'DRUG CZAR' PUSHES BUSH PLAN DURING A.C. VISIT

ATLANTIC CITY - It's not every day you meet a czar. Especially one who
takes orders from the nation's commander-in-chief.

Covenant House officials got that chance Tuesday, when John Walters, the
nation's top drug policy official, or "drug czar," stopped by the Atlantic
Avenue facility.

In town for a state police chiefs and national D.A.R.E., or Drug Abuse
Resistance Education, event, Walters toured the youth shelter as part of a
trip across America promoting President Bush's drug policy goals, including
a $600 million drug-treatment plan dubbed "Access to Recovery."

Wearing a gray suit, white shirt and maroon tie, and flanked by two Secret
Service agents, Walters walked through Covenant House with Executive
Director James White, shaking staff members' hands before addressing the media.

A former university professor who co-wrote a book on America's drug war and
worked for the U.S. Department of Education, along with the White House
office he now leads and other private groups, Walters seemed at home at the
drug-treatment facility, chuckling when reference was made to his "drug
czar" title.

The Bush administration drug-treatment plan is aimed at helping 300,000
more Americans fight addiction in the next three years by changing the way
services are doled out and including faith-based organizations such as
Covenant House in the process.

People without insurance would get vouchers to pay for a state-recommended
treatment program of their choice. State officials would track outcomes and
program costs, making changes in provider options based on agency success
rates and cost-effectiveness.

With congressional approvals, the program could begin in early 2004.
Walters previously said that the plan isn't popular among all
substance-abuse experts, but that White House officials believe it has
bipartisan support.

While touching on the plan's goals Tuesday, he also talked about preventing
drug abuse in communities such as Atlantic City, saying he briefly visited
some areas of the city affected by illegal drugs.

Walters suggested that adults volunteer time teaching teens about character
and the dangers of drug use to improve the community.

"The character of this problem depends on the character of people in the
community and how well they do their jobs," Walters said. "The single
biggest enemy is cynicism."

To decrease the number of addicts, both the drug supply and demand must be
reduced in communities, he said, adding that part of the federal
government's efforts to that end have been aimed at bringing about a
recession in the Columbian cocaine market.

"We want to make it a depressed market," Walters said, adding of America's
appetite for illegal drugs: "We have to follow through. We want it to be
pushed down and stay down."

Covenant House client Steven Pierson - one of about 25,000 youths the
agency's two New Jersey facilities shelters in a year - listened near the
back of the crowd as Walters spoke Tuesday.

The 21-year-old Egg Harbor City native has been staying at Covenant House
for a month, trying to avoid the temptation of drugs on the street as he
awaits admittance into a drug-treatment program.

"I hope all his plans are real and he's not telling people what they want
to hear," Pierson said. "I've had enough of that."