Pubdate: Thu, 17 May 2007
Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA)
Copyright: 2007 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Contact:  http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/408
Author:  Hector Castro
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?233 (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition)

'END DRUG WAR' FORUM TO INCLUDE STAMPER, COUNTY COUNCILMAN

A King County councilman and a former Seattle police chief are among 
those who will discuss the nation's drug war and how it is being 
fought locally at a community forum Thursday.

Organizers have made clear their position on the issue, calling the 
panel, "The Time is Now -- End the War on Drugs."

"This is not a debate. The war on drugs has failed," said Sunil 
Abraham, a Seattle defense lawyer and one of the seminar's organizers.

The meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. in the Rainier Valley Cultural 
Center, 3515 S. Alaska St.

The panel will include King County Councilman Larry Gossett, former 
police Chief Norm Stamper and UW professor Katherine Beckett, who has 
studied racial disparities in local drug enforcement.

All have been vocal in their opposition to current enforcement of drug laws.

"If anything, my views are stronger now," Stamper said Wednesday.

In a book published in 2005, Stamper argued that the war on drugs 
wastes money, unfairly target minorities and leads police to make 
more arrests for drug offenses than for more serious crimes such as 
murder, rape and assaults.

"The drug war has caused more harm than good," he said.

Like others opposed to the drug war, Stamper believes that drug use 
should be treated as a public health issue with an emphasis on 
treatment and regulation, not incarceration.

And then there's the sheer cost. Gossett said criminal justice 
matters require 70 percent of the county's $625 million budget, in 
large part because of the current drug laws.

"By far the single biggest pressure comes from the extraordinary 
number of people who are low-level drug users or sellers we have to 
lock up in our county jail," he said. "It's time for a new approach."
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman