Pubdate: Fri, 11 May 2001 Source: St. Petersburg Times (FL) Copyright: 2001 St. Petersburg Times Contact: http://www.sptimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/419 Author: The New York Times BUSH CHOOSES WALTERS FOR DRUG CZAR WASHINGTON - President Bush on Thursday nominated as his drug czar John P. Walters, who has long argued for jail time over voluntary treatment for drug offenders, calling him the man to battle illegal drugs that rob people "of innocence and ambition and hope." Bush's choice of the conservative Walters to head the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy was criticized by groups that want to emphasize treating drug addiction rather than punishing drug offenders or cutting off the supply of narcotics. As he introduced Walters, who served as the deputy drug director under Bush's father, Bush tried to defuse criticism of his choice by declaring that the administration would emphasize treatment, including through religious organizations. He said, however, that Walters would lead "an all-out effort to reduce illegal drug use." The administration also said that Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney were the first two employees at the White House to take a drug test. But White House officials declined to say if anyone on Bush's staff had failed the mandatory test. Walters, 49, previously worked at the Department of Education, where he headed the Schools Without Drugs prevention program, and then served under William J. Bennett, who was drug czar in the administration of Bush's father. In his writings, Walters has supported tough prison sentences for violent felons, marijuana smugglers and repeat offenders, though he expressed a more lenient attitude toward first-time drug users. In an article published in March in the Weekly Standard, a magazine with conservative leanings, he denounced the "therapy-only lobby" in Washington and declared that prison sentences, combined with therapy, were a key element to reducing drug use. Walters served as acting drug policy director briefly in 1993. He quit in protest when President Bill Clinton sharply reduced the office's staff and announced that he was redirecting anti-narcotics policy to focus on hard-core users, while deemphasizing enforcement and interdiction. Walters has no shortage of critics. "Anybody can give lip service to drug prevention and addiction," said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation, a New York organization that advocates a focus on therapy instead of punishment. "But listen to him and he stands out as a bellicose drug warrior." Nadelmann said that get-tough approaches have "left illicit drugs cheaper, purer and more available than ever". Among Walters' defenders is Tommy G. Thompson, the secretary of health and human services, who as Wisconsin governor pressed for more money to treat addiction rather than to build jails. He said Walters was "much more balanced" in his approach to the drug problem than his critics acknowledged. If confirmed by the Senate, Walters would succeed Barry R. McCaffrey, who sought to reduce confrontations with drug-exporting countries in Latin America and promoted an advertising campaign to convince adolescents that drugs could ruin lives. - --- MAP posted-by: Andrew