In a wide-ranging speech last night, former New York Mayor Edward I. Koch took a hard line against drug dealers and abusers, saying that substance abuse was ruining the country.

"Why are we so concerned about criminals?" Koch asked at a Law School forum. "I'd shove them in there, 60 in one square foot," he said, responding to complaints about prison overcrowding.

The remarks by Koch, who lost to current New York Mayor David N. Dinkins in the September Democratic primary, were met with a heated response from the more than 300 people gathered in Ames Courtroom.

"It's a stupid idea," said Koch of drug legalization, attributing the popularity of the idea to a sense of frustration. "They've come to the conclusion that we can't solve the problem-they're wrong."

"What do you do?" Koch asked. "Be tougher," he answered. In addition to crowding prisoners into jails, Koch's crime program included executing wholesale drug sellers, turning closed army camps into prisons and setting up drug prisons in deserts.

"Nevada, Utah--or how about Alaska?" he asked. "If they break out, where are they going to run to?"

Koch also advocated putting addicts who refuse treatment in prison. "Why should we tolerate them? They are destroying us," said Koch. "The rights of society are far more important than the rights of criminals," he said.

Koch said that drug addiciton was much more serious than alcoholism.

"You cannot take drugs without becoming addicted--you can drink liquor and not become an alcoholic." While Koch agreed with a questioner that cigarettes are as addictive as hard drugs he said, "there's one little difference. I've never heard of cigarettes casuing people to go out and commit violence."

When one audience member suggested that the violence might be caused by needing money to buy the drugs, Koch said "You don't commit murder for10 bucks, you do it because your brain is swisscheese."

Although many observers have called for themoney being spent on drug enforcement to go todrug treatment instead, Koch said that treatmentprograms were very expensive and had low successrates. One woman responded that it was cheaper totreat addicts then to house them in jails. Anangry debate followed.

"While in jail they're not commiting crimes,"said Koch. The audience member said that prisonersfrequently commit assaults in jail. Kochresponded: "They're assaulting other prisoners."And the woman retorted, "prisoners are humanbeings also" and sat down to thundering applause.

Free Speech

Using the case of Andy Rooney's suspension fromCBS for allegedly making racist and anti-gayremarks, Koch railed against the suppression ofcontroversial speech. He said that the freedom ofspeech was often extended unevenly, applying tomembers of the radical left but not to members ofthe radical right.

"Take two scum of the earth," he said."Reverend [Louis] Farrakhan and Rabbi [Meir]Kahane. Both have the right to speak. If Farrakhancame he'd be allowed to speak; if Kahane camethey'd break up the meeting," said Koch, referringrespectively to the Muslim nationalist accused ofanti-semitism and the Israeli Knesset member whohas taken strong anti-Palestinian positions.

Although Koch quoted Voltaire's famous dictum"I disagree with what you say, but I will fight tothe death for your right to say it" he put it moredirectly later. "Stupid people have the right toexpress stupid ideas," he said