By Robert Weller Associated Press Writer Published: Mar 13, 2002

 DENVER (AP) - Mayor Wellington Webb has seen what drugs can do: He once asked a judge to put his crack-using son in rehab. 
Now, with 14 months to go in his third and final term, Webb plans to focus on fighting drug abuse. 
"We need to change our philosophy on how to deal with drug addiction, to treat it as a health issue," the 61-year-old Democrat said recently. 
Webb has proposed a $1 million plan to study the creation of a city-run drug treatment center and to attack abuse with an additional drug court, housing for binge drinkers and addicts, drug prevention programs in middle schools and a major crackdown on sellers. 
Drug abuse has been on Webb's agenda from the moment he was elected to the Legislature in 1972. Back then he put through a law requiring insurance companies to provide coverage for alcohol abuse treatment in all group plans. 
More recently, his son's troubles and the drug problems he has seen as mayor have helped focus his attention on the issue. 
"I doubt there are many families that haven't been touched by a drug problem. I know from my personal family pain of having to see addiction problems," he said. 
Webb's son Allen, 39, has had several brushes with the law. In 1994, the mayor asked a judge to commit him to a rehabilitation center because of a crack habit. Ultimately, the younger Webb voluntarily entered rehab. 
Last year, the mayor's son was arrested on a marijuana possession charge. He pleaded guilty and received two years' probation for the drug offense and an unrelated robbery. 
Denver has a detox center, where those who are drunk or high can be held for 48 hours while they sober up. But it has no city-run rehab center. 
The mayor, who has been credited with rebuilding downtown, expanding its arts offerings and promoting the construction of sports arenas, said he wants to see drug treatment become available to the average person. 
He said there is treatment "for the Elizabeth Taylors and Betty Fords." But he added: "There are no real treatment programs for people who just have a job. You have to commit a crime to get treatment." 
The problem is serious in Colorado. 
Colorado ranked second in the nation in 2001, behind New Mexico, on a substance abuse index that is based on drug- and alcohol-related deaths and arrests. The index was developed by Harvard Medical School sociology professor William McAuliffe. 
Colorado ranked at or near the bottom in spending on prevention, research and treatment, according to the National Center on Addiction and Drug Abuse at Columbia University. One state, Georgia, did not report. Of every $100 spent by Colorado on drug abuse, only six cents goes to prevention, research and treatment, said Susan Foster, the addiction center's vice president of policy and research. 
Some other prominent political families have also seen drug abuse up close. 
Noelle Bush, daughter of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, is being treated at a drug treatment clinic after allegedly trying to buy an anti-anxiety drug with a fraudulent prescription. Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson's 38-year-old daughter died in January. The Tennessean in Nashville reported Saturday that the death was the result of an accidental drug overdose. 
In Denver, Councilmen Ted Hackworth said he has "real problems" with the idea of setting up treatment centers for those who violate the law. 
"And the city is about $12 million in the hole this year," he added. "It isn't the time to start new programs." 
But Councilman Ed Thomas, a former police officer, said: "It took me 20 years to learn that enforcement wasn't the only answer. Twenty years as a cop. It's no better than it was then. If the mayor comes up with innovative approaches, I am all for it." 
AP-ES-03-13-02 1406EST

I hope this guy isn't there just for the Republican ticket; but that's the feel I get from him.

How can anyone seriously consider that Asa Hutchinson may not know about the student aid fiasco, and that he'll "look into it" let alone do something about it.

In my cynical view Gary Johnson is allowed to use the truth to keep the reformers hopeful that someday somewhere sometime a good Republican will become president and legalize pot.