Pubdate: Thu, 24 Feb 2005
Source: Orlando Sentinel (FL)
Copyright: 2005 Orlando Sentinel
Contact:  http://www.orlandosentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/325
Author: Curt Anderson, The Associated Press
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/walters.htm (Walters, John)

U.S. DRUG CSAR VISITS MIAMI TO PUSH FOR EXPANDED COURTS

MIAMI -- White House drug czar John Walters pushed Wednesday for
expansion of drug courts to keep nonviolent offenders from crowding
prisons and defended proposed Bush administration cutbacks in
politically popular anti-drug programs.

"We know that 80 percent of the drugs are consumed by 20 percent of
the high-volume users," Walters said. "We have to reduce that part of
the demand."

A cornerstone of President Bush's 2005 drug-control strategy, which
Walters revealed Wednesday in Miami, is a proposed $30.5 million
increase for drug courts. There are now more than 1,600 of these
courts in all 50 states, allowing judges to place thousands of
nonviolent drug offenders in treatment programs rather than prison.

"Drug courts work to cut down on the cycle of crime and self-
destruction," Walters said.

According to the White House, a recent study of 17,000 drug court
"graduates" found that only 16.4 percent had been arrested again
within one year on new felony charges. Miami was the site of the
nation's first drug court in 1989.

The proposal includes a total of $3.2 billion for various drug-
treatment programs, an increase of $141 million over last year.
Despite the increases envisioned in that area, the White House has
come under fire from Capitol Hill for proposing cuts in grants for
state and local governments, including those that target
high-intensity drug-trafficking areas in cities and those that help
schools provide anti-drug education.

"It is fiscally irresponsible to drastically slash funding for key
drug-prevention and public-safety initiatives that help save lives,"
said U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md. "Our states cannot shoulder the
responsibility of drug control on our own."

In the interview, Walters defended the cutbacks as necessary to help
reduce the federal budget deficit and to spend scarce dollars on areas
proved to work more effectively.

"We need to control federal spending. We need to focus on what works,
and we eliminate programs that don't work," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Derek