Drug czar John Walters, head of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, made an appearance at the New England “Governors’ Summit” last week in Boston, the Drug Reform Coordination Network reports, lobbying for increased support for the federal war on drugs. Walters, along with Karen Tandy, the new head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, were there to discuss plans to combat the region’s high rate of heroin use.
The two blamed the increase on “insidious” drug dealers that use “gaily painted bags and free samples to entice young users,” the DRCNet reported, and announced the formation of a new DEA-led task force designed to attack the region’s heroin problems. But apparently not everyone was thrilled about the promise of increased law enforcement actions. “The drugs are here because the demand is here,” said Connecticut’s Republican Gov. John Rowland. “There are 6 million people who need treatment, while only 1 million are getting treatment. We’re debating nickels and dimes for … people who are dying, while we spend $87 billion for the reconstruction of Iraq.”
Walters assured the guvs — mostly Republicans — that the Bush administration had allocated $200 million this year for treatment programs, but said that to reduce the number of drug offenders in prison, drug warriors must “stop young people from starting” to use drugs. This brought Walters to another of his bright ideas for drug-use prevention: random drug testing for all high school students. Although the U.S. Supreme Court has approved only limited mandatory drug testing of students, Walters is apparently ready to take it up a notch. “This is a silver bullet,” Walters told the state leaders. “I know this is a tool that will make a difference.”
This article appears in October 17 • 2003.