Pubdate: Tue, 29 May 2001
Source: Albany Times Union (NY)
Copyright: 2001 Capital Newspapers Division of The Hearst Corporation, Albany,
Contact:  http://www.timesunion.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/8

...AND FIGHT DRUGS

President Bush's newly named drug czar seems to be operating on a different 
page

Despite his enlightened approach to fighting drugs in the United States and 
South America, President Bush has nominated a drug czar who seems the least 
likely to try out new ideas. That is cause enough for concern.

As the leader in the war on drugs, John P. Walters will have control over a 
$19 billion budget -- money that could be used to further military actions 
at the very time Mr. Bush is urging more emphasis on treatment for addicts 
and economic incentives for growers to switch to other crops.

There is no mistaking where Mr. Walters, who served under former drug czars 
William Bennett and Bob Martinez, stands in the drug war. He's in the front 
lines, calling for an all out offensive on traffickers. Nor does he hold 
much sympathy for drug users, or government programs aimed at treatment 
rather than incarceration.

Mr. Walters, who has labeled drug treatment programs as a favorite of 
liberals seeking to create a "therapeutic state,'' holds views that run 
counter to most thinking on drug addiction today. His predecessor under the 
Democrats, Gen. Barry McCaffrey, is among the critics of harsh prison 
terms, including New York state's draconian Rockefeller drug laws, which 
were once thought to be the answer to all drug crime. Gov. Pataki, a 
Republican, agrees on the need for reform. So does Mr. Bush himself, who 
has publicly questioned whether long mandatory minimum prison sentences are 
"the best way to to occupy jail space.'' Instead, Mr. Bush urges more drug 
treatment programs and a greater emphasis on reducing demand.

Mr. Bush's plans for the drug war amount to a significant, and welcome, 
shift in priorities. Instead of concentrating solely on enforcement, Mr. 
Bush is also working to inventory the status of drug treatment programs in 
the United States, with an eye toward closing gaps in care. And he has an 
innovative idea for a parent drug corps that will work to prevent drug 
abuse at home. He rightly emphasizes more treatment for addicts in prison, 
and an expanding role for drug courts that can order treatment as an 
alternative to jail.

Because he reports to Mr. Bush, Mr. Walters will be expected to carry out 
this agenda, and he might do just that. In that sense, there might be less 
cause for worry that Mr. Walters will turn back the clock and reduce the 
drug war to nothing more than enforcement and incarceration. But there was 
nothing in Mr. Bush's remarks welcoming Mr. Walters to his team that would 
indicate the new drug czar will be held accountable for following the 
letter, and spirit, of the new strategy. Mr. Bush needs to do so quickly, 
and in public.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens