U.S. DRUG CZAR SPEAKS AT DENVER CONFERENCE

Wednesday, October 02, 2002 - President Bush's drug czar visited Denver on
Tuesday, speaking at a national conference on drugs and crime, and later
meeting with judges to learn about the city's juvenile drug-court program.

"Our intent is to expand federal support for drug courts," said John
Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control
Policy. "President Bush has committed to expand drug treatment funding ...
by $1.6 billion over the next five years."

Denver was one of the earliest cities in the nation to create a drug court,
launching it in 1994. Denver's adult drug court was the 25th in the nation.
Today, there are 791 municipal drug courts nationwide.