CREATING DRUG CZAR POST WINS SUPPORT

HELENA - Montana needs a drug czar to bring together the far-flung efforts
to combat addiction in the state, particularly the scourge of
methamphetamine, supporters of the new post told a House panel Friday.

At issue was House Bill 31, sponsored by Rep. Don Roberts, R-Billings, which
would create a Cabinet-level drug czar in Montana appointed by the governor.

A host of drug and alcohol prevention and treatment programs are up and
running in Montana, Roberts told the House Human Services Committee. But
they are scattered across state and local agencies with no coordinating hand
over the whole machine. The drug czar would organize those programs,
eliminate duplications and make the state's response to drugs, particularly
methamphetamine, more visible and more efficient.

"It's important, through the drug czar, to bring a lot of different
resources together," Roberts said, adding that he envisioned an office that
was not solely focused on prosecuting drug addicts, but preventing and
treating them, too.

Anna Whiting-Sorrell, family policy adviser for Gov. Brian Schweitzer, told
the committee that the governor is behind the idea and would use his
position to make the post effective.

"His No. 1 wish is to remove methamphetamine addiction from our state,"
Whiting-Sorrell told the committee. "Today, we join in that fight with you."

A host of doctors and addiction groups spoke in favor of the bill. No one
opposed it.

However, Don Hargrove, a lobbyist for the Montana Addictive Services
Providers and a former lawmaker and U.S. airman who once worked in Bolivia
in the U.S. anti-drug efforts, urged the committee to make sure the new drug
officer would actually be able to get things done.

Hargrove told the committee how he worked with the first U.S. drug czar,
William Bennett. Bennett's heart was in the right place, Hargrove said, "but
he really didn't get much accomplished."

The Montana post will have to work differently to make sure it's not just an
opportunity "for a lot of good press."

Whiting-Sorrell said in an interview after the meeting that Schweitzer
understands that and wants to make combating drugs, particularly meth, "a
signature issue."

The bill lays out a host of things the czar would do, including working with
the governor and attorney general, writing a statewide plan for combating
drug and alcohol abuse and reporting to the Legislature on the effectiveness
of the office.

Roberts told the committee he thought the office would save money in the
long run by eliminating duplications in existing drug and alcohol programs.

But money is an issue, said Rep. Tom Facey, D-Missoula. The program is
expected to cost $389,000 over the next two years, according to estimates.
Facey asked Roberts if some of the money for the office couldn't come from
the expected savings.

That issue was left unresolved. The committee made no decisions about the
bill.