NEW DRUG CZAR'S MISSION

President Bush nominated John P. Walters last week to be America's drug
czar. That job has never been harder. But Mr. Walter's opportunity to shine
as a consensus-builder and font of ideas has never been greater. Key to the
new drug czar's success will be presidential support, handling seven
pressures deftly, and embracing 10 promising ideas.

First, the drug war is entirely winnable, if we mean reducing dramatically
the number of teens using drugs and markedly reducing drug imports from
abroad. In nominating Mr. Walters last Thursday, the president delivered a
passionate argument for prevention, treatment and law enforcement that was
at once deep and unexpectedly encouraging. That said, there are seven
specific pressures that loom large for the new drug czar, and did not a
decade ago.

The well-funded drug legalization movement is one. Today, millions of
dollars are spent trying to deceive voters about the impact of pouring
drugs into society through medicalization, decriminalization and so-called
harm reduction all code words for legalization. False representations about
the alleged harmlessness of illegal drugs hope to seduce teens into use and
lull overworked parents into indifference. This clever marketing campaign
aims to induce hopelessness, follow it up sharply with referenda around the
nation legalizing drugs, and hope for policy paralysis. Mr. Walters must
call a spade a spade; legalization by any name means increased
availability. As President Bush and Mr. Walters acknowledged last week,
more drugs means more use. More use means more overdoses, accidents, brain
damage, addiction, and suffering across families, society and for
unexpectedly addicted teens. Case closed.

Pressure two is Congress. The 1998 Drug Czar Reauthorization Act is
unforgiving. It quietly revolutionized the Drug Czar office, imposing
weighty obligations upon the holder of the post. Like the tide rolling in
under an unsuspecting dory, the drug czar suddenly got major new authority
to coordinate federal anti-drug programs. But in exchange for these new
powers, he was left unprotected from the stormy scrutiny of Congress.
President Bush prudently maintained Cabinet status for the drug czar, but
he must continue to demonstrate the kind of vocal support he did last week,
or the post will fast become irrelevant, except as a habitual object of
congressional scorn.

Third, interagency pressure will be enormous. Mr. Walters has arrived in
the middle of the budget cycle, just in time to collect arrows fired from
every agency and direction. Only as an exceptional listener,
master-synthesizer of common concerns, educator and balanced advocate of
demand, supply and out-of-the-box ideas can he succeed in building an
interagency consensus.

Fourth, fifth and sixth, the drug czar must tackle an unprecedented lack of
information among teens and parents; unparalleled purity levels and new
drug types; and trafficking cartels more ruthless and closer to dominating
hometown U.S.A. than ever.

Seventh, Mr. Walters must confront boldly the false impression that a drug
war has been waged and failed. The officeholder must say clearly that
coordinated, fully-funded, nonpartisan drug policy works. History tells us
this in flashing neon.

Effective and properly funded efforts triumphed between 1979 and 1991. Only
since then have we experienced slippage. From 1986 to 1991, America
witnessed a 72 percent drop in cocaine use and a two-thirds decline in
marijuana use. So, be clear it can be done.

We must learn from those days, but not expect old solutions to work in a
more endangered culture. To win now, we need new ideas. Here are 10. Be
honest about so-called "drug budget scoring." We claim far too much of the
federal budget as "anti-drug money," including programs like Americorps and
others that should rightly to be called what they are, not dubbed
"anti-drug" to avoid an appropriator's knife.

Second, use the Internet proactively in schools to create interactive
educational media that grabs kids. Take a page from increasingly successful
efforts by pioneers as The Partnership for a Drug Free America,
StepOnLine.com, and WILL Interactive, people reaching out to teens and
parents in a whole new way.

Third, rediscover successful drug treatment. John Walters has demonstrated
support for nonviolent offender drug treatment paired with accountable drug
testing, so-called "drug courts." They work, and so does accountable,
faith-based treatment.

Fourth, shout loudly a core fact prevention works. Properly funded
prevention, such as that offered by the Partnership's head-turning ads or
D.A.R.E America's new curriculum under tutelage of the Robert Woods Johnson
Foundation, leaves a lasting impression; when deepened by successive
contacts, prevention is a slam dunk. We don't stop teaching first grade
once five classes are through, so don't sunset effective prevention
efforts. Kids who know the facts about drugs don't use them.

Fifth, stop methamphetamines by treating California as a virtual source
country. California's "super-labs" create 300 times the amount of meth per
lab as those found anywhere else in America and account for 80 percent of
the meth consumed in the U.S. We need to dedicate sufficient federal
resources to stop this bilge.

Sixth, think "out of the box" by spurring community and state anti-drug
coordination. A model that works well is the National Alliance for Model
State Drug Laws, a nonprofit funded by Congress and the Office of National
Drug Control Policy that seeds literally hundreds of community efforts
through statewide conferences in dozens of states. The equally dynamic
Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America is a reinforcing incubator for
effective drug prevention. Communities and parents are the ultimate
solution, because they are where the heart is. Empower them.

Seventh, more law enforcement information sharing among State and local law
enforcement will reap huge returns. That is why the Regional Information
Sharing System, for example, is expanding faster than traffickers. It is a
federally sponsored intelligence backbone to beat mobile criminals. As the
traffickers go high-tech, the federal government must help state and local
law enforcement to do so also. Other valid ideas include a national
training center for law enforcers who operate in High Intensity Drug
Trafficking Areas (HIDTAs), to give greater continuity to HIDTA training
nationwide.

Eighth, ninth and 10th, use several key performance measures in every
aspect of the drug war; create bonds where none existed before, such as
between treatment providers and prosecutors; and work ceaselessly to foster
international cooperation, more carrot and less stick, to replicate in
Colombia and in Mexico the drug-eradication successes of Bolivia and Peru.

Last Thursday, we learned of the president's heartening commitment to the
drug war. What he should now keep in mind is that most parents and teens
consider the drug issue the most difficult they face. He should also know
that if Mr. Walters is empowered to win he can.

Robert Charles was chief counsel to the U.S. House National Security
Subcommittee (1995-1999), chief staffer to Speaker Hastert's Task Force on
a Drug Free America (1997-1999), teaches at Harvard University and is
president of Direct Impact, L.L.C.