Pubdate: Fri, 30 Mar 2001
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 2001 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.uniontrib.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/386
Author: Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
Note: Biden is a U.S. senator from Delaware. He wrote the law that created 
the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the office the drug czar oversees.

MAKING DRUG WAR A NATIONAL PRIORITY

More than two months into George W. Bush's presidency, there is still no 
"drug czar" nominee. The president has traveled to Mexico to meet with 
President Vicente Fox, met with President Andres Pastrana of Colombia, 
conducted high-level discussions about the role of faith-based 
organizations in drug treatment and prevention, and announced the 
administration's funding priorities for drug policy -- all without a drug 
czar in office.

Even worse, speculation is rife that this president's drug czar will not be 
given a seat in the Cabinet. In a city where symbolic actions often speak 
very loudly, the clear and troubling perception is that Bush places 
relatively little value on an issue that is critical to our nation's health.

Substance abuse is one of our nation's most pervasive problems. Addiction 
is a disease that does not discriminate on the basis of age, gender, 
socio-economic status, race or creed. Alarmingly, more than three-quarters 
of new heroin users in 1999 were between age 12 and 25. And while we tend 
to stereotype drug abuse as an urban problem, heroin and methamphetamine 
addiction appears to be growing most rapidly in rural and suburban areas.

Today, there are nearly 15 million drug users in this country, 4 million of 
whom are hard-core addicts. Almost everyone knows someone with a drug or 
alcohol abuse problem be it a family member, neighbor, colleague or friend.

And we are all affected by the undeniable correlation between substance 
abuse and crime: an overwhelming 80 percent of the 2 million men and women 
behind bars today have a history of drug and alcohol abuse or addiction or 
were arrested for a drug-related crime.

All of this comes at a hefty price. Each year drug abuse and addiction cost 
the U.S. $110 billion in law enforcement and other criminal justice 
expenses, medical bills, lost earnings and other costs. Illegal drugs are 
responsible for thousands of deaths each year and for the spread of 
communicable diseases such as AIDS and Hepatitis C.

And a study by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at 
Columbia University shows that seven out of 10 cases of child abuse and 
neglect are caused or exacerbated by substance abuse and addiction.

Thirteen years ago, I wrote the law that created the Office of National 
Drug Control Policy, the office the drug czar oversees, because I was 
convinced we needed a coordinated federal drug policy, with one person 
accountable for developing and implementing an effective national strategy.

Cabinet-level status gives the position the visibility commensurate with 
the depth of the problem, and provides our drug czar the clout to stop 
interagency feuding, fight for necessary budgetary resources, and decertify 
inadequate agency drug budgets.

To be able to decertify an agency's budget -- as General Barry McCaffrey 
did with Secretary of Defense William Cohen's proposed counter-narcotics 
budget for the Defense Department -- the drug czar must be on equal footing 
with the rest of the president's Cabinet. How can someone in a sub-Cabinet 
position pull rank on a member of the Cabinet?

Congress cannot mandate  who serves  in a president's Cabinet.  And there's 
nothing Congress  or the American people  can do if the president  doesn't 
want to make a priority  of the position of the drug czar.  But I believe 
the work  of the nation's drug czar  is of vital importance and,  with 
presidential support,  can make a profound difference  in our public health 
and safety.

After learning that the United States trade representative might be 
relegated to the sub-Cabinet, the business community successfully lobbied 
to retain Cabinet rank for that important post. Perhaps a similar push by 
parents, police officers, drug treatment providers, teachers, coaches, and 
religious leaders can succeed in ensuring cabinet rank for the individual 
in charge of our national drug policy.

The stakes are too high not to act.

Biden is a U.S. senator from Delaware. He wrote the law that created the 
Office of National Drug Control Policy, the office the drug czar oversees.
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D