Pubdate: Thu, 26 Apr 2001
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2001 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248

REPORT: BUSH PICKS DRUG CZAR

NEW YORK--President Bush has picked John P. Walters, a top anti-drug 
official during his father's administration, to be the nation's next 
drug czar, The New York Times reported Thursday.

A public announcement of Walters' nomination is imminent, the Times 
reported, citing Bush administration officials. If confirmed by the 
Senate, Walters would succeed Barry McCaffrey.

Walters declined to comment on his pending nomination, the Times said.

Walters, 49, was the top deputy to William J. Bennett, the elder 
Bush's drug czar. He was the acting drug czar briefly in 1993, but he 
quit in protest when President Clinton cut his staff to 25 from 146 
and announced he would reorient anti-narcotics policy, de-emphasizing 
law enforcement and interdiction.

Walters favors severe prison sentences for violent felons, marijuana 
smugglers and repeat offenders, but he views first-time drug users 
more leniently. He criticized a recommendation by the U.S. Sentencing 
Commission in 1995 to reduce sentences for dealers of crack cocaine 
significantly.

A Michigan native, Walters is president of the Philanthropy 
Roundtable, a conservative association that advises more than 600 
donors to charity. Before that, he was president of the New 
Citizenship Project, which promoted increasing the role of religion 
in public life.

As the new chief at the White House Office of National Drug Control 
Policy, Walters would oversee a staff of more than 150. The Times 
reported that Bush has not decided whether to make the drug czar a 
cabinet-level appointment, a status McCaffrey was given.
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MAP posted-by: Josh Sutcliffe