Pubdate: Sat, 7 Jun 2003
Source: San Mateo County Times, The (CA)
Copyright: 2003, MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers
Contact: 
http://www.sanmateocountytimes.com/Stories/0,1413,87%257E2524%257E,00.html
Website: http://www.sanmateocountytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/392
Author: Josh Richman

FEDERAL ANTI-DRUG MONEY WON'T BE DIVERTED

An effort to divert federal anti-drug money from local police in states 
with medical marijuana laws was thwarted this week by a House committee, 
which also curtailed other proposed expansions of the White House drug 
czar's power.

The House Government Reform Committee on Thursday sliced several key 
provisions out of the bill - carried by House Republicans and backed by the 
Bush administration - reauthorizing the White House Office of National Drug 
Control Policy for the next five years. The bill still needs approval by 
the full House and by the Senate.

One excised section would have affected the nation's High Intensity Drug 
Trafficking Areas (HIDTAs), of which Northern California is one. The 
section had said that in states with medical marijuana laws, some HIDTA 
funding would be moved away from local and state law enforcement and given 
instead to federal agents.

San Mateo County Sheriff Don Horsley, who chairs the Northern California 
HIDTA's executive committee, and San Jose Police Chief William Lansdowne, 
an executive committee member, were among law enforcement officials who 
decried the proposal as misguided. Methamphetamine and other drugs pose the 
biggest threat, not marijuana, they said.

Another controversial section of the bill that was dropped by the committee 
would have let White House drug czar John Walters spend taxpayer dollars to 
create and air advertisements opposing drug reform initiatives and 
campaigns across the nation.

"The Government Reform Committee took a step forward towards reducing the 
collateral damage of the War on Drugs to students and taxpayers, but much 
more needs to be done,'' said Bill Piper, associate director of national 
affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance. "The ban on giving financial aid to 
anyone convicted of a drug offense needs to be fully repealed and Congress 
needs to put stricter limits on the drug czar's ability to campaign and 
lobby on the taxpayer dime.''
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens