The President’s Drug Plan : 2 Governors Say Public Attitudes, Not Money, Will Halt Drugs

Two governors, releasing a survey of state anti-drug initiatives Tuesday, said that more money may not solve the drug problem because values must be changed first.

Delaware Gov. Michael N. Castle and Florida Gov. Bob Martinez, both Republicans, made their remarks just hours before President Bush announced his $7.9-billion strategy for America’s war on drugs.

“Money is not the complete answer to the drug problem,” said Castle, chairman of the National Governors’ Assn.’s Justice and Public Safety Committee. “The whole way we look at drugs is even more important, perhaps.”

He said that spending more money will not necessarily solve the problem “because sometimes you create so many programs that it becomes somewhat superfluous, and you start to spin your wheels a lot because there’s a lot of duplication and ineffective programs.”

The governors refused to list anti-drug programs that are not working. But they said that the survey by the National Governors’ Assn. found many states developing “innovative” programs.

Some programs include establishing “drug-free” school zones, prohibiting the use of beepers and other electronic communications devices in schools, establishing “drug-free” public housing programs, increasing penalties for recreational or casual drug users and programs for intravenous drug abusers to curb the spread of AIDS.

“There’s been a lot of trial and error out there,” Castle said, “and the time has come, and the public demands, that we work on this problem and not politicize it.”

However, some Democrats, police officials and federal drug agents have scoffed at the $7.9 billion provided in Bush’s plan, saying the figure needs to be doubled or tripled to make a dent.

“If Congress feels that more money is needed, then Congress should come forward and try to determine where they can get more money,” Castle said, adding that states should have flexibility in how they spend anti-drug dollars.

Although noting his state’s problem with drug importation, Martinez agreed with Castle that changing people’s values about drugs is perhaps more important than spending more money to deter drug sales.

“It’s clear that money alone isn’t going to do it,” Martinez said. “It takes a change in attitude, and that’s why it’s so important that the White House is now involved, because they set the tone for the nation in terms of what they perceive to be an issue.”