DEA CHIEF LAUDS CALIFORNIA'S DRUG REHAB PLAN

WASHINGTON -- The new leader of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
said Monday that California's approach to rehabilitating drug offenders can
serve as a model for the rest of the country -- if shortcomings in the
program are fixed.

"We need to watch the California experiment. I think it's a strong
statement by the population there," DEA administrator Asa Hutchinson said
on his first official day leading the 9,200-employee federal agency.

But Hutchinson added that he wants to work with California authorities to
overcome two potential "difficulties" in Proposition 36, the novel
initiative passed by California voters in November and put into effect July
1. It makes an estimated 20,000 non-violent drug offenders per year
eligible for treatment programs instead of jail.

Hutchinson, a former Arkansas Republican congressman, said he is worried
about the lack of required drug testing of offenders, and that the state
might not have enough rehabilitation facilities.

Hutchinson also said he would seek to enforce a federal ban on medicinal
marijuana.

Although California and seven other states allow ill residents to use
marijuana for medical purposes, Hutchinson said there is little scientific
evidence to suggest there are any real benefits from the practice.

But Hutchinson left open exactly how the DEA would approach the problem.

"You're not going to tolerate a violation of the law, but at the same time
there are a lot of different relationships . . . a lot of different aspects
that we have to consider as we develop that enforcement policy," he said.

Hutchinson also voiced concerns about "mandatory minimum" sentences that
judges are required to hand down in drug cases, saying that Congress must
find a way to eliminate the racial divide between users of crack cocaine
and powder cocaine.

He also said the DEA is working to develop tougher safeguards concerning
its use of paid informants.