DOUBLE CROSSROADS FOR THE DRUG WAR

Texas, like the nation, will soon have a new drug czar. The transition
creates new opportunities for confronting an urgent public health problem.

Texas ranks low among the states in commitment to mental health
services, including treatment and prevention of addiction. And the
state's principal addiction-fighting agency, the Texas Commission on
Alcohol and Drug Abuse, has had a troubled history.

The agency's executive director, brought in 16 months ago during an
administrative crisis, leaves the job this week. Jay Kimbrough -- a
lawyer and prosecutor before leading the state Board of Private
Investigators and Private Security Agencies and then TCADA -- will
direct the Criminal Justice Division of Gov. Rick Perry's office.

The current director of the division, which administers crime-fighting
grants, is headed for Washington, D.C. Richard Nedelkoff has been
nominated by President George W. Bush as director of the Bureau of
Justice Assistance, an arm of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Nedelkoff is a former director of the Florida Network of Youth and
Family Services.

"We have made remarkable progress at TCADA over the past year and
several months, and I believe I'm leaving an agency that is very
capable of serving the needs of Texans with substance abuse problems,"
Kimbrough said in a recent news release.

Kimbrough assumed leadership of the 190-employee agency on Feb. 1,
2000, and inherited what he called "operational weaknesses that had
resulted in a $27.9 million budget shortfall." The financial crisis
led to desperation belt-tightening by treatment centers when increases
in their budgets fell through. Kimbrough contended that despite the
cuts, services at about 200 local treatment centers were maintained at
levels of the previous year.

The agency has had several administrators since the mid-1990s when the
governor and Legislature slashed its budget and transferred part of
its job to the prison system. As governor, Bush and the Legislature
gave the agency close scrutiny in a rare "receivership" crackdown.
"Serious weaknesses" in the agency's contract management were cited by
the state auditor last December. Kimbrough acknowledged that the
previous administration had been weak but that he instituted "a
culture of accountability."

Under Kimbrough's watch, the state "significantly increased"
prevention services, according to a recent federal report. In April,
the agency launched a statewide campaign against underage drinking.
Called "2young2drink," the program was funded by a $1 million grant
from the criminal justice division -- the office Kimbrough will direct.

Kimbrough served as county judge and an assistant district attorney in
Bee County, and as a lawyer in the U.S. Navy and in private practice
before coming to Austin.

The drug agency board met Wednesday with the state health and human
services director, Don Gilbert, to consider the vacancy. Annoucement
of an interim appointee may be made next week.

The office of federal drug policy director is also vacant. Bush has
nominated John Walters for the post. At both the state and national
level, the nation's drug use problem needs to be addressed more as a
health issue than as a criminal justice problem. In nominating
Walters, President Bush said he plans to attack drug demand with at
least as much vigor as drug supply. Those are sensible, heartening
words that the state should attend.