made towards
then)*
A-When I first came into
office, I realized that the
Attorney General’s office
ould probably do more to
The Chronlcle-Satnrday September 23, 1978 -Page 5
Edmisten-We don^t Have Time To Cut Ribbons
gafns Edmlsten, Attorney have approximately 50 drug Bakke case handed down
General of North Carolina, agents in the state of North by the Supreme Court. They
participated in a Chronicle Carolina now and I need do not discriminate against
Qnestions and Answers in- 150. We don’t even scratch anyone.
(ervlew with members of the surface on drug deal-
die news staC in his Ra- ing. PCP, and I didn’t say
leigh office on September pcB, laboratories are ram-
14. Following are excerpts pant. Heroin traffic is ram-
of that interview. pant. We can’t even keep
up with the offers to sell
Q-Briefiy outline yonr goals hard drugs to us. I need
and what progress you’ve more help in that area,
achieving desperately. It’s part of our
priority assessment.
Another thing we did was
to establish an Attorney
General’s Committee on
Public Drunkeness.
They are simply saying at
the UNC law school that we
are going to encourage
women and minorities to
enter law school and we’ll
take affirmative steps to
see that they do so.
Q-Could you give us some
insight as to how the PCB
investigation actually pro
gressed?
, , For years, we’ve been
dp people than any other
having the disease of alco
holism. That new law be
comes effective October 1.
It says this: if you are
simply an alcoholic, then
you haven’t committed a
crime. It was along the
lines of my statement about
priorities that this came
about.
I kept saying, ‘Look, why
do you put people in jail for
having an illness?’ Why
use law enforcement’s very
scarce time to convict
am a fanatic about people of being sick? Now
ious crime-murders, what we do is this: if you’re
■apists, robbers, those who alcoholic and you’re not *ousands of gallons of
leal in hard drugs. One bothering anybody we ei- materials sitting
hing we set out to do is to ther leave you alone or
ay look we’re going to ^ake you get treatment,
ihange our priorities. One A„otber area was in con-
ixample of the change in ju^gr protection. I’m a
inorities was to recom- fierce advocate of consumer done with it, what’s going
lend to the General As- protection because I believe t° be done with it.
embly that they ease the ^fiat anyone who has to
regarding pot resort to deceptive adverti-
ing, to cheating, other
methods, does not really
believe in the free enter
prise system. As a result,
we have one of the stron-
iffice because we don’t
lave time to cut ribbons
iround here.
I don’t have time to do all
he ceremonial things be-
lause this office, under the
lonstitution and the statu
es of this state, has more
lower than any other state
iffice, because we can
nake things happen.
The number one aim I
lad was to concentrate on
erious crime-to cut out
te foolishness.
A-This was one of the most
marvelous investigations
that has ever been conduct
ed by the SBI.
It involved several hun
dred people, it involved
several states and it was a
classic detective story. We
were able to pinpoint the
persons we’ve indicted in
New York because of some
secrets I can’t tell because
these people are up for
trial. They’ve got a right to
a fair trial.
The significant thing
about the PCP matter is
that we’ve discovered that
the storage of toxic chemi
cals is extremely danger
ous. In this state, there are
around in various ware
houses. There is no state
inventory whatsoever of
what we have, what’s being
arsh law
moking.
Now, I do not favor the
ecriminalization of mari-
lana. I think that would
lad to an acceptance of the
rug cult that we have in ggst consumer protection
lis country. Everybody’s laws in America,
ught daily through televi- Now, before you can
lon, radio and newspapers come into this state and say
lat take a pill for this, take you can make a million
pill for that, get one to go
), get one to go down’.
recommended to the
eneral Assembly that they
It take kids and place
em in jail with rapists and
urderers and robbers,
here they would be taught
|tobe criminals. As a result
e General Assembly
ssed a law saying that
iple possession of an
nice or less would not be a
il offense. We now can
le persons for that.
In doing that, we said
e re going to concentrate
in those who deal in more
■ious matters. I believe
lat anyone who deals in
igs is a distributor and
Duld be given a minimum
fence upon the second
viction. No probation,
parole, no nothing,
lat's a change of priori-
s. That’s one thing I said
'ould do. We’ve done it.
We set up a very, very
tent drug squad. We
The Habit of Study
bucks overnight, you have
to file with the secretary of
state, you have to show
your assets, you have to put
a bond up. We have almost
stopped those kind of com
panies from coming in.
We have filed more suits
since the time I’ve been
here than in the entire
history of the attorney
general’s office in consum
er protection. We average a
suit a month.
Q-What’s the status of the
so-called “reverse discri
mination’’ law suit against
the UNC law school and
what position is your office
going to take on it?
A-We are defending the
University of North Caro
lina law school because we
say they have a reasonable
admissions program. That
they do have an affirmative
action program, but that
As a result, I am going to
propose that an inventory
be done of all the toxic
materials we have and that
those be classified as to
their dangerousness and
that anyone who improper
ly disposes of any toxic
materials be guilty of a
felony. It is not a felony
now.
Q-What’s the maximum
penalty they could get?
A-The full penalty could be
up to 40 years for - each
individual with all the
charges that have been
filed against them. Pius the
federal government has
charges filed against them.
Q-Youjust spoke of defend
ing UNC’s affirmative act
ion plan, What about
yours?
A-Thank you for asking. I
lead the state. When I first
became attorney general,
there was one female attor
ney. There are now 21
female attorneys. There
were two female SBI
agents. There are now 23.
On minorities, I think we
still lead the state propor
tionately in hiring women
and minorities.
1 don’t believe in quota
affirmative action program systems. I think that’s a put
is perfectly in line with the down on women and mine
By Naomi C. McLean
Business Writer
here are many young
'Pls who are eager to
who love to study,
“ feel instinctively the
of what they are
'ning. Such young
For every effect there must
be a cause, and for every
act there must be a motive.
If there is no motive, there
will be no act. Unless the
student himself or the
Pfe will learn in spite of teacher or some other factor
Whing
let’s face it: A num-
^oalthy boys and girls,
” though they are in
or collre, would
do almost anything
than study.
in the student’s environ
ment provides a motive - a
compelling urge - many
students will study just as
little as possible.
From the doctrine of
, j- individual differences, we
^ business of inculca- learn that there is no single
; abits of study is the motive that may be relied
problem in teaching, on to actuate the formation
of study habits on the part
of all students. Somewhere
in every individual, how
ever, there is a mainspring
which, if the teacher can
find it and set it in motion,
will set the study habit
going.
It is true, working with
the individual takes time,
patience, and experience
with human nature; but it is
that kind of teaching which
can be made to mean much
to the listless and unin
terested student and get
him out of the rut.
Rufus Edmisten
rities. However, it is a
credit to an agency that wili
take affirmative steps to
hire people based on their
qualifications who happen
to be women, who happen
to be minorities.
Q-Do yoa have any minori
ties as high as assistant
attorney general?
A-Yes, in the SBI, Ray
Eastman is supervisor of
the arson squad for eastern
North Carolina. On my
legal staff, there is Nonnie
Midgette, who is assistant
attorney general for the
Department of Administra
tion.
Q-Is that the first time, a
black has been assistant
attorney general?
A-Yes. Gloria Slade, a
black female, is assistant
director of the legal depart
ment of the Justice Acade
my.
Q-What is the extent of the
dmg problem?
A-Mammoth, unbelievable.
It’s the essence of organi
zed crime. One trial now in
Goldsboro are 17 people
indicted by a Wayne Coun
ty grand jury as a result of
years of work by this office.
“Ike” Atkinson and other
individuals are on trial for a
massive conspiracy to im
port, possess and sell hero
in. Mr. John McConnell, a
local Raleigh attorney,
plead guilty two days ago to
one count of accessory after
the fact of possession and
sale of heroin.
That trial will take
months and I would say is
the most critical trial today
in America regarding the
drug traffic. I will say no
more.
Q. Is there any Mafia
influence in North Caro
lina?
A-I can’t answer that.
Q-What would you say is
the greatest consumer rip-
off?
A-Auto repairs. We have
more complaints on that
than any one thing. Some
times as many as one
hundered a week. It’s just a
simple fact: a car, next to a
person’s home is their most
important possession.
It’s the most perplexing
problem 1 know. I favor this
and will propose it: that any
automobiie repair dealer
must give a person a
signed statement regarding
the repairs they will do and
if they change, they must
call and get the permission
of that individual or the
individual will not be re
sponsible for the repairs.
The problem is this. You
take a car in and you say 1
want something done to fix
my carburetor. You go back
at the end of the day and
they’ve done $300 worth on
everything you can think of
and the consumer had no
idea they were going to do
that.
Now the car industry will
fight this very much, but I
think it’s just basic fair
ness.
Q-Why did you decide not
to run against Sen. Helms?
A-Because I loved the job I
was doing. I’d iove to go to
the Senate. I make no
bones about that. I’m sort
of a creature of the Senate.
I know how it works. Spent
10 years there. I just didn’t
want to now.
Q-How accessible Is the
consumer protection divi
sion?
A-All they have to do is call
or write. We had a toll-free
line. The General Assembly
saw fit to take that away. 1
don’t understand that. We
receive about 500 com
plaints a week. Most of
them we resolve short of
having to go to court. A
good many complaints are
misunderstandings be
tween the consumer and
the business community.
We act as arbitrators, me
diators.
We are more concerned
with fly-by-night operators.
We’ve always got some
body trying to sell some
kind of junk to somebody.
The incredible thing about it
■is that the public is so
gullible. Ther© is no such
thingas a fast buck, there is
no freebie in this world, I
keep telling people that;
they fall for it everyday.
The trouble with most
people is that they won’t
ask a question before they
get into something. All
they have to do is call us and
say hey, what about this
company, should we do
business with them.
If there was one thing I
could do, it would be to
inculcate in individual citi
zens that there is no dis
grace in asking before they
take a big step in spending
their money. But they
won’t do it. It’s not con
fined to ignorant people. I
know more doctors and
lawyers that get horn-
swoggled in these get rich
schemes like the Pinehurst
Mortgage and Loan be
cause it said they’d get 9
and Vt per cent interest.
Nobody pays 9 and % per
cent interest. If they did,
the banks would do it. But
here went thousands of
people investing in Pine-
h;irsf Mortgage and Loan
Company and now they’re
going to get back 10 cents
on the dollar because it was
a swindle.
Q-What do yon plan to do In
1980?
AProbably run for attorney
general again. I’d rather be
attorney general than
governor.
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