Pubdate: Mon, 19 Oct 1998
Source: Associated Press
Copyright: 1998 Associated Press.

CHIEFS OPPOSE DRUG LEGALIZATION

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Police chiefs from the country's largest cities
have voted to oppose ballot initiatives for the medical legalization
of marijuana or other drugs.

The vote of the Major City Chiefs Association, comprised of chiefs
from the 52 largest metropolitan police forces in the U.S. and Canada,
was announced Monday at the International Association of Chiefs of
Police convention in Salt Lake City.

MCCA President Charles H. Ramsey, chief of the District of Columbia
metropolitan police force, said passage of the referendums in his
city, along with similar proposals in Colorado, Nevada and Arizona,
``would be a dangerous step backward in the fight against crime in our
nation's cities.''

Voters will decide the issue in the Nov. 3 general
election.

``Decisions about medicine in our country should be based on science,
not popular votes,'' Ramsey said in a news release.

Voters in Colorado and Nevada are considering similar referendums.
Arizona voters passed a drug initiative two years ago allowing doctors
to prescribe 115 illegal drugs to terminally or seriously ill
patients. This year, voters will decide on a referendum aimed at
dismantling those provisions.

The chiefs from Denver, Las Vegas and Phoenix all are members of the
Major Cities Chiefs Association.
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Checked-by: Patrick Henry