REPUBLICAN POLAR OPPOSITES DICTATE DRUG WAR BUT WHERE'S MAINSTREAM?

If Gov. Gary Johnson thought Gen. Barry McCaffrey was a hard sell on drug
reform, wait until he gets a load of the general's replacement as the
nation's drug czar.

President Bush intends to appoint John P. Walters, a conservative,
tough-on-crime, former member of the first Bush administration, to replace
McCaffrey as the director of the Office of Drug Control Policy.

Don't let political affiliation fool you.

Johnson, a Republican, couldn't have less in common with Walters, also a
Republican, when it comes to drug policy. In fact, a few of Johnson's views
are probably closer to McCaffrey's philosophy on drugs than they are to
Walters' -- although you wouldn't know it by watching the sniping between
Johnson and McCaffrey during last week's airing of NBC's "Meet the Press."

But at least Johnson and McCaffrey agree to some extent that drug
prevention and treatment programs have a role in curbing drug use.

They part ways with Johnson's more libertarian view that decriminalizing or
legalizing marijuana possession will do the most to cut into drug use.

Walters, on the other hand, has little use for the prevention/treatment mantra.

Walters has written in the past that his idea of prevention is enforcement,
period.

Walters, who served as deputy director of drug control policy under former
director William Bennett, has also challenged conventional wisdom, which he
tags as "myths," that too many people are put in jail for merely possessing
drugs, or that black men are punished disproportionately for drug use.

Funny thing is that Johnson consistently makes the same arguments to
validate his drug legalization crusade.

Johnson says the current "war on drugs," which is heavy on intervention and
punishment, discriminates against Hispanics, and it punishes otherwise
law-abiding citizens who should have the freedom to smoke a joint if they
pose no threat to their neighbors.

Johnson declined to comment about the appointment of Walters. But the
governor's press secretary, Diane Kinderwater, said that Johnson is willing
to give the new drug czar the benefit of the doubt.

"But once again, Gov. Johnson's strongest push is that we don't get tougher
on these crimes," Kinderwater said. The larger question is which side, if
any, of the drug debate represents "mainstream" America.

We know generally where the Gary Johnsons, the Barry McCaffreys and the
John Walters fit on the drug-policy spectrum.

But lacking a mandate, it is difficult to judge whether Bush's appointment
of Walters means most Americans want the feds to continue to crack down on
illegal drug use.

Likewise, Johnson's claims that his efforts have opened the minds of middle
America about marijuana are difficult to quantify.

If anything can be read into Bush's appointment it is the fact that
political labels don't easily apply to the drug debate.

That should be evident in New Mexico with the rift that the drug debate has
created within the state Republican Party.

The Lindesmith Center, a national organization that advocates drug-policy
reform and strongly supports Johnson's efforts, is taking advantage of the
political undertones of the debate.

The center, which has an office in Santa Fe, is planning a drug-policy
conference June 1-2 in Albuquerque.

The conference, which will feature Johnson and others, is set to close with
a session titled, "Debate: Republican or Democrat: Who will claim the drug
reform issue?"

Gilbert Gallegos' political notebook appears Saturdays in The Tribune.