenage marijuana use rate is half that of ours. Seems at least worth discussing if you are serious about reducing teens marijuana use. If Mr. Rossi is interested only in defending drug prohibition, he is following the only course available to him; put words into your opponent's mouths and then try to make them look simple-minded or evil. If, on the other hand, Mr. Rossi is serious about keeping our kids safe from the potential horrors of drug abuse, and cares about the Constitution and the future of America we invite him to come and talk to us. Discuss with us some of the alternatives to current policy, perhaps do a little reading on the subject. I'm sure that he'd find some significant parts of our drug policy that he'd want to change. He might even think that our objecting to the governments bribing the media was the right thing done for the right reasons. Nicolas Eyle, executive director, ReconsiDer: Forum on Drug Policy, 205 Onondaga Ave. Syracuse, New York 13207-1439, tel:(315)422.6231, e-mail: