BUSH BACKS $19.2 BILLION DRUG WAR

WASHINGTON - President Bush on Tuesday set a goal of reducing illegal drug
use by 25 percent over the next five years by improving law enforcement and
treating more addicts.

His administration's anti-drug strategy seeks a 10 percent reduction in
drug use within two years.

"We're putting the fight against drugs in the center of our national
agenda," Bush said in an East Room ceremony attended by lawmakers,
ambassadors and anti-drug officials.

"We've got a problem in this country: Too many people use drugs," he said.
"This is an individual tragedy and as a result it is a social crisis."

The subject had to be an especially personal one for the president. His
niece, Noelle Bush, has been admitted to a drug treatment program, her
lawyer said, after having been accused of prescription drug fraud.

Bush called on families, religious organizations and community groups to
join the fight against drugs. He told parents they should remind their
children every day that they love them, adding: "If you love somebody,
you'll also tell them not to do drugs."

The strategy is based on making existing anti-drug programs more efficient
and reducing public tolerance for drug use, White House drug policy
director John Walters said in an interview.

"We have to undermine the cynicism that people are always going to use
drugs at roughly the same amount that they're using now. That's not true.
And my goal is to demonstrate that's not true," he said.

Walters' priorities include identifying drug users who need treatment but
are unlikely to seek it; helping recovering addicts stay clean; disrupting
money laundering networks; and gleaning better intelligence about drug
distribution networks so they can be broken up.

The report comes two months after Walters was confirmed for the
Cabinet-level post over the objections of some top Democrats. A protege of
former drug policy director William Bennett, Walters was seen as being more
focused on punishing traffickers and fighting drugs abroad than in helping
drug users through treatment programs.

Walters' critics say he's done nothing so far to prove them wrong.

"It's drug war on autopilot. It's not anything any different than what
we've seen," said William McColl of the Drug Policy Alliance, which favors
decriminalization of drugs.

McCall also criticized the White House's anti-drug advertising campaign,
which was unveiled during the Super Bowl. The campaign's message is that
money used to buy drugs may benefit terrorists.

"He's barely gotten going and he's already blaming America's teen-agers for
terrorism," he said.

Walters said parents have found the ads to be helpful in discussing drugs
with their children. "It was one of the most powerful media concepts we
ever looked at," he said.

The White House report strikes back at Walters' critics by referring to
them as "self-styled drug policy 'reformers"' and saying that legalization
efforts have frustrated progress toward reducing illegal drug use.

Bush's proposed budget for 2003 includes $19.2 billion in anti-drug
spending, 2 percent increase over this year.

He wants $644 million for the Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program, which
encourages drug-prevention among young people and $731 million to fight
drug trafficking in the Andes.

Bush has pledged to increase drug treatment spending by $1.6 billion over
five years.

On the Net: White House drug policy office: www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov

Drug Policy Alliance: www.drugpolicy.org