"In 2001, after a year's study, the Drug Policy Project, a broad coalition of professional and civic organizations led by KCBA, concluded that present drug policy does not accomplish its objectives and, to the contrary, causes undue harm.

The board adopted a resolution, one recommendation of which was that "... we should be moving decisively towards a public health model." The 2001 KCBA resolution can be found at http://www.kcba.org/druglaw/kcbapolicy.html.

Now, after three years of work, the Drug Policy Project has proposed an innovative but measured way to develop the "public health model" called for in 2001. The proposal is set out in "KCBA Drug Policy Project - Drug Policy Resolution Proposed for Comment and Supporting Documents," which can be found on the KCBA web page at http://www.kcba.org/druglaw/proposal.html.

Recognizing that the details of a new drug policy require the input of experts and a broad range of citizens and public officials, the resolution does not specify legislative details but rather calls on the legislature to establish a consultative body of experts, public officials, law enforcement officers, and civic leaders to study all of the subjects that comprise a public health model and to recommend legislation. The proposal envisions a state-level system of strict regulation and control. The principal purposes of state regulation are to eliminate the illegal drug market by making it unprofitable, to reduce access by youth to drugs, and to focus resources on treatment rather than criminal sanctions and prison.


John M. Cary

KCBA President