Drug Czar John P. Walters Tesifies to a Skeptical Senate Committee

By Doug McVay
Common Sense for Drug Policy

June 19, 2002

Good Afternoon All,

Just back from listening to Czar Walters testilie before a Senate appropriations subcommittee -- our thanks to Nick Thimmesch of NORML for tipping us off to the hearing. The following is a short report:

The hearing started off very well, with statements by subcommittee chair Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and ranking Republican member Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO). Dorgan appeared to be highly skeptical of the ad campaign, though he indicated that at least at present he supports continuing it. Campbell was much more negative, and seemed ready to support scrapping the thing entirely. Campbell raised a number of issues in his opening statement, including a mention of the attempt by ONDCP to use the media campaign to influence ballot measure votes in three states.

Walters then gave his testimony (a copy of which is not yet available from ONDCP's website, presumably it will soon be posted, fortunately a paper copy was distributed at the hearing). Walters admitted that the program wasn't as effective as he would like, though it did have great brand recognition. His testimony essentially was a re-packaging of his earlier statements -- some negatives from the study were omitted, the positive parent responses were highlighted, and he blamed any failures on inadequate testing.

He presented four changes to the campaign which he promised would change the program:

1: "All TV ads will be thoroughly tested (qualitatively and quantitatively) before they are aired, based on a higher standard that would be developed after consulting with experts and our pro bono partners."

2: "Retain the general focus on youth aged 9-18, but amend the targeted core communication efforts to focus on 14-16 year olds."

3: "The Campaign will increase its efforts against marijuana -- the primary illegal drug used by youth."

4: "Work with our pro bono partners to streamline the advertising development process and build in more ONDCP involvement, as recommended by the Task Force. Continue to use alternate means to fill critical unmet and important Campaign needs."

Both senators Dorgan and Campbell were highly skeptical of Walters' claim that the ads hadn't been adequately tested and studied. They kept coming back to the money the campaign has burned through, arguing that after 5 years and a billion dollars if an evaluation says the thing doesn't work, maybe it's time to rethink it or scrap it altogether. Dorgan also went after Walters for continuing to work with Ogilvy-Mather in spite of the overbilling scandal.

Throughout the questioning, Walters seemed very uncomfortable. His responses sounded panicked at times. Dorgan and Campbell suggested that rather than continue the media campaign, the money could be redirected to treatment, or real prevention programs, possibly given out as block grants to the states and communities directly. I found Walters' response interesting, he spoke against block grants as being too possibly wasteful and ineffective. He and the senators then praised the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area funding mechanism that ONDCP administers. (btw, my fear is that Walters will use the millions in HIDTA funding ONDCP gives out each year to get favors from members of Congressional committees, possibly including approval of the media campaign.)

Walters promised that everything will be different in one year. Campbell tried to pin him down, to say that if things haven't turned around in one year that he would support scrapping the campaign, but Walters would not go that far. Dorgan indicated that he wasn't opposed to funding the program for another year.

A copy of CSDP's news release on Walters' appearance can be found at: (need Adobe Acrobat)
http://www.csdp.org/news/news/pr061902.pdf

Have a great night,
Doug

--
Doug McVay
Editor, Drug War Facts
Research Director/Projects Coordinator
Common Sense for Drug Policy
1327 Harvard Street NW (lower level), Washington, DC 20009
202-332-9101 -- fax 202-518-4028
http://www.csdp.org/ -- http://www.drugwarfacts.org/
dmcvay@csdp.org