Pubdate: Wed, 13 Feb 2002
Source: The Dominion Post (WV)
Copyright: 2002 The Dominion Post
Contact:  http://www.dominionpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1426
Author: Associated Press

WHITE HOUSE SEEKS DRUG USAGE DECREASE

President Bush Holds Up A Report That Outlines His New Battle Plan In The 
War Against Drugs During A Speech In The East Room At The White House In 
Washington On Tuesday.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush set a goal Tuesday of cutting drug abuse by 25 
percent in five years through greater efforts toward prevention, treatment 
of addicts and improved law enforcement.

Bush announced his administration's drug-fighting strategy, which also 
seeks a 10 percent drop in illegal drug use in two years.

"We've got a problem in this country: Too many people use drugs," he said. 
"This is an individual tragedy, and as a result it is a social crisis."

The administration says Bush's budget proposal for next year, announced 
last week, would spend 6 percent more for treatment and 10 percent more for 
drug interdiction. Overall, $19.2 billion would be spent on fighting drugs, 
which would be a 2 percent increase over the current budget.

Bush said some of the most important anti-drug work will have to come not 
from the federal government, but from communities, religious groups and 
families.

He called for "armies of compassion," directed through religious 
institutions, to send the message that "We love you. We love you so much 
we're going to convince you not to use drugs in the future."

"There is a moral reason for this fight," Bush said to lawmakers, 
ambassadors and anti-drug officials in the East Room of the White House. 
"Drugs rob men and women and children of their dignity and their character. 
Illegal drugs are the enemies of ambition and hope."

While the anti-drug strategy includes some new programs, including a $5 
million Parents Drug Corps, and much of it emphasizes a need to make 
existing programs more effective.

Among the priorities are identifying people who need treatment but are 
unlikely to seek it, such as the homeless; helping recovering addicts stay 
clean; and doing more to disrupt drug traffickers' financial and 
distribution networks.

White House drug policy director John Walters said it also is important to 
change public attitudes.

"We have to undermine the cynicism that people are always going to use 
drugs at roughly the same amount that they're using now. That's not true. 
And my goal is to demonstrate that's not true," he said in an interview.

The report comes two months after Walters was confirmed for the 
Cabinet-level post over the objections of some top Democrats. A protege of 
former drug policy director William Bennett, Walters was seen as being more 
focused on punishing traffickers and fighting drugs abroad than in helping 
drug users through treatment programs.

One Democrat who opposed Walters, Senate Judiciary Committee chairman 
Patrick Leahy, said he welcomed Bush's call for a "balanced approach."
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