Sheriff and Police Chief Both
Admit Drug War Has Failed
by Loretta Nall (29 May, 2006)
Admit Drug War Has Failed
by Loretta Nall (29 May, 2006)
| Loretta Nall received endorsement from Police Chief and Sheriff, who both admit drug war is failing |
| On May 21, 2006 Loretta Nall – Libertarian candidate for Alabama in the gubernatorial election, and prison and drug reform activist – was invited to attend and speak at the Candidates forum hosted by The National Coalition of 100 Black Women in historic Tuskegee, Alabama. Here's Loretta's account of what happened: I was the only gubernatorial candidate to show at the event. Lt. Governor Lucy Baxley did not show due to laryngitis. I had a touch of it myself but refuse to let such things stop me from addressing any crowd of Alabama voters who are kind enough, fair enough and interested enough to bother extending an invitation to the Nall for Governor campaign. There were other candidates there for state and local office. Three of these candidates were law enforcement officers and their presence there worked so heavily in my favor by the end of the day that I am still somewhat speechless. Here's how it all went down. Being the highest ranking candidate there I was given the floor first. The audience was largely African- American Democrat with a white Democrat thrown in for good measure. I never know what kind of reaction I will get from an African-American audience when I come out with my positions on drug policy reform. They have lived in the war zone for many years and it can sometimes be difficult to get them to look at the issue from a different angle. On the first go round I stated my platform planks in a two minute opening statement. I got a glazed over/shocked look from the crowd but no response other than that. Not a good way to start the day. Everyone else then took their turn at the podium. There were three candidates for Circuit Clerk. One of these candidates was a veteran narcotics task force officer who made it a point to say over and over how much good he had done his community by fighting drugs. There were two candidates for Sheriff. The incumbent, David M. Warren, is also the husband of a state legislator and Seriff of Macon County; the challenger was Leon E. "Chief" Frazier, Police Chief of Tuskegee. Both of them started out anti-drug and seemed somewhat perplexed that my message was so different from theirs. After all the candidates were done speaking the audience submitted questions on 3x5 cards. My first question was, "What will be your first action if elected Governor?" My answer was, "Make marijuana enforcement the lowest law enforcement priority for the entire state and fight for the release of all non- violent drug offenders." Next up were the circuit clerk candidates and the question asked of them was, "We have murder cases that are over 5 years old that have never been investigated, we do not have enough judges, the court docket is so backlogged that no one gets a timely trial and the forensics lab is overloaded with drug cases. What are you going to do about this?" At this point there was a great deal of "riding a bicycle around the room" from the candidates because they did not know what to say. The candidates for Sheriff were up next and they were asked what their top priorities were. Mr. Frazier: "I have cleaned up Macon County while I have been in office. I have reduced the drug trade and violent crime and if you re-elect me I vow to eradicate drugs in Macon County." Mr. Warren said something along the same lines but made no outrageous promises of complete drug eradication like the incumbent did. The rest of the candidates answered their questions and then it was time for the final round of questioning and closing statements. I knew that somehow I had not connected with my audience like I usually do, and I was not feeling great about any of it. When I was called back to the mic I suddenly got very hot and my heart was racing. My last question was, "Can you really sign into law making marijuana enforcement the lowest priority?" I looked into the eyes of my audience and I said, "As Governor I would have a great deal of leverage because I would have veto powers. This can be done. It would take political negotiating and wrangling but yes I could get this done as Governor. I want you to know that what I am saying to you today is not about the right to get high. It is not about the right to use drugs. It is about evaluating what we are doing to see if it is meeting its stated objective. "I think we can all agree that the drug war has failed. We all want the same things. We want safe neighborhoods where there are no gangs, no violence, no people selling drugs to any kid that wants them in an unregulated market. We want to keep families together. If I were to sit down with our law enforcement officials today and have a rational discussion about the drug war you would see that we are all really on the same page. I am not anti-cop but I do readily admit that the drug war has fostered disrespect and contempt for law enforcement. I want our officers to be safe and to protect all of us from real crime. |
| Loretta Nall is making allies in high places |
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HEMP
