Pubdate: Thu, 08 Mar 2001
Source: Washington Times (DC)
Copyright: 2001 News World Communications, Inc.
Contact:  202-832-8285
Website: http://www.washtimes.com/
Author: Don Feder

DRUG WAR NEGLECTED

Almost seven weeks into his administration, President George Bush has yet 
to appoint a drug czar. For a nation in which addiction has become a 
chronic problem and drugs take a devastating toll, that does not inspire 
confidence.

There are three names on the short list for director of the Office of 
National Drug Control Policy - former Rep. Bill McCollum, Florida 
Republican, Florida drug czar James McDonough and Maricopa County, Ariz., 
Prosecutor Rick Romley.

Robert B. Charles, former chief of staff to the House Speaker's Task Force 
on Drugs, believes Mr. McCollum is the ideal candidate. Mr. Charles told 
me: "McCollum was a congressional leader on drugs. He pioneered legislation 
on drug-free workplaces. He worked closely with local activists and 
professionals in the areas of prevention, treatment and enforcement. And he 
has the stature to command instant attention."

The White House is divided between those who know the issue and are deeply 
concerned, and those who view it as just another thing to be handled. The 
latter favor dropping the drug policy director from the Cabinet. They don't 
seem to understand that while the public may not particularly care if the 
trade rep has Cabinet rank, it firmly believes the leader of our national 
anti-drug effort should.

During the campaign, Mr. Bush addressed the issue only once. "From 1979 to 
1992, our nation confronted drug abuse successfully," Mr. Bush reminded us. 
"It was one of the best public-policy successes of the 1980s."

He did not exaggerate. In those years, high-school seniors who were current 
drug users dropped from 38.9 percent to 14.4 percent. Under Mr. Clinton, 
the drug culture rebounded. Last year, 25.1 percent of seniors used drugs 
in the past 30 days.

Drug-related emergency-room admissions are at a historic high - more than 
555,000 in 1999. Illegal drugs cost America $300 billion annually in 
health-care expenditures, crime and lost productivity. The human cost is 
incalculable.

Does the president understand that the success of the 1980s was due to 
tough law enforcement as well as effective education? At times, it seems 
Mr. Bush believes if he throws enough money at faith-based charities that 
work with addicts, the problem would disappear. (Unless he can give those 
charities guns and the addresses of dealers, too, that won't happen.)

In the meantime, a decade of neglect has taken its toll. Eight states and 
the District of Columbia have passed medicinal pot measures, a significant 
step toward legalization. Billionaries like George Soros have poured 
millions into these initiatives, with no one except mom-and-pop anti-drug 
groups to oppose them.

Hollywood has rejoined the ranks of pushers. "American Beauty," winner of 
five Oscars last year, romanticized drug use. "Traffic," a best-picture 
nominee this year, is meant to show the futility of the law-enforcement 
approach to drugs.

Robert Downey Jr. was the cover boy in a recent issue of Newsweek that 
argued the drug war is a failure and addicts should be treated, not 
imprisoned. But Mr. Downey only seeks treatment when he's in criminal court.

Wanted: a drug czar like William J. Bennett - who will bang the bully 
pulpit till the wood splits, confront the drug lobby in the ballot arena, 
and not neglect supply reduction and punishment.

As Mr. Bennett pointed out in an article in the Feb. 18 edition of The 
Washington Post, treatment (which drug defeatists would substitute for 
everything else) has a modest success rate.

Only half who begin treatment programs complete them, and 25 percent of 
those relapse within five years. Thus, just 38 percent who enter rehab are 
cured. Besides, many addicts would never get treatment without a prison 
sentence hanging over their heads. Limiting supply, trough interdiction and 
the incarceration of dealers, is far more effective.

The key to success is a coordinated approach - reduce supplies, limit 
sources and make punishment so severe it deters casual users, from whose 
ranks hard-core addicts come. Combine this with treatment and education.

Drugs claimed the lives 15,973 kids in 1998. Mr. Bush says he wants to cut 
taxes because he cares about families. But no one's teen-ager ever 
overdosed on marginal tax rates.
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