ASA HUTCHINSON GEARS FOR HEARING ON DEA JOB

WASHINGTON -- At least one drug-policy group is complaining that it has
been left out of today's hearing on Arkansas' U.S. Rep. Asa Hutchinson's
appointment to head the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Hutchinson will go before the Senate Judiciary Committee for what is
expected to be a friendly confirmation hearing this morning. Committee
members have told him they expect a full Senate vote before Congress'
annual August recess.

If confirmed, Hutchinson will command an agency with a budget of $1.5
billion and 9,100 employees operating in 56 countries.

The third-term, 50-year-old Republican House member has been studying for
the hearing -- going over policy issues -- like a college student would
prepare for a final exam. "It helps to review your own voting record," he
said. "It's amazing what you can learn."

Hutchinson's brother, U.S. Sen. Tim Hutchinson, will join U.S. Sen. Blanche
Lincoln, both of Arkansas, in introducing Asa Hutchinson and offering their
endorsements.

The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws will not. It
questions whether Hutchinson is right for the job, but spokesman Nicholas
Thimmesch said the organization and groups like it have been shut out of
the hearing, signaling that Asa Hutchinson's confirmation is all but assured.

"It's such a done deal," he said.

A spokesman for the Judiciary Committee could not be reached.

Since President Bush announced Asa Hutchinson's appointment on May 9, the
congressman has been undergoing a Justice Department background check and
making courtesy calls to committee members to hear their concerns about the
DEA.

As for any concern about him, he said, "Nobody has signaled to me that they
had any [problems]."

Instead, he said, senators have been asking him about the DEA budget and
the amount that goes federally to reducing drug supply versus reducing drug
demand, as well as drug issues in their own states, ranging from heroin to
methamphetamine.

All that is expected to come up today, as well as such controversial topics
as medical use of marijuana.

Although Asa Hutchinson will not control the nation's drug laws and policy,
he will be able to shape them through future congressional testimony and
the bully pulpit he will have as head of DEA.

The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, however, is
concerned that Judiciary Committee members will not be hearing the whole
story today. The organization distributed a 2-inch thick briefing book on
Asa Hutchinson's record on drug issues as a congressman and former
prosecutor, seeking to portray him as a "hard-liner."

Thimmesch said the marijuana-reform law organization is concerned that Asa
Hutchinson will continue DEA policies of interfering with
medicinal-marijuana programs.

Thimmesch referred in particular to DEA arrests of people in California who
have tried to grow and distribute marijuana for medicinal uses. California,
which legalized marijuana for medical uses in 1996, has "cannabis clubs"
where patients can receive marijuana for medicinal use in exchange for a
donation. Such clubs have been raided by DEA agents.

"It's the federal government that is shutting things down," Thimmesch said.

Asa Hutchinson said he would reserve his views on medical uses of marijuana
and other controversial topics for the hearing.

Another group, the Drug Policy Foundation, said it considers Asa Hutchinson
fairly progressive.

"In terms of nomination for the DEA, he's pretty good," said Bill Piper of
the Drug Policy Foundation, a research and advocacy group. Piper noted, in
particular, that Asa Hutchinson has expressed interest in reform of
mandatory-minimum sentencing laws.

Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is expected to call a special election for the
3rd Congressional District once Asa Hutchinson is confirmed.

From 1981-85, Asa Hutchinson was federal prosecutor for western Arkansas.

About his expected return to law enforcement, Asa Hutchinson said, "I am
just really grateful for the opportunity."