BUSH'S BORN AGAIN DRUG WAR

Whereas previous administrations commonly framed their anti-drug
arguments in secular terms, Bush's drug war, at least rhetorically,
resembles that of a religious crusade.

Listen to George Walker Bush speak about substance abuse and it's
apparent that one is listening to a preacher, not a president. "There
are faith-based organizations in drug treatment that work so well
because they convince a person to turn their life over to Christ,"
Bush divulged to the religious journal Christianity Today. "By doing
so, they change a person's heart [and] a person with a changed heart
is less likely to be addicted to drugs and alcohol."

Despite US Constitutional restrictions requiring a separation of
church and state, Bush's ardent Judeo-Christian faith - the President
is a practicing Methodist who "accepted Jesus Christ into [his] life"
in 1986 - remains the staple of his administration's anti-drug
platform. Whereas previous administrations commonly framed their
anti-drug arguments in secular terms (i.e., former President Richard
Nixon's "War on Drugs" or the Reagan administration's "Just Say No"
campaign), Bush's drug war, at least rhetorically, resembles that of a
religious crusade. GW's bottom line: Only through "God's will" may one
be "saved" from the temptations of illegal drugs. It's a stance that
many drug law reformers view as not only ineffective, but possibly
illegal.

President Or Proselytizer?

"You know, I had a drinking problem. Right now I should be in a bar in
Texas, not the Oval Office," Bush told author David Frum in his 2003
biography The Right Man. "There is only one reason that I am in the
Oval Office and not in a bar. I found faith. I found God. I am here
because of the powers of prayer."

While stories recounting the President's prior alcohol and drug use -
so-called "youthful indiscretions" - are well publicized, not as well
known is his 1986 spiritual awakening that led him to quit his use of
intoxicants cold turkey. It's this personal journey that led Bush to
reach his conclusion that other drug users - recreational pot smokers
in particular - must also undergo their own, albeit coerced, religious
conversion to achieve drug abstinence. After four years in office,
it's clear that Bush is willing to use the bully pulpit and Congress'
deep pockets to accomplish his goal: a drug-free, religiously
indoctrinated America.

As President, one of Bush's first actions was to sign an executive
order establishing a White House Office of Faith-Based and Community
Initiatives, presently headed by "Faith Czar" Jim Towey. In 2002, the
Bush administration awarded nearly 500 faith-based programs -
including several drug "education" and treatment programs - $477
million in taxpayers' funding. In 2002, Bush doled out an additional
$568 million in federal funds to 680 self-identified faith-based
groups - programs like the fundamentalist Christian drug-treatment
project "Set Free Indeed," which states: "We rely solely on the
foundation of the Word of God to break the bands of addiction. Once a
person ... recognizes that only God can set them free, the rebuilding
process can begin." To date, the Bush administration has funneled
several million dollars to "Set Free Indeed," and the President
singled out its founder by name during his 2003 State of the Union
address, lauding it as a shining example of federally-backed
faith-based drug treatment.

Religion has also been the theme of several new, high profile
anti-drug campaigns launched by the administration. In 2003, just
months after being tapped by Bush to head the US Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA), Karen Tandy threw her weight behind a grassroots
anti-drug campaign called "Pray for the Children," which according to
the group's website, maintains, "The power of prayer is unequaled" in
influencing adolescents from refraining from drug use. Regarding her
endorsement of the program, Tandy explained, "Drug abuse is a scourge
that attacks a person's soul as well as body, so it's fitting that the
solution should engage the soul as well."

Also last year, Bush launched "Faith. The Anti-Drug," a multi-million
dollar campaign to encourage the religious community to incorporate
pot abstinence into their spiritual teachings. "Faith plays a powerful
role in preventing youth marijuana use," announced Drug Czar John
Walters - himself a disciple of notorious "virtuecrat" and former drug
czar William Bennett - at the campaign's kickoff party. He added, "We
are urging youth ministers, volunteers and faith leaders to integrate
drug prevention messages and activities into their sermons and youth
programming, and are providing them with key tools and resources to
make a difference."

Faith. The Anti-Drug?

But are such campaigns "making a difference?" And are they even
appropriate? Critics resoundingly say "no" on both counts.

"Religious drug treatment programs [like those favored by Bush] turn
back the medical clock to the 19th Century," says Samantha Smoot of
the Texas Freedom Network, a faith-based initiative watchdog group
whose membership includes over 7,500 religious and community leaders.
"The President values programs that say: 'We can pray you out of your
addiction' more than programs that say: 'We will treat your addiction
with counseling, medical treatment and spirituality.' Even more
outrageous is his insistence that taxpayers foot the bill for his
dangerous approach."

It's also potentially unconstitutional, according to Rev. Barry W.
Lynn, Executive Director of Americans United, a religious liberty
watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. that argues for the
importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious
freedom. "This is a massive shell game," he says. "The administration
insists no public funds will be spent on religion, then turns those
funds over to groups that openly brag about how much religion they
have in their programs. The level of duplicity is staggering."

However, according to drug law reformer Charles Thomas, founder of the
Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative, religious faith can play a pivotal
role in drug policy - though not in the way Bush decrees.

Faith teaches that it's essential that America's drug laws be just and
compassionate, Thomas wrote in the May/June issue of the interfaith
journal, Fellowship. "People of faith may play an essential role in
building public support for treating drugs as a health issue instead
of a crime," he explained. "Regardless of whether or not it's immoral
to use drugs, it certainly is wrong to punish people solely for using
drugs. Personal morality issues should be addressed by the faith
community and family, not by cops, courts and prisons."

Don't tell that to GW, however, who has escalated criminal drug law
enforcement during his Presidency and overseen the arrests of nearly 5
million Americans for drug crimes - most for no more than minor drug
possession. Regrettably, like the Crusades of old where religious
transformation typically occurred "by fire and sword," the Bush
administration ultimately believes that today's drug users federally
ordained path to redemption is best achieved by way of a jail house
conversion.

This article originally appeared in Heads Magazine in
Canada.

Paul Armentano is the senior policy analyst for The NORML Foundation
in Washington, DC.