Posted on: Monday, May 14, 2001

Editorial
Bush's mixed message on war against drugs

On the same day he nominated a tough conservative as his new drug czar — a man who has long argued for jail time over voluntary treatment for drug offenders — President Bush announced what could be a landmark plan to expand the nation's drug treatment programs.

Bush's choice of John Walters, who served as deputy to William Bennett in the same office under Bush's father, was criticized by groups that want to emphasize treating drug addiction rather than punishing drug offenders.

If there's one thing this nation has learned to its sorrow, imprisoning nonviolent drug offenders has benefited no one but prison contractors and operators. The huge expansion of America's prison population in the 1990s due to drug arrests is in stark contrast to the rest of the developed world.

But at the same time, Bush's statement of commitment to treatment salved some opponents of Walters, even suggesting a shift in the U.S. drug strategy from emphasis on reducing supply to a greater effort to cut demand.

Bush is proposing adding $245 million more for treatment and treatment research next year than this year — a 7.7 percent increase — and $1.6 billion more over five years. Advocates for the addicted called that a landmark step toward addressing a chronic therapy shortage.

A 1998 federal survey found that 5 million chronic drug users in the country needed treatment, while 2.1 million were getting it. (That probably is an underestimate; the situation in Hawai'i certainly is much worse.)

Bush said he was ordering a four-month, state-by-state review to determine "how to most effectively close the treatment gap in this country."

Walters said one of his goals is helping "the addicted find effective treatment and remain in recovery." Whether he means they must first be imprisoned remains unclear, but in Hawai'i, only one in 10 prisoners who need treatment is getting it.

Retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey, who was the drug office director from 1996 through this January, expressed concerns when Walters' pending nomination became known in April. McCaffrey felt Walters overemphasized enforcement and underemphasized treatment.

But after reviewing Bush's plans, McCaffrey last week voiced approval, saying, "They're putting dollars where their mouth is."

Walters in the past has denounced what he calls the "therapy-only lobby" in Washington, saying therapy combined with prison sentences is the key to reducing drug use.

"The evidence is that coerced treatment works at least as well as voluntary treatment," he has written.

We'll have to wait and see whether what Bush is saying in terms of improved drug treatment is different from what he is doing — that is, appointing a drug czar who has not been strong on treatment in the past.