Pubdate: Fri, 21 Apr 2006 Source: Ogdensburg Journal/Advance News (NY) Copyright: 2006 Johnson Newspaper Corp. Contact: http://www.ogd.com/letter.htm Website: http://www.ogd.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/689 Author: Associated Press Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?233 (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) ERIE COUNTY EXEC: DRUG LEGALIZATION WORTH A LOOK BUFFALO, N. Y. - A recent spate of drug-related killings should prompt a discussion about legalizing some narcotics, Erie County Executive Joel Giambra said. "Until we get real about it, this problem is going to continue to build on the streets of urban America," Giambra said Wednesday. "We have to talk about legalization." The comments followed a violent week that included the killing of a Roman Catholic nun, allegedly at the hands of an ex-convict who told police he had smoked crack cocaine before the attack and was trying to steal the victim's cell phone so he could buy more. Drugs are also thought to be involved in other recent slayings and in many of the city's 56 homicides last year, police said. Ignoring some type of legalization amounts to "pretending" that current anti-drug efforts are working, Giambra said. The idea had little immediate support in the local law enforcement community, though it drew praise from a Boston-based group called Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, which supports legalizing drugs as a way to devalue and regulate them. Some national figures like conservative commentator William F. Buckley and former Secretary of State George Schultz have raised the issue of legalization, while U.S. District Judge John Curtin of Buffalo also has publicly discussed it. "It's easy to set back and pretend you can fix the problem, but based on the number of homicides and deaths we're seeing, the criminals are winning," Giambra said. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin