LEGISLATURE MUST GET SERIOUS ON DRUG ISSUE

"I'm focused on trying to get (anti-drug legislation) to the floor as soon as possible."

James Mathewson, Senate President, Jan. 15, 1992

"If we could get rid of (the anti-drug legislation) before the break, I'd be extremely pleased. It is our number one priority."

Mathewson on March 3, 1992

"I realize the drug bill is important, but Sunday liquor sales are important to the people."

Bob Ward, House Majority Leader, May 4, 1992

"I would say the drug bill may very well be in trouble if we can't get some cooperation out of the governor on other legislation."

Bob Griffin, House Speaker, May 11, 1992

Succinctly and surely contained in the comments above, stretched over the months of the Missouri General Assembly's current session, is the steady erosion of a good law. For three years, Gov. John Ashcroft has tried to get anti-drug legislation approved by the state legislature. The past two years, the measure died in the closing hours of the legislative session. This morning finds four days left in the current assembly, and a similar fate for Ashcroft's wishes looms. Failure to advance this measure to law would be a disgrace.

When he delivered his State of the State address on Jan. 15, Gov. Ashcroft asked the General Assembly put an anti-drug measure on his desk by the end of February. That deadline went unheeded. The real crime in this measure's breakdown so far is that the legislature has debated its provisions at various times and is generally agreeable to them. If that is the case, and if the governor and Senate leader are on record as calling it a priority, why can't this become law?

The Missouri House, where the anti-drug legislation now languishes, wants this important measure to be a hostage to its own agenda. Speaker Griffin wants the governor's support on legislation regulating unlicensed child care facilities, restricting smoking in public places and overhauling workers compensation laws. Majority Leader Ward wants the governor's signature on a bill allowing liquor stores to sell on Sunday. While some of these measures might be worthy, stalling a critical piece of legislation on their account is unconscionable. In the minds of most Missourians, what is the more pressing issue: steering drugs away from the state or being able to buy a bottle of booze on Sunday?

Most Missourians are not blind to the destructive forces that accompany a passive approach in combating drugs. Key members of the General Assembly, already years behind in this endeavor, might as well be sending maps and "Wake Up to Missouri" brochures to drug couriers of the nation. By using this measure as bait for issues of lesser consequence, the state announces to those in the drug trade that Missouri is not serious about putting a stop to this contraband.

The welcome mat must be pulled inside. Our hope is the General Assembly puts its gamesmanship aside and gets this measure to the governor's desk.