U.S. DRUG CZAR NOW A BACKER OF PREVENTION

The White House drug czar who once opposed federal support of drug
abuse prevention programs came to Sacramento and preached a different
kind of sermon Wednesday.

Flanked by local politicians, law enforcement and drug treatment
program officials at the federal courthouse, John P. Walters said the
U.S. government must become a more effective part of local drug abuse
prevention and treatment programs.

"If we stress prevention, if we can stop young people before they
start," Walters said, "we can change the face of substance-abuse
problems in the country for generations to come."

Walters, whose official title is director of the Office of National
Drug Control Policy, was in Sacramento as part of a 25-city tour
designed to tout the development of federal-local drug-fighting
programs that emphasize prevention and treatment as well as arrests
and prosecutions.

Although the tour has been dubbed a "drug-and-pony show" by some
critics, local officials welcomed the prospect of federal aid in
sponsoring local programs.

"The old days of law enforcement acting in a vacuum in trying to
address the drug problems in this nation are over," said McGregor
Scott, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of California, which
includes the Sacramento area. "We are now collectively and
collaboratively working with prevention professionals and treatment
professionals to establish a tripartite approach."

In his proposed budget for the 2005 fiscal year, President Bush has
asked for $200 million in additional funds for drug treatment, as well
as more money for confidential drug-testing programs at schools.

Walters said that about 45 percent of all drug-related funds in the
budget are for treatment and prevention.

Among the efforts to be pushed locally are establishment of a Juvenile
Drug Court, where youths with drug-related offenses would be diverted
into treatment programs; development of a one-stop center to connect
those seeking treatment with all of the programs available in the
community; and better public anti-drug education programs.

Walters served under the first drug czar, William Bennett, and became
the drug policy office's acting director after Bennett left. Walters
quit the office in 1993 and became a frequent critic of the Clinton
administration's emphasis on prevention and treatment in combating
drug abuse.

He questioned the need for direct federal involvement in anti-drug
education and expressed doubts about the efficacy of treatment
programs. His appointment to the drug czar's job was opposed by some
drug treatment supporters, including former first lady Betty Ford.

But Walters said Wednesday his opposition had stemmed from concerns
that there were too many ties on federal money to local and state
treatment and education programs and too little evidence about how
effective some of the programs were.

Now, he said, he is convinced current programs are proving
effective.

Walters also reiterated his steadfast opposition to the use of
marijuana as medicine, despite voter approval of its medical use in
California and eight other states.

Since the 1996 approval of Proposition 215, federal law enforcement
officials have periodically arrested and charged sellers and users of
medical marijuana for violating federal laws against sales and
possession of the drug.

Walters said no scientifically valid study had determined that
marijuana was a safe or effective way to treat pain and other effects
of illness and injury.

To sanction its use, he said, sent the wrong message to children that
marijuana use was OK.

"Marijuana is not medicine," he said. "We in the federal government
will enforce the (federal) law. Not in a punitive, arbitrary way, but
because the law is based on the safety and protection of one and all."

At a subsequent press conference in a Capitol hearing room, however,
medical marijuana users and two state legislators demanded that
federal law enforcement officials stop arresting and prosecuting
Californians using or selling marijuana as medicine.

"You all in Washington seem to have more than enough wars to wage all
over the world," said state Sen. John Vasconcellos, D-San Jose.

"Cease and desist your immature, wasteful campaign" of medical
marijuana prosecutions.