Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, November 22, 1993 TAG: 9403180035
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Is the state walking away from the war on drugs, or declaring victory?
The war, of course, has not been won. On the contrary, illegal drug use still is destroying lives, still is the factor underlying many crimes, still is imposing huge burdens on the criminal justice system.
Allen and Terry during their campaign talked a lot about crime - Terry, mostly about gun crimes - and prisons. But it seemed almost as if drug abuse was the forgotten issue. (In a 20-page crime package, the George Allen Plan for Abolishing Parole, the governor-elect devoted only one full paragraph to drugs, and that was in reference to insufficient prison time for drug traffickers.)
To be sure, campaign rhetoric isn't always a reliable indicator of a governor's commitment to an issue. For all his to-do about being his own drug czar and making war on drugs a top priority, Gov. Wilder's anti-drug effort has been mostly window dressing.
He has not ignored drugs entirely. Wilder has a drug-policy coordinator (Bob Northern) on his staff. Early in his term, he hosted a "drug summit."
And each year, he has presented awards to those making special efforts to combat drug crimes and abuse. Winners this year included the Radford Police Department's detective division, the Salem Police Department's summer DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) camp for at-risk youth, and Roanoke businessman George Pelton for his promotion of drug-free After Prom Parties for high-school students.
Even so, there is in Virginia as in much of the rest of the nation a valid sense that the war on drugs isn't going anywhere. Fortunately, there is also hope on the horizon - in the spreading conviction among experts and public officials that drugs ought to be treated less as a law-enforcement issue, and more as a health problem.
President Clinton's drug czar, respected former New York City Police Commissioner Lee Brown, is a pioneer of so-called community policing, which emphasizes crime prevention, and he now wants to put treatment and prevention on par with law enforcement in efforts to reduce drug abuse.
Attorney General Janet Reno has criticized past emphasis on interdiction of drugs entering the United States, a clear failure. She has proposed a nationwide commitment to the idea that every person who wants and asks for drug treatment should get it.
Has any of this rubbed off on Gov.-elect Allen? Does he have a 20-page plan for drug-abuse prevention that he forgot to mention during the campaign? Has he, like growing numbers of other Virginians, come to realize the importance of treatment programs for those charged with drug-related crimes, and the considerable impact this could have on recidivism? Or is his interest limited to abolishing any prospects drug offenders have for parole?
We don't know. He hasn't said. But tune in after inauguration day to see what develops on the drug front. A change in strategy would be as welcome as it is overdue.
by CNB