DRUG CZAR PUSHES TO EXPAND DRUG COURTS

MIAMI - White House drug czar John Walters pressed Wednesday for expansion
of drug courts to keep nonviolent offenders from crowding prisons and
defended the administration's proposed cutbacks in other anti-drug programs.

A cornerstone of President Bush's 2005 drug control strategy, which Walters
released Wednesday in Miami, is a proposed $30.5 million increase for drug
courts that would allow judges to place thousands of nonviolent drug
offenders in treatment programs rather than doing hard time in prison.
There are more than 1,600 of these courts in all 50 states.

"Drug courts work to cut down on the cycle of crime and self-destruction,"
Walters, the national drug policy director, said in an interview with The
Associated Press.

According to the White House, a recent study of 17,000 drug court
"graduates" found that only 16.4 percent had been arrested again within one
year on new felony charges. Miami was the site of the nation's first drug
court in 1989.

"We know that 80 percent of the drugs are consumed by 20 percent of the
high-volume users," he said. "We have to reduce that part of the demand."

The proposal includes a total of $3.2 billion for various drug treatment
programs, an increase of $141 million over last year. Despite increases
envisioned in that area, the White House has come under fire from Capitol
Hill for proposing cuts in numerous grant programs for state and local
governments, including those that target high-intensity drug trafficking
areas in cities and help schools teach youngsters to avoid drugs.

"It is fiscally irresponsible to drastically slash funding for key drug
prevention and public safety initiatives that help save lives," said Rep.
Elijah Cummings, a Maryland Democrat. "Our states cannot shoulder the
responsibility of drug control on our own."

Walters defended the cutbacks as necessary to help reduce the federal
budget deficit and to move tight funds to areas proven to work more
effectively.

"We need to focus on what works and we eliminate programs that don't work,"
he said.