DRUG-WAR AGENDA

Heed The Lessons Already Learned

Now that the Senate has finally confirmed the Bush administration's
new drug policy chief, John Walters, he'll need an agenda for fighting
America's most frustrating war. Walters and his boss, President Bush,
would be well advised in drafting their new strategy to begin by
reviewing the recommendations left behind by Barry McCaffrey, Walters'
predecessor.

McCaffrey, a retired Army general and war hero, made more of this
thankless job than anyone since the first President Bush picked Bill
Bennett as drug czar in 1989.

McCaffrey's first lesson would be that the drug policy director can't
be much more effective than his president permits. Bill Clinton
selected McCaffrey and then all but ignored him for five years. That
curtailed McCaffrey's clout and effectiveness. Walters should fare
better: Bush is giving him Cabinet status and this president seems
committed to a more aggressive fight against both the drug trade and
drug abuse.

Second, Walters will learn what McCaffrey found -- that the "czar"
title is utterly misplaced. In fact, the director of national drug
control policy has precious little actual authority. Nominally, he
presides over the federal government's $19 billion drug-fighting
budget. In practice, he has no operational authority and is confined
mostly to making recommendations on drug-fighting priorities that the
White House could adopt, if it chooses.

McCaffrey was a tough career soldier accustomed to giving orders and
being obeyed. Predictably, he thought that he should have more than an
advisory role in deciding how the drug war is fought. He failed to so
persuade Clinton or Congress. Moreover, McCaffrey's efforts to put his
office into the drug war's chain of command were adamantly opposed by
the multitude of federal agencies involved in the counter-narcotics
effort.

However sensible a unified chain of command might seem on paper,
Washington politics preclude it. Walters should concentrate instead on
getting the drug-war strategy right, and then winning over Bush and
the Congress as allies for a coordinated, unified effort. That would
make him a central player, enhance the office's role as an anti-drug
"bully pulpit," and, not coincidentally, offer the best prospects for
more success against narcotics.

On the vital question of strategy, McCaffrey's parting recommendations
reflected something close to an evolving national consensus. Law
enforcement and drug interdiction can never be more than holding
actions (although vital ones) until more is done to shrink the
domestic demand for drugs. That requires more money for drug treatment
programs, and a more equitable split in federal spending between
reducing demand and curtailing supply.

Senate confirmation of Walters' nomination was delayed for nine months
because some Democrats, noting his hard-line reputation as a Bennett
deputy during the first Bush administration, doubted his commitment to
drug treatment. Walters allayed those fears and the full Senate
confirmed him easily on a simple voice vote.

Time now to get on with an urgent job.