...AND FIGHT DRUGS

President Bush's newly named drug czar seems to be operating on a different
page

Despite his enlightened approach to fighting drugs in the United States and
South America, President Bush has nominated a drug czar who seems the least
likely to try out new ideas. That is cause enough for concern.

As the leader in the war on drugs, John P. Walters will have control over a
$19 billion budget -- money that could be used to further military actions
at the very time Mr. Bush is urging more emphasis on treatment for addicts
and economic incentives for growers to switch to other crops.

There is no mistaking where Mr. Walters, who served under former drug czars
William Bennett and Bob Martinez, stands in the drug war. He's in the front
lines, calling for an all out offensive on traffickers. Nor does he hold
much sympathy for drug users, or government programs aimed at treatment
rather than incarceration.

Mr. Walters, who has labeled drug treatment programs as a favorite of
liberals seeking to create a "therapeutic state,'' holds views that run
counter to most thinking on drug addiction today. His predecessor under the
Democrats, Gen. Barry McCaffrey, is among the critics of harsh prison
terms, including New York state's draconian Rockefeller drug laws, which
were once thought to be the answer to all drug crime. Gov. Pataki, a
Republican, agrees on the need for reform. So does Mr. Bush himself, who
has publicly questioned whether long mandatory minimum prison sentences are
"the best way to to occupy jail space.'' Instead, Mr. Bush urges more drug
treatment programs and a greater emphasis on reducing demand.

Mr. Bush's plans for the drug war amount to a significant, and welcome,
shift in priorities. Instead of concentrating solely on enforcement, Mr.
Bush is also working to inventory the status of drug treatment programs in
the United States, with an eye toward closing gaps in care. And he has an
innovative idea for a parent drug corps that will work to prevent drug
abuse at home. He rightly emphasizes more treatment for addicts in prison,
and an expanding role for drug courts that can order treatment as an
alternative to jail.

Because he reports to Mr. Bush, Mr. Walters will be expected to carry out
this agenda, and he might do just that. In that sense, there might be less
cause for worry that Mr. Walters will turn back the clock and reduce the
drug war to nothing more than enforcement and incarceration. But there was
nothing in Mr. Bush's remarks welcoming Mr. Walters to his team that would
indicate the new drug czar will be held accountable for following the
letter, and spirit, of the new strategy. Mr. Bush needs to do so quickly,
and in public.