WASHINGTON - President Bush, if the reports are to be believed, has settled on John P. Walters to replace Gen. Barry McCaffrey as head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

At one level, the nomination would be no surprise. It fits the pattern that has the president turning to retreads from his father's administration to fill key positions. Walters was deputy to drug "czar" William Bennett under the previous Bush administration.

At another level, though, it is a peculiar choice. Walters, almost alone among those who've spent serious professional time and attention on drug abuse in America, harbors not the slightest misgiving over the fact that we've been crowding our prisons almost to the bursting point with nonviolent drug offenders.

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