U.S. DRUG CZAR GOES TO EL PASO TO SEE ANTI-SMUGGLING FACILITIES

EL PASO -- Federal agents in the war on terrorism are working longer hours
and sharing their talents with other agencies to create a fine-mesh safety
net that will produce benefits in the war on drugs, the nation's drug czar
said.

"If you compare the threat posed by terror, which we've had a brutal
education in, a small number of people, a small amount of money, small
amounts of various kinds of substances can be used to cause devastating
destruction," said John Walters, director of the Office of National Drug
Control Policy.

"Compared to that, drugs, while a difficult target, are thousands of tons
of product, tens of thousands of individuals, thousands of tons of money
and millions of retail customer sales," he said. "Compared to terror, it's
a gigantic target."

Walters toured U.S. Customs Service and Immigration and Naturalization
Service inspection facilities at the Bridge of the Americas in El Paso last
week and the El Paso Intelligence Center, a multi-agency operation formed
to help fight the drug war.

He was shown X-ray machines and density meters used to find hidden
compartments in commercial trucks.

Walters asked one group of immigration and customs officials if they were
confident they were making it hard for smugglers. "Absolutely," they answered.

Customs Service seizures of heroin, marijuana and cocaine are on a record
pace this year, the agency reports. In the past eight months, agents have
seized 252,227 pounds, compared with 198,040 pounds for the same period a
year ago.

Walters said the Sept. 11 terror attacks have added importance to the task
of protecting the country. He said many U.S. officials are working
overtime, sometimes straining agencies' resources. He said Mexican and
Canadian officials have been helpful.

"There's no question that the war on terror has made them more willing to
come forward in sharing information that will help us in the future," he
said. "We are essentially making the mesh in the net protecting the country
smaller and more effective."

On his tour, Walters repeated his intention to reduce both the supply and
demand of drugs. The White House has set a goal of a 10 percent reduction
in drug use over the next two years and 25 percent over the next five years.

"The vector by which that disease (drug addiction) is spread is the
occasional nonaddicted user," Walters said. "They have a friend, usually a
peer, who says, 'It's fun, it's safe, you can handle it.' And that's how
they start. And all too many of those individuals end up with a serious
problem.

"We are going to vigorously attack the nonaddicted, casual user."

Walters said recent ads linking drug purchases with support of terrorism
are examples of that attack. He said people must be educated, in schools,
offices, families, churches and hospitals, so they can identify the signs
of drug use and confront individuals they think are involved.

Walters said prevention and treatment will receive priority funding.

"The most important (factor) is prevention," he said. "If we do not have
teenage children initiate drug use, alcohol use, cigarette use -- they're
all the same -- they're unlikely to go on to use them in their 20s.

"We can change the dimensions of this problem for generations to come if we
do what every civilized society needs to do, and that is take care of its
children."

Walters said he will dedicate $3.8 billion of his fiscal 2003 budget for
treatment, with the goal of increasing the number of people who can be
treated and improving the quality of treatment. This year the agency's
budget was about $19 billion.