WHERE IS THE NEW DRUG CZAR?

Ten days before President Bush's visit with Mexican President Vicente
Fox, defenders of the war against drugs say they fear a lack of
interest in fighting drug trafficking on the part of the new U.S.
administration. While some acknowledge that the summit will take only
a few hours and the agenda will be limited to broad topics that are
positive for both sides, most sources said they fear Bush is ignoring
an important subject in his domestic and international policies.

"It may be a clear signal from the new administration that drugs are
not going to be at the top of our agenda with Mexico which they
really have been for a decade," said Mathea Falco, president of the
organization Drug Strategies and former assistant secretary of state
for international narcotics matters. "Perhaps Bush really believes
Fox will be able to get better control of the drug problem," she
added. "It could be argued that this is a way not of demoting the
drug problem but broadening the vision of bilateral relations."

Along with immigration, drug traffic has been one of the most
contentious topics in relations between Mexico and the United States.
During President Clinton's visit to the ranch of then-president
Ernesto Zedillo two years ago, the topic of drug traffic overshadowed
other agreements reached at the meeting. At that time, just as at
next week's summit, the White House's decision to certify which
countries cooperate in the drug war made consideration of drug
traffic control inevitable.

This time, both governments appear determined to leave the topic in
the background. In statements to reporters last week, Secretary of
State Colin L. Powell and Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge Castaneda
avoided mention of drugs, and listed among topics on the bilateral
agenda immigration, border issues and law enforcement cooperation.

Falco predicted that this probably would annoy some Democrats and
Republicans in the United States. Most officials interviewed
expressed dismay at what they called an unfortunate delay in naming a
new director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. They said
that while it is generally believed that the new administration has
completed cabinet selection, it is not yet known who will be the new
"drug czar," as the position is called.

"We do not speculate on who may or may not serve on various positions
or the timing....When we have something to announce, we will," said
White House spokesman Scott McClellan. Another source said the acting
director of the office has been participating in the preparatory
meetings for next week's summit.

Some sources said the delay in naming a director of the office gives
an unfortunate signal that fighting drugs is not a priority, and said
they fear it may mean the post will lose cabinet status.

In a letter to Bush last month, Republican Reps. Ben Gilman (N.Y.),
Dan Burton (Ind.), Mark Souder (Ind.), Bab Barr (Ga.), John L. Mica
(Fla.) and Cass Ballenger (N.C.) said, "The threat from illegal drugs
is our most insidious national security threat. We believe that any
downgrade of the Drug Czar position... at the outset of your
Administration would be a political misstep." They added,
"Downgrading the Drug Czar position would send a confusing message to
our nation's young people and a troubling message to our
international allies in our fight against drugs."

Bill McCollum, a former Republican congressman from Florida, who
showed interest in the drug fight when he was in Congress, is a
candidate for the post. McCollum, who is the preferred candidate of
many of the firmest supporters of the war against drugs, has told the
White House that he would be interested only if the position remained
at cabinet level.

Falco, whose organization promotes an anti-drug policy concentrating
on prevention, education and treatment, said keeping the job at
cabinet level was essential to direct policy in that direction. "If
the administration is going to pursue a really balanced strategy,
then it must have a powerful advocate in the cabinet to make sure
more money goes into the demand side," she said.

An administration source who asked not to be identified said neglect
of drug control efforts would have costly repercussions on the
international scene.

"What really worries us is the globalization of criminal
organizations involved in drug trafficking," she said. "It doesn't
take a leap of imagination to think that things could go very wrong
if we are not vigilant about getting a handle on this problem."