BUZZ KILL: DRUG CZAR JOHN WALTERS VISITS THE VALLEY

What was the nation's drug czar doing in Las Vegas last week? Did he
really pick the city as a key stomping ground in the fight against
prescription drug abuse? Or was the trip, as some suspect, a sly
pre-emptive strike against a possible ballot question that could
legalize adult possession of up to an ounce of marijuana?

There is no doubt in Jennifer Knight's mind about the purpose of John
Walters' visit.

"This wasn't even a thinly veiled attempt to campaign against our
initiative," said Knight, spokeswoman for the Committee to Regulate
and Control Marijuana, the group trying to bring the measure to voters
in November.

If the visit was an attempt to undercut the initiative, Walters was
pretty good at hiding it.

During his roughly 20-minute lecture March 11, he never once strayed
from his prescription drug focus or mentioned the Nevada marijuana
initiative -- even though he had to know the topic was on everyone's
mind. But when the question was raised by a reporter, Walters
unleashed his stern disapproval, calling the measure "foolhardy,"
"silly" and "irresponsible."

"To allow people to use marijuana widely is ludicrous," Walters told a
packed room at the WestCare Nevada Center for Women and Children, a
substance abuse treatment facility. "Marijuana is not just a gateway
drug, but a dead end itself."

Knight did not attend the Walters media event, but issued a statement
later in the day. It read, in part: "We have tried it Walters' way for
more than 70 years and it isn't working. The only way to reduce teen
use is to reduce the availability of marijuana through a system of
strict regulation and control."

Reached by phone later that evening, Knight expanded on her comments,
saying that Walters represents the nation's flawed drug policy. His
concerns that legalized marijuana will lead to a spike in usage are
wrong, she said.

"Dealers are blossoming quite well under his system," Knight
contended. "What this initiative brings is regulation and control."

The campaign has until June 15 to acquire 51,244 voter
signatures.

One could also argue that Walters' stop shows how important Nevada's
five electoral votes will be this political season. He is the latest
in a string of politicians, or Bush administrators, to land in the Las
Vegas Valley. In November, President Bush made his only visit to the
state since his election. Vice President Dick Cheney twice visited for
fundraisers last summer and this January; Attorney General John
Ashcroft came to defend the Patriot Act in August; and last month,
first lady Laura Bush made a brief visit with a stop at a local school.

Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry was his party's only
candidate for the top office to visit for the Nevada caucuses.

As for the presented purpose of Walters' visit, prescription drug
abuse has hit an all-time high and ranks second only to marijuana in
terms of the national drug problem. Thrown into the media spotlight
with Rush Limbaugh's admission that he was addicted to painkillers,
Walters said education and treatment will help key a downturn and
reduce abuse of prescription drugs.

Narcotic painkillers were mentioned in 153 deaths in Las Vegas in
2001, an increase from 63 in 1997, Walters said. He added that an
estimated 6.2 million Americans abused prescription drugs in 2001, a
dramatic upswing from 1.6 million in 2000.

Dr. Mel Pohl with the Las Vegas Recovery Center said abusers suffer
from a disease and need treatment or else they run the risk of
spiraling out of control.

"They steal from us, they cheat us, they lie to us, but they do that
because they have an addiction," Pohl said. "They only way to stop the
cycle is to stop the drug. We need to get people into a program to
help them."

Walters, whose official title is director of the White House Office of
National Drug Control Policy, also used his time here to present the
Bush administration's plan to combat the growing problem.

In outlining the approach, Walters said it starts with better warning
labels on bottles and in educating physicians and pharmacists to
notice the potential signs of abuse. A database, Walters said, will
also be established to track prescription drug use of patients. This
will ensure that they're not obtaining and filling scripts from
multiple doctors. The government will also crackdown on online drug
sellers, Walters said.