RELIGIOUS DRUG TREATMENT PLAN IRKS SOME

WASHINGTON - President Bush has long preached of the power of prayer to aid
drug addicts. Now he's putting dollars behind the rhetoric, asking Congress
for $600 million for a new, three-year drug treatment program that would
welcome the participation of religious groups.

The proposal sparked conflict even before Bush touted it before Congress.
Opponents fear government will pay for programs that replace professional
counselors with prayer and Bible study.

"The president wants to fund untested, unproven programs that seek to pray
away addiction," said the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans
United for the Separation of Church and State. "People with addiction
problems need medical help, not Sunday school."

Bush and his supporters argue that faith can accomplish what secular
programs cannot.

"Let us bring to all Americans who struggle with drug addiction this
message of hope: The miracle of recovery is possible, and it could be you,"
Bush said in his State of the Union address.

Many federally funded programs combine medical models with religious faith,
sometimes employing the 12-step program made famous by Alcoholics
Anonymous. But others are permeated with religion and eschew licensed
counselors altogether.

Take Teen Challenge, which uses Christian teachings to tackle drug
addiction and encourages participants to convert to Christianity.
"Christianity is a big part of our therapy," executive director John
Castellani said in 2001 during the debate over government funding for
religious groups.

Opponents say funding Teen Challenge would amount to unconstitutional,
taxpayer-funded conversion. But supporters hold it out as a model, and the
White House invited Henry Lozano of Teen Challenge in California to sit in
the first lady's box during Tuesday's State of the Union address.

The drug treatment proposal is the latest round in a two-year battle over
the role of religion in delivering social services.

Bush first tried to pass sweeping legislation opening existing programs to
churches, synagogues and other "faith-based organizations." When that
failed, his administration began rewriting regulations to relax rules that
have prevented government from funding religious groups.

Now, as he submits his budget plan for 2004, Bush is proposing a $200
million drug treatment program specifically designed so that religious
programs can qualify. Over three years, Bush said, the program would cost
$600 million.

The new program would give people vouchers to seek drug treatment at the
center of their choice, including religious programs. About 25 states,
territories or Indian tribes would get grants of $5 million to $10 million
per year. Employing vouchers makes it easier to constitutionally justify
paying for a program that is infused with religion.

Still, civil libertarians who oppose the overall "faith-based initiative"
and people who work in traditional drug treatment programs worry about who
might get money. They cite Victory Fellowship, a San Antonio, Texas-based
program. Under then-Gov. Bush, Victory Fellowship and other religious drug
programs won permission to skirt all state health and safety laws,
including rules requiring licensed counselors. There is one hitch: Programs
exempted from state laws can't get state money.

The program rehabilitates drug addicts and alcoholics through Christian
teachings. Its leader, Pastor Freddie Garcia, has been quoted as saying,
"Sin is the problem. Jesus Christ is the solution." And he's said
traditional treatments don't work. "If you treat an addict with a drug
rehab program, all you have is a reformed junkie. If he meets Christ, he is
transformed. He's a whole new person," he said.

A Garcia aide confirmed Tuesday that these quotes represent his views.

It wasn't clear whether the administration would allow funding for programs
like Victory Fellowship, which do not use licensed counselors. But a
regulation published last month seemed to lay the groundwork for this
budget proposal. It made it clear that drug treatment programs funded with
vouchers do not have to separate the religious and secular elements of
their programs.

Bush has many supporters on Capitol Hill.

"Faith is an integral part of recovery for most recovering people," said
Rep. Jim Ramstad, R-Minn., a recovering alcoholic who has been sober since
1981. "I've seen firsthand their positive treatment outcomes."

But others suspect Bush is simply out to appease religious conservatives by
funding their pet programs.

"An exclusively religious approach may work for some people, but there's no
evidence that it works," said Samantha Smoot, executive director of the
Texas Freedom Network, which has tracked this issue for years.
"Furthermore, Americans shouldn't be required to fund out of their own
pocketbooks someone's religious practice."