[420 Girl]

Grinnell, Ia. - America needs to reconsider its punitive approach to "the so-called war on drugs," presidential candidate John Edwards said here today.

"We're not going to build enough prisons to solve this problem," he told a crowd of about 800 at Grinnell College.

The former North Carolina senator grinned when a young man sitting behind him on stage asked about drug policy. "Only on college campuses," Edwards joked before answering.

He said he's especially concerned about mandatory minimum sentences for first-time drug offenders, which he said should be reconsidered. He added that too few drug offenders get treatment.

"You go to jail, you come out of jail, and a lot of people go right back to the environment that got them in trouble to begin with," he said. "...We need to get them the help that they need; if they need education, if they need job training, if they need drug rehabilitation."

He also said he favored drug courts, in which non-violent offenders often are given alternatives to prison. And he said he would beef up the probation system, so probation officers aren't each expected to oversee hundreds of cases.

The original questions came from Gerad Ryan, a 21-year-old Grinnell College junior from Long Island, N.Y.

Afterward, Ryan acknowledged that it's politically risky for any presidential candidate to criticize America's drug policy. He said he generally was pleased with Edwards' response, though he said it was a bit vague in spots. Ryan, who said he might take part in the Iowa caucuses, said marijuana should be legalized. "I think it's ridiculous that nature is illegal," he said.

The exchange came during a rally kicked off by prominent singers Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne, who were accompanying Edwards on a two-day campaign swing through Iowa.

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