Pubdate: Sat, 24 Mar 2001 Source: Northwest Florida Daily News (FL) Copyright: 2001 Northwest Florida Daily News Contact: http://www.nwfdailynews.com/ Author: Clark Hosmer NEW DRUG POLICY My goal is to get Congress' attention with more than a million voters' requests to delegate to the 50 states authority to control illegal drugs. That's how we repealed Prohibition. Today's national drug-control strategy is no-win. Direct annual costs are $19.2 billion plus $18.9 billion for 10 heavily involved federal departments. Police confiscate money and property from people not charged with a crime. We've put half a million nonviolent people in prison. We're funding both sides of the Colombian war! President Bush needs to lead us back to controls that are closer to the people. His father said in 1991, "If we've learned anything in the past quarter-century, it is that we cannot federalize virtue." With state control of drugs, some would authorize marijuana. Some would use Swiss-type controls of hard drugs that reduced crimes by hard-drug users from 69 percent to 10 percent. Some states would continue to fight the war on drugs until they note how better policies can reduce crime. One percent of Marilyn vos Savant's 180 million adult Parade readers could demand that Congress delegate drug policy to the 50 states. That would move drug policy closer to the people. Please help me put more thrust in this draft letter. Call 651-1739 or e-mail to CLARK HOSMER Shalimar - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens