Pubdate: Fri, 11 May 2001 Source: Guardian, The (UK) Copyright: 2001 Guardian Newspapers Limited Contact: http://www.newsunlimited.co.uk/guardian/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/175 Author: Julian Borger, in Washington HARDLINE DRUG CZAR APPOINTED BY BUSH President George Bush tried to reinvigorate America's controversial war on drugs' yesterday by appointing a hardliner to the position of drug czar', defying critics' claims that imprisonment and military action are failing to stop the spread of narcotics. The new drug czar, John Walters, was the deputy head of drug policy in George Bush Sr's administration, and has long been a firm advocate of mandatory prison sentences for drug users. Acceptance of drug use is simply not an option for this administration,' the president said during the announcement of Mr Walters' nomination. John Walters and I believe the only humane and compassionate response to drug use is a moral refusal to accept it. We emphatically disagree with those who favour drug legalisation.' Mr Walters will oversee a budget of Dollars 19bn ( pounds 13.4bn) for programmes ranging from coca crop eradication in Colombia to public information broadcasts warning of the dangers of drug use. His nomination, subject to congressional approval, comes at a time of growing criticism of orthodox drug policy. The zero-tolerance' approach has been largely responsible for the US prison population increasing by 70% during the past decade, to nearly 2m, more than a quarter of whom are in jail for drug charges. The average federal sentence for a drug offence in 1997 was 78 months, more than twice the average sentence for manslaughter. The issue is also racially charged; analyses of sentences around the country showed that 54% of black defendants convicted for drug offences were sent to prison, compared to 34% of white defendants. Before his nomination, Mr Walters ridiculed as urban myths' concerns that drug sentences were too harsh and too targeted on blacks. And in a March article in the conservative Weekly Standard magazine, he argued that coerced drug treatment works at least as well as voluntary treatment'. If it weren't for the ideology associated with treatment - addiction is a disease, not a pattern of behaviour for which people can be held responsible - law enforcement and punishment would be natural partners of the treatment providers.' The drug czar nominee is also a firm supporter of the US-funded, mainly military campaign against the cocaine trade in Colombia, and the policy of shooting down suspected drug traffickers' planes - a policy which led to the killing of a US missionary and her daughter last month. Mr Walters' nomination has predictably caused concern among some observers. Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of The Lindesmith Centre drug policy foundation, said yesterday: Walters stands for the proposition that drug policy has nothing to do with facts, science or public health It's all about punishment to him.' - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D