NEW DEA CHIEF SUGGESTS 'COMPASSIONATE' POLICY

The federal government should offer more rehabilitation programs for
drug offenders even as it aggressively enforces drug laws, the
incoming head of the Drug Enforcement Administration said Wednesday
in Los Angeles.

Rep. Asa Hutchinson (R-Ark.) said he thinks it is "unconscionable"
that so many drug offenders are serving time in prison while limited
rehabilitation programs exist to help keep them off drugs once they
get out.

Hutchinson, who was approved as DEA administrator Wednesday by a 98-1
vote of the Senate, said he will seek additional funding for such
programs. "I don't think we ought to reduce our commitment to law
enforcement, because when we did that in 1992, we cut DEA agents, we
cut the drug czar's office and we saw at the same time teenage drug
use going up," Hutchinson said in an interview with Los Angeles Times
reporters and editors.

Hutchinson, a former federal prosecutor and member of the House
Speaker's Task Force for a Drug-Free America, said law enforcement is
only one component of an effective anti-drug campaign. Educating
youths and providing medical treatment for drug users are key
elements as well, he said.

"There is a treatment gap in this country, and we need to have more
resources for treatment. I think it is unconscionable for a society
to put people in jail and not give them adequate treatment programs
in jail," Hutchinson said.

Hutchinson, a father of four, also said the government must find ways
to discourage youths from using drugs such as Ecstasy and make sure
they understand the substances are dangerous and illegal.

Such rehabilitation and education efforts should not come at the
expense of fighting the drug scourge with aggressive law enforcement,
Hutchinson said.

But he said the DEA should embark on what he called "a compassionate
crusade" rather than the "war on drugs" so often touted by his
predecessors.

As part of that compassionate effort, Hutchinson said he would
support allowing convicted drug offenders to remain eligible for
federal student loans.

Hutchinson said many offenders who left prison years ago are now
finding that they cannot get financial aid "even though they've
turned their lives around."

Such financial aid, he said, is an important component in letting
drug offenders "get back to leading useful, productive lives."

Hutchinson said he plans to resign his congressional seat as soon as
possible to start his new job. He replaces Donnie R. Marshall, who
was nominated by former President Clinton.