BUSH MAKES PICK FOR TOP DRUG POST

WASHINGTON - President Bush is naming conservative John P. Walters as
his drug policy director and keeping the post in his Cabinet.

Bush nominated Walters head of the Office of National Drug Control
Policy in a Rose Garden ceremony Thursday. He also was announcing a
Cabinet review of "exactly how the federal government fights the war
on drugs," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.

Bush was directing John D'Iulio Jr., who spearheads the White House
effort to open federal programs to religious community groups, to
review existing federal partnerships with local organizations that do
anti-drug work, Fleischer said. Bush was asking Health and Human
Services Secretary Tommy Thompson to do a state-by-state evaluation of
current treatment needs, and Attorney General John Ashcroft to look
into making prisons drug-free, including expanded drug testing of
those on parole or probation.

"The president believes to do the job right it has to be multifaceted,
it has to focus on both supply and demand," Fleischer said.

Fleischer also noted that all executive branch staff, including Bush
and Vice President Dick Cheney, had taken drug tests during their
first week in office. He did not provide details on anyone's test results.

Walters is known for his tough approach on drugs. He was the office's
deputy director for supply reduction when it was headed by William
Bennett during the administration of former President Bush.

Walters has stressed the importance of criminal penalties for drug
users and opposed the use of marijuana for medical purposes. He also
has favored the drug certification program, in which nations are
judged by their anti-drug efforts. The program has been a sore point
in U.S.-Mexican relations.

Walters is president of the Philanthropy Roundtable, a national donors
group. He also is a co-author with Bennett and DiIulio of the book "Body
Count: Moral Poverty and How to Win America's War Against Crime and Drugs."
DiIulio is now the head of the White House Office of Community and
Faith-Based Initiatives.

Two White House officials said Bush plans to make the drug policy
director's position a Cabinet-level post, as it had been while Barry
McCaffrey headed the office under former President Clinton. Democratic
and Republican lawmakers have urged Bush to keep it in the Cabinet.

The office has been without a permanent director since McCaffrey
resigned in January.

The drug policy office oversees more than $19 billion in anti-drug
programs, working with dozens of agencies.

Fleischer said Wednesday that there are 5 million "hard-core" drug
abusers in the United States.

"The president is committed to fighting the war on drugs," Fleischer
said.

Asked what would constitute a victory, he said: "A reduction in the
number of Americans who abuse drugs, and an increase in the number of
Americans who are successfully treated so they no longer use drugs."