U.S. DRUG CZAR SWINGS THROUGH ALABAMA TO PROMOTE INITIATIVE

Plan Seeks to Make Treatment Easier to Get

GADSDEN The nation's drug czar made a swing through northeast Alabama on
Monday, meeting with drug court officials in Marshall County and talking
with clients at an Etowah County drug treatment center.

John Walters, who heads the White House Office of National Drug Control
Policy, made the stops with Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville, to drum up
support for President Bush's proposed drug treatment initiative, Access to
Recovery. The program, which would cost $600 million over three years, is
part of Bush's goal of reducing drug use.

"Drug addiction is a disease, a deadly disease ... we've got to do a better
job of treatment," Walters told a gathering of dignitaries in a press
conference at The Bridge, a Gadsden drug treatment center.

He said many drug abusers receive treatment only after they have run afoul
of the law. "The criminal justice system gave them a choice get clean or go
to jail," he said.

According to Walters' office, 64 percent of all men arrested in Birmingham
in 2002 tested positive for an illegal drug. That same year, Walters'
office said, there were more than 20,000 admissions to drug or alcohol
treatment centers in Alabama.

Specifics of the Access to Recovery plan are vague, but it is aimed at
making it easier for an estimated 16 million drug-dependent Americans to
receive treatment through a voucher system. Key to the plan is "full and
open competition among providers," for the vouchers, whether public,
private or even faith-based programs.

Under the plan, drug abusers without private treatment coverage who are
assessed as needing assistance either through an emergency room, clinic,
school or other setting would be able to use vouchers to choose treatment
from a list of providers.

Aderholt, who said the Gadsden area was selected for the visit because of
recent homicides linked to methamphetamine use, said he has not seen the
specifics of the plan but hopes the public will give the voucher system a
chance.

States would be required to establish a system that monitors the costs and
success of the programs.

Before a 10-minute tour of The Bridge, Walters and Aderholt met with
several clients of the facility.