THE GENERAL'S FAREWELL

The czar is dead. Long live the czar.

If it hadn't been him, it would have been somebody else - and for that reason alone it is perhaps unfair to heap all of the scorn engendered by the Drug War in the last four years on retiring drug czar Barry McCaffrey. Still, McCaffrey's announcement yesterday that he will leave office in January sent waves of glee rolling over those who believe that our nation's War on Drugs needs serious rethinking. While the retirement of one drug czar is certain only to mean his replacement by another, many are overjoyed to see this one go.

Ever since his appointment in 1996 by President Clinton, Ret. Gen. Barry McCaffrey has ruffled an array of feathers - from those of hard-line libertarians looking for full legalization of drugs to those of public-health types who would like to see more emphasis on drug treatment. But why is this? Would a different czar have done things much differently? If not for McCaffrey, would we be passing by pot stands on our way to work? Would we see millions of people being thrown into rehab every year instead of jail?

The answer to all of these questions is obviously no, making it all the more clear what exactly it is that irks so many people about McCaffrey: his attitude. Opponents of the War on Drugs accept that it is bound to continue for years to come, and they accept that no drug czar is likely to share their views. What they don't accept, however, is a man overseeing our nation's drug policies who has no respect for their point of view and a mind closed to scientific debate - in short, a man like Barry McCaffrey.

In fairness to McCaffrey, his appointment was never intended to further a debate on our nation's drug policies. From the beginning he was being used by The Man Who Didn't Inhale to paper over his administration's lack of credibility on the drug issue. Whether or not an actual military leader was the right person to lead a metaphorical war was apparently not an important consideration.

The results were as could have been expected. The new czar did not endear himself to many. The largest blunder of McCaffrey's tenure, and the one that would set the tone for the next four years, came early on with his reaction to the medical-marijuana movement in the west. In the matter of a few short months after California and Arizona passed medical marijuana initiatives in 1996, McCaffrey managed to set himself up as the opponent of cancer, glaucoma, and AIDS patients while simultaneously threatening the medical profession's right to free speech by warning doctors in these states not to even recommend marijuana to their patients lest they face prosecution. In one botched political play, McCaffrey lost credibility with the medical community as well as a large segment of the public.

Things only went downhill from there. On top of more states passing medical-marijuana initiatives, McCaffrey saw his many statements on marijuana's lack of medicinal use directly contradicted by a government study that he himself commissioned. In the meantime, New Mexico elected a governor strongly opposed to the Drug War.

McCaffrey's reaction to New Mexico's governor Gary Johnson was typical of his lack of tolerance for any person with opposing views on drugs. He immediately denounced Johnson as "irresponsible," said he was "embarrassed" by a public servant taking such a position and called Johnson "Puff Daddy" in a speech.

Such disrespect has characterized McCaffrey's reign. Those who dislike Barry McCaffrey do so for a plethora of reasons: for misleading statistics on marijuana's relation to traffic accidents, for false statements about the Dutch experiment in legalization, for buying off TV networks and other media outlets to insert anti-drug propaganda into their content - but above all else it has been his attitude.

In a few months a new president will get to make a new choice and perhaps a fresh start. "In a sick way we'll miss him," says Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, adding that McCaffrey has been "a convenient foil." Despite the kidding, a foil isn't what St. Pierre and others want. St. Pierre wants someone with experience in public health. Others might hope for a person with background in law enforcement. Still others might hope for a person to help make a moral case against drugs. At bottom, let's all just hope it's not another general.