Pubdate: Wed, 16 Aug 2000 Source: Oregonian, The (OR) Copyright: 2000 The Oregonian Contact: 1320 SW Broadway, Portland, OR 97201 Fax: 503-294-4193 Website: http://www.oregonlive.com/ Forum: http://forums.oregonlive.com/ Author: Anne-Marie O'Connor ALTERNATE CONVENTION HITS A NERVE It might not be the next "Survivor" or "Who Wants to Marry a Multi- Millionaire," and it might not have stolen the scene from the Democratic National Convention or the nightly network news. But the alternative Shadow Convention packed fervent crowds into a heat-roiled auditorium Tuesday at Patriotic Hall, where speakers including yippie co-founder Paul Krassner, essayist Alexander Cockburn and Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., seemed to have hit a nerve with Americans who feel their issues were overlooked by the major parties. The issues aired were not new. But neither had they spilled into the mainstream political debates inside the convention halls this summer. The Shadow Convention has dealt with issues as diverse as the racial inequity of drug law enforcement, campaign finance reform and the gap between rich and poor. The news media have largely ignored this gathering of grass-roots activists, intellectuals and maverick politicians. But Tuesday, the audience filled the seats and crowded along the wood-paneled walls or sat on the marble floor of the lobby. Many said they couldn't care less if the forum wasn't "newsworthy." Pamela Lichty, vice president of the Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii, said, "Hopefully this will send a message to the media that there are many people who think the issues are important." "I think the hope was to attract attention from the Democrats, and I don't know if that's happened," she said. Ethan Nadelmann of the Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation, which advocates treating drugs as a health issue rather than a criminal matter, said, "Something amazing happened in that room today. It's pretty strong evidence that drug policy reform is moving from the fringes into the mainstream." Arianna Huffington, the commentator, helped organize the Shadow Convention. She called the drug war issue "a real breakthrough" for the convention. "Some of the press coverage has been based on the old paradigm that assumes that any discussion of reform is left-wing," Huffington said. Noting that New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson and California Rep. Tom Campbell, both Republicans, have spoken passionately against the drug war, she asked, "Why is this left-leaning?" - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D