DEA CHIEF PRAISES LOCAL LAW AGENCIES FOR COOPERATIVE EFFORTS

Traditionally competing factions are a model for the nation as they work
together to battle narcotics, Hutchinson says.

SANTA ANA -- The rest of the nation could learn a lot from the Orange
County Methamphetamine Task Force, which unites traditionally competing
factions such as law enforcement, education and drug treatment into a
united front against drug abuse, Drug Enforcement Administration Director
Asa Hutchinson said Monday.

"We at the DEA are very good at bringing down criminal organizations, but
if the demand is still there, a new organization will be on the same street
corner (selling drugs) three weeks later," Hutchinson said at a town hall
meeting set up by the task force and Chapman Medical Center.

"You can't just take down the criminal organization, but you have to change
the community. What you have here should be an example for the nation,"
Hutchinson said.

He said that in most communities nationwide, law enforcement, educators and
treatment institutions operate with little coordination, as compared with
Orange County. In Orange County, teams composed of police, probation, the
courts, schools and treatment facilities join forces to address the problem
and to design recovery programs for individuals.

"In Orange County, they have common goals rather than turf battles,"
Hutchinson said. "One example is in the dealing with children who are
exposed to drugs through their parents. The enforcement and social service
agencies and the courts have a quick intervention program to protect those
children and get them out of that environment until it is safe for them to
return."

Max Schneider, a physician from Orange who lectures around the country on
drug abuse, said no precise statistics are available, but 10 percent to 15
percent of the population of Orange County could be addicted to drugs or
alcohol.

That would amount to about 290,000 people or more. The figure is based on
observations in dealing with addicts in Orange County since 1953, he said.
He added that the number of people who experiment with drugs would be even
higher.

"We have a great shortage of treatment facilities for the indigent," in the
county, he said. "We currently have two beds for indigents in need of
medical detox. We could use 100."

Schneider said that the change in attitude by the DEA, brought on by
Hutchinson, is "like a breath of fresh air." He said prior DEA chiefs had
collared all political support to fund enforcement, and little was left for
education or treatment.

Hutchinson said after his talk that what he admired most about the Orange
County effort is that "they are cooperating and working together."

"We are all on the same team," he said.

He said President George W. Bush has given unprecedented support to funding
education and treatment, along with enforcement, as part of the war on drugs.

Among those who spoke to the group were three young recovering addicts.

"You have to put people in treatment to give them a chance to get clean,"
said Danielle, 18, who declined to give her last name. She said she became
an addict while attending junior high school in Westminster.

"My boyfriend went to jail twice, and when he got out, we celebrated by
getting off. Jail doesn't help."

Orange County Judge Wendy Lindley told the group that 13 percent of
defendants who go through the county's drug courts fail to complete the
program.

But, she said: "We have the threat of jail to hold over them" as an
incentive to obtain treatment.

Santa Ana Police Chief Paul Walters urged even more cooperation.

While the FBI is focusing on the war against terrorism, "Southern
California is the gateway to all of the types of drugs found in America,"
he said.

Crime and drug use have declined in the past 20 years in Santa Ana, but the
fight is far from over, he said.

"We have to be more proactive and preventive. We have to be more
efficient," Walters said.