ANTI-DRUG CHIEF STIRS DEBATE

Treatment Advocates Fear Bush Nominee Backs Stricter Enforcement

The nomination of John P. Walters to head the Office of National Drug
Control Policy, which comes before the Senate Judiciary Committee today,
has rekindled an intense debate over the future of the nation's drug policy.

Dozens of organizations -- from the American Civil Liberties Union to the
African-American Republican Leadership Council -- are watching Walters's
confirmation process for signs of how he will craft drug policy and whether
he will address some of the failings of the drug war.

"We are agnostic on his confirmation," said J. Bradley Jansen, deputy
director of the Free Congress Foundation's Center for Technology Policy, a
conservative think tank. "But what we are saying is that if we are going to
conduct a drug war . . . we need to be more respectful of privacy and civil
liberties."

Ronald E. Hampton, executive director of the National Black Police
Association, said he hopes to see more money spent on drug treatment,
particularly in poor and minority communities.

"This heavy-handed law enforcement approach hasn't worked," Hampton said.
"We need to invest more in treatment and treatment on demand."

Walters was nominated in May by President Bush to take over the office
formerly headed by retired Army Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, who resigned in
January when Bush took office. Edward H. Jurith, general counsel under
McCaffrey, is the acting director.

Walters is no stranger to the drug policy office. He was its deputy
director under Bush's father, has written extensively about drug policy and
has developed anti-drug programs. He is currently president of the
Philanthropy Roundtable, a national association of charitable organizations.

In recent years, a growing number of states has begun shifting the emphasis
of drug policies for nonviolent offenders away from harsh sentences and
toward more treatment. Many states have established drug courts, which
offer some offenders treatment under the threat of incarceration if they
commit repeat offenses.

Bush has promised increased drug treatment after a review of the best ways
to provide it is completed.

Liberal organizations have criticized Walters for being too oriented toward
enforcement at the expense of treatment and education.

"I'd like to see a lot more treatment," said Eric E. Sterling, president of
the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, a liberal, Washington-based think
tank that focuses on drug policy and policing. "I think a drug addict ought
to be able to get drug treatment as easily as you can hail a taxi or order
a pizza. It's an extremely efficient way to spend anti-drug dollars."

Sterling, former counsel to the House Judiciary Committee, said that under
the Bush administration, drug policy could likely include redoubling
criminal justice and interdiction efforts by enlarging the Drug Enforcement
Administration, increasing the Coast Guard's capacity and developing new
surveillance technologies.

"It's not a good thing because it's the most expensive and least effective
way of affecting the drug marketplace in the United States," Sterling said.
"I think that the biggest impact in this whole market would be to
dramatically increase the availability of drug treatment."

Richard M. Romley, an Arizona attorney and a finalist for national drug
policy director, said he believes the office needs to be reorganized if the
Bush administration wants to begin fighting drugs successfully. The White
House office should be expanded to include five regions because "not all
parts of the country have to deal with the issues that states bordering
Mexico must," Romley said.

In his job interview with the White House, Romley said he stressed
prevention and treatment and a continued development of demand reduction
programs, such as drug courts.

"I think there needs to be a fundamental shift," Romley said. "We have to
change our culture."

Hampton, a former D.C. police officer, said he's not optimistic that the
Bush administration's drug policy will address treatment. "Bush comes from
a tough-on-crime, lock-'em-up and throw-away-the-key mentality," Hampton
said. "Until we deal with the issues of why people take drugs . . . then we
haven't dealt with the problem."

But Jansen predicted that a successful policy could be developed if Walters
"looks to the Republican leadership."

"There are people who are knowledgeable and concerned . . . and can offer
constructive advice," Jansen said.