Pubdate: Fri, 19 Dec 2003 Source: Courier-Journal, The (KY) Copyright: 2003 The Courier-Journal Contact: http://www.courier-journal.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/97 NO TO STUMBO'S KBI Clearly Kentucky has real drug problems: all those meth labs, especially in Western Kentucky; all that prescription drug abuse, mainly in Eastern Kentucky, and the all-too-familiar drug traffic in cities and suburbs. But government at all levels (including the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. attorneys, the Kentucky State Police and many local agencies) already has been mobilized. If something more is needed, it could be the work Lt. Gov. Steve Pence intends to do, pulling together enforcement, education and rehabilitation efforts statewide. What's likely to be of minimal value in the drug war, but of great value to incoming Attorney General Greg Stumbo's political ambitions, is his plan to create a Kentucky Bureau of Investigations. Although officially devoted to fighting drugs, the KBI would be most useful for keeping Mr. Stumbo's name in headlines, where readers frightened by the methamphetamine and OxyContin news will see it. You can always argue that more effort would help in the drug war. But, given all that's under way on that front, Mr. Stumbo could use his time and effort more effectively in other crucial areas already part of his job. Consider the deep impact that Ed Hancock made as attorney general, when he turned deputies Bob Bullock and David Short loose on consumer protection and environmental regulation. A new Republican administration bent of making the state business-friendly, and keeping business contributors happy, could provide lots of targets. Actually, a KBI could be much worse than "minimally valuable." It could be downright dangerous. Imagine such an instrument in the hands of an ambitious pol who knows a lot about the corrupt mechanisms of state politics. Oops. Some argue that it's already dangerous for the Kentucky attorney general to have his staff of investigators running around with badges and guns, their efforts not particularly well organized or focused. But consider how much worse it could be some day, with a J. Edgar Hoover type carefully managing such assets for his own political purposes. Oops plus. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh