DRUG POLICY SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH PUBLIC HEALTH, OR SCIENCE, OR FACTS

ANNOUNCER: Live from Washington, this is INSIDE POLITICS with Judy
Woodruff.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAJOR GARRETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Drug use is
rising, and the president tapped a take-no-prisoners veteran of the
drug wars to turn the tide: John Walters, chief of staff to the
nation's first drug czar, Bill Bennett. He favors deterrence in the
schools and punishment on the streets, a return to policies Mr. Bush
said worked well for his father, but that the Clinton White House had
turned away from.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We had made tremendous
strides in cutting drug use. This cannot be said today. We must do
and we will do a better job.

GARRETT: Amid the tough talk, a boost in spending on drug treatment:
nearly two billion more over five years.

JOHN WALTERS, WHITE HOUSE DRUG POLICY DIRECTOR: We will help the
addicted find effective treatment and remain in recovery.

GARRETT: But critics say that Walter's appointment proves drug
treatment will always be an afterthought.

ETHAN NADELMANN, THE LINDESMITH CENTER: John Walters has stood very
firmly for the proposition that drug policy should have absolutely
nothing to do with public health, or science, or for that matter the
facts. It's all about punishing people for their sins.

GARRETT: When it comes to the drug war, the money just keeps flowing.
$3 billion in 1982 to $19 billion this year. But the dollars appear
to have been best spent in the mid-'80s when first lady Nancy Reagan
waged her "just say no" campaign.

The number of drug users dropped from 23 million to 12 million in the
last year of the first Bush presidency. During the Clinton years,
drug use rose steadily, even as Washington spent more money.

The difference? Experts say the Reagan and Bush years effectively
discouraged first-time and casual drug use, leaving behind hardcore
users, who are much tougher to treat.

The number of drug addicts in 1991 was nearly 9 million, almost
exactly the same number as in 1998.

JOE CALIFANO, CENTER OF ADDICTION AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE: You have to
give treatment to people who really need it if we're going to bring
down the number of hardcore addicts.

GARRETT: 650 White House employees have already been tested for drugs,
including Vice President Cheney and the president: proof, the White
House says, that a zero tolerance policy begins at the top -- Judy.