DRUG CZAR BLASTS LEGALIZATION 'LIE'

DAYTONA BEACH -- The national drug czar brought his no-holds-barred message
here Monday, calling medical marijuana "a lie" and arguments for legalizing
the drug as a medicine "selling snake oil."

In a whirlwind tour that included stops in Volusia and Flagler counties to
talk to teenagers, local law enforcement and drug treatment leaders, John
Walters said he and the president are committed to the drug war and opposed
to any attempt to legalize drugs for any reason.

Walters, director of the National Drug Control Policy, said his immediate
focus is battling "the lie of medical marijuana."

As for campaigns in some states to legalize the drug for treating medical
conditions, such as glaucoma and to stop nausea, Walters said, "It's not
going to happen, not on my watch.

"I'm going into every state where there is a ballot on this," he said,
adding "fortunately right now that only includes Arizona, Ohio and Nevada."

Voters or legislatures in eight states have approved some form of medicinal
marijuana legalization, according to the nonprofit Marijuana Policy
Project. At stops at Flagler Palm Coast High School and the
Stewart-Marchman Treatment Center in Daytona Beach, he said marijuana use
is "out of control," exceeding alcohol as the drug most commonly used by
teenagers.

He said that while many people view marijuana as harmless, more than 60
percent of the nation's 6 million illegal drug users are dependent on it
and it often leads to more serious drugs.

At the high school, Walters asked several dozen assembled students how many
knew other students who took drugs, and almost all of them raised their
hands. At Stewart-Marchman's Residential Addiction Program, he heard from
teens who told him that drugs were everywhere.

One young boy asked Walters not to give up on the addicts who, he said,
have a disease that going to prison doesn't cure. Walters said the young
recovering addicts could make a difference by going on to help educate
others about the dangers of drugs.

At the high school, some students argued for legalization, and Walters
countered by calling the proposal "irresponsible."

"I personally think you are overdramatizing the problem," said senior Gabe
Clifton at the end of a spirited exchange with Walters.

Walters countered that Clifton and his friends underestimate the power of
drugs.

"Is there a single family, is there a single city, is there a single school
that is going to be better off with more drugs and alcohol in it?" said
Walters, a former college professor.

Accompanying Walters on the tour was U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Winter Park, a
member of a congressional subcommittee on drug policy and a co-chairman of
the House Speaker's Drug Task Force.

Mica said the war on drugs had briefly stalled while Congress delayed
confirming Walters' appointment last year.

Since Walters' confirmation, Mica said the war is back on track: "He really
hit the ground running." Walters' nomination was opposed by many who
believe his views are too hardline.

Monday, Walters said despite the president's emphasis on the war on
terrorism, Bush is still committed to reviving and winning the war on
drugs. "It's not peripheral. It's not an add-on. It's at the core of his
policy," he said.

The federal anti-drug effort is supporting campaigns to crack down on drug
suppliers in Mexico and Columbia, he said. While getting rid of the drug
trade in those countries is a step toward eliminating drugs, he said the
U.S. will have to guard its borders to make sure those drug dealers don't
simply move here.

"We don't want to just move the problem, we want to eliminate it," Walters
said, adding that would take attacking the drug market at both the supply
and the demand ends.

- -- Staff writer Daniel Lathrop contributed to this story.