BUSH NAMES WALTERS TO TOP DRUG POST

Trying to bring renewed vigor to the war on drugs, President Bush on
Thursday named conservative John P. Walters as his drug policy director and
pledged to pay "unprecedented attention" to helping drug-addicted Americans
get treatment.

Bush announced his selection of Walters to head the Office of National Drug
Control Policy in a Rose Garden ceremony. He also announced a series of
Cabinet reviews to determine the effectiveness of current federal anti-drug
efforts, and categorically rejected the idea of legalizing drugs.

"The only human and compassionate response to drug use is a moral refusal
to accept it," Bush said. "Drug legalization would be a social catastrophe.
... (It) would completely undermine the message that drug use is wrong."

Walters, known for his tough approach on drugs, said he hopes to "shield
our communities from the terrible human toll taken by drug use," starting
by focusing on the problem of addiction.

"Our country has made great progress in the past in reducing drug use, and
we will do it again," Walters said.

Bush directed John DiIulio Jr., who spearheads the White House effort to
open federal programs to religious community groups, to review existing
federal partnerships with local organizations that do anti-drug work. He
asked Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson to do a
state-by-state evaluation of current treatment needs, and Attorney General
John Ashcroft to look into making prisons drug-free, including expanded
drug testing of those on parole or probation.

"The president believes to do the job right it has to be multifaceted, it
has to focus on both supply and demand," said White House spokesman Ari
Fleischer.

Fleischer also noted that all executive branch staff, including Bush and
Vice President Dick Cheney, had taken drug tests during their first week in
office. He did not provide details on anyone's test results.

Walters was the 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. The program has been a sore point in U.S.-Mexican relations.

Walters is president of the Philanthropy Roundtable, a national donors
group. He also is a co-author with Bennett and DiIulio of the book "Body
Count: Moral Poverty and How to Win America's War Against Crime and Drugs."
DiIulio is now the head of the White House Office of Community and
Faith-Based Initiatives.

Two White House officials said Bush plans to make the drug policy
director's position a Cabinet-level post, as it had been while Barry
McCaffrey headed the office under former President Clinton. Democratic and
Republican lawmakers have urged Bush to keep it in the Cabinet.

The office has been without a permanent director since McCaffrey resigned
in January.

The drug policy office oversees more than $19 billion in anti-drug
programs, working with dozens of agencies.

Fleischer said Wednesday that there are 5 million "hard-core" drug abusers
in the United States.

"The president is committed to fighting the war on drugs," Fleischer said.

Asked what would constitute a victory, he said: "A reduction in the number
of Americans who abuse drugs, and an increase in the number of Americans
who are successfully treated so they no longer use drugs."