Pubdate: Sat, 17 Feb 2007 Source: Rutland Herald (VT) Copyright: 2007 Rutland Herald Contact: http://www.rutlandherald.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/892 Author: Louis Porter Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/robert+sand SAND DEFLECTS DOUGLAS' CRITICISM OVER MARIJUANA STANCE Windsor County State's Attorney Robert Sand dismissed Gov. James Douglas' claim that he kept his constituents in the dark about his beliefs on marijuana. Sand said he wrote two op-ed pieces in 2005 and 2006, well in advance of the November 2006 elections, outlining his concerns about the state's war on drugs and calling for a "public health approach" to marijuana and other drugs. At his weekly news conference Thursday, Douglas asserted that Sand hadn't let voters know about his controversial stance. And, the governor questioned whether the veteran prosecutor would enforce the state's drug laws. "The voters of Windsor County had a right to know about this before he was re-elected instead of immediately afterwards," Douglas said. "I hope and assume he will be true to his oath of office." Sand, who has been Windsor County's top law enforcement officer for the past 11 years, and has spent most of his legal career as a Vermont prosecutor, said the governor didn't have his facts straight. Sand said he wrote the op-ed pieces to let people know his views. "I didn't want to be elected under false pretenses," he said. Sand, a Democrat, ran unopposed on both the Democratic and Republican tickets in 2002 and 2006. Sand said that while he wrote the two op-ed pieces in the Rutland Herald in August 2006, and in the Lebanon, N.H., Valley News in 2005, his views on the need for a dialogue on drug enforcement didn't gain significant attention until a news story ran in the Herald in late November 2006. Since then, he said, he has received national and international attention. Earlier this week, Sand expanded on his views at a forum sponsored by the Windsor County Democrats. He said he favored the decriminalization of marijuana, saying no one had convinced him marijuana shouldn't be legal and unregulated for adults. "I don't think the police, prosecutors, courts and corrections should be involved with marijuana," he said. He said that despite his views the state should review its drug policies, he said he would fully enforce the state's drug laws and follow his oath of office. Sand, 48, said that as a high school and college student he used marijuana, but that he hadn't used it since 1982, although he said he might have smoked once at a party during law school. Sand, who came to Vermont to attend Vermont Law School, where he graduated in 1987, said he didn't like marijuana, and he used it because of the social scene. "It made me kind of paranoid and more reserved than I already am," Sand said. "I'm not proud of it; I'm not ashamed of it." Sand said he had been expecting to be asked whether he smoked marijuana ever since he raised the issue about the war on drugs, and he was surprised it hadn't been raised earlier. He said his only hope was that the issue didn't distract from his goal of in-depth discussion of the state's drug laws, particularly in regards to marijuana. He said he believed adults should be able to use marijuana legally, but that it should be illegal for people younger than 18. Adults giving or selling marijuana to children should be prosecuted, he said. He said the argument made by some law enforcement officials that little time and government resources are spent on marijuana enforcement isn't true, citing a recent study by the Vermont Crime Information Center. During the past two years, he said, there were more marijuana arrests than all other illegal drug cases combined. "Let's take marijuana out of the criminal justice system and reallocate the money to prevention, treatment and education. My prediction is that use would decline," Sand said. Sand said he favors more of a public health approach to the use of other drugs, noting that doctors in Great Britain can prescribe heroin. Jason Gibbs, the governor's chief spokesman, didn't return messages left for him at the governor's office. State's attorneys are elected independently of any state official, with the voters having the final say. Sand said Douglas has not called him about the issue. "I think in the heat of the moment on an emotional and complicated issue, I think the governor made a mistake. Let's move on," he said. Sand said he has received lots of support on the issue. "Almost to a person, people have said, 'let's have the discussion,'" he said. "It's abundantly clear that the current approach is not working." The prosecutor said his experience was proof that experimental use of marijuana did not automatically lead to addiction or other drug use. "I don't use drugs. I don't like drugs. This is a public health issue," he said. Reporter Louis Porter contributed to this report. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin