Bennett Weighs Boot Camps for Drug Offenders

A system of federal “boot camps” to rehabilitate first-time drug offenders is being studied, drug czar William J. Bennett said Sunday.

Bennett, whose formal title is national drug policy director, raised the subject of the need for more and different penal facilities for incarceration of users during an appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” He had previously called for an intensified effort to lock up sellers of narcotics, possibly on ships and abandoned military stations, as part of his “war plan” against drugs.

“We have not been locking people up in sufficient numbers,” he said on the interview program, adding that law enforcement is the “linchpin” in combatting drugs.

‘Can Fine Every One’

“You don’t have to put them all in jail, but you can fine every one of them,” Bennett said, when asked how he would deal with millions of offenders. “And you can take their cars away.

“You can send them to boot camp. We’re looking at this boot camp thing, which we’ve seen in several states, which looks to be a very productive kind of thing.”

Bennett, who also is advocating the use of military judges and prosecutors to process the high numbers of defendants who would be involved in a serious campaign against users--there are an estimated 30 million casual users of narcotics in the nation--said the camps would primarily receive first offenders.

“It’s a lot less expensive than jail,” he said, pointing out that the camp inmate would face a vigorous regimen, starting at 4:30 a.m.

“He does push-ups, he runs a good bit and doesn’t watch soap operas or TV as many people do in jail. . . . It’s inexpensive. It teaches good lessons and the recidivism is very, very low, because it is so grueling and so unpleasant, people don’t want to go back to it,” Bennett said.

Dr. Robert L. Dupont, a Georgetown University School of Medicine psychiatrist who specializes in drug abuse, endorsed the boot camp principle, although he said he was not aware of any states with such programs.

“Bennett is evidence that the pendulum is swinging the other way in his emphasis on law enforcement,” Dupont said. “The user has got to be penalized.

Backs Bennett Concept

“The idea of having socially imposed consequences for illegal drug use is a good one,” Dupont said in a telephone interview. “The thing I think useful for first offenders is community release with frequent urine testing. It’s a whole lot cheaper and easier, but the trouble with my idea is, what do you do with the guy who doesn’t come up clean? There’s where it might be a good idea to have Bennett’s boot camp come into play.”

Bennett emphasized during the televised interview that law enforcement must be given priority over treatment and education in dealing with the drug problem. He called it “intolerable” that in a lot of cities, “you have a one in eight or a one in 10 chance, if you commit a drug felony, of going to prison.”

“We haven’t tried law enforcement,” he said. “It’s the first step.”