DRUG CZAR HOPEFUL ATTRACTS CRITICISM

WASHINGTON - President Bush chose John Walters, a get-tough figure from the
drug wars of his father's presidency, to lead a renewed narcotics battle
that he promised would be sensitive to the "human tragedy" of drug addiction.

Bush's announcement Thursday drew immediate objections from several groups
who contended that Walters cares little about drug treatment and will
return to lock-'em-up policies of the 1980s.

And that, in turn, annoyed Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy
Thompson, who said Bush fully intends "a total frontal assault against drug
abuse" through a combination of rehabilitation, education and interdiction.

"I'd tell those cynics out there, look at what the president has been
trying to do. Listen to what's said. And just get out of our way if you're
going to be a cynic, and let us do our job," Thompson said.

Bush announced his selection of Walters as director of the Office of
National Drug Control Policy during a Rose Garden ceremony and said he
would keep the post Cabinet-level. In a tacit rebuke of his predecessor,
Bill Clinton, the president said too little had been done lately to curb
the drug use that had been declining among high school students in the
1980s and early 1990s.

"We had made tremendous strides in cutting drug use. This cannot be said
today," Bush said. "We must do, and will do, a better job."

Walters pledged to protect children, help drug addicts and "shield our
communities from the terrible human toll taken by illegal drugs."

Advocacy groups were deeply suspicious. They noted that the drug policy
office oversees more than $19 billion in anti-drug programs, working with
dozens of agencies, while Bush's budget proposal for fiscal 2002 seeks $1.6
billion for treatment programs.

"Everything about John Walters' past record suggests that he believes drug
policy has nothing to do with science or public health. It's all about
punishing people for their sins," said Ethan Nadelmann, director of the
Lindesmith Center, a New York-based drug policy research institute.

Walters was the drug policy office's deputy director for supply reduction
when it was headed by William Bennett during the administration of former
President Bush.

Walters has stressed the importance of criminal penalties for drug users
and opposed the use of marijuana for medical purposes. He also has favored
the drug certification program, in which nations are judged by their
anti-drug efforts, a sore point in U.S.-Mexican relations.