Bush Hails Drug War ‘Progress’; View Disputed

WASHINGTON —  President Bush said today that the United States “is making progress” in the war on drugs, but one congressman said the year-old program isn’t doing enough to help impoverished Americans.

Bush and Administration drug czar William J. Bennett emphasized the positive in speeches and a white paper released today, the first anniversary of the President’s announcement of his war on drugs.

“I think America is making progress against drugs and will continue to do so,” Bush said. But he acknowledged that the war is far from won.

Bennett said he was not declaring any victories but simply publicizing signs that the situation may not be as bleak as it once appeared.

But Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Committee on Government Operations, charged that “Bennett and President Bush cannot deny that we are losing the drug war in our inner cities.”