Monitor Breakfast: John P. Walters

"You hear different opinions about this. The reason you hear different opinions is that we don't have perfect knowledge of what is actually flowing so sometimes it is hard to tell the difference on the street level for some period of time because there is a certain amount in the pipeline. ...We certainly don't see reports immediately after Sept. 11 of critical shortages on the street which would be an immediate and most prominent indicator. We have seen more seizures at the border we also have seen more seizures at airports because of increased airport security. And I think there is a general consensus -- although there is always a debate about these things -- that there is less effort to move drugs through the airport because of tighter security and some border areas...But what we are trying to do is integrate what we are doing with the changes in homeland security so we get a little more stable and consistent interdiction effort along the borders."

"We did extensive focus group testing - more than any of the more than 200 kinds of ads that have been part of the ad campaign since its inception. We found that it had an extremely powerful effect on both young people, young adults, and parents. We didn't expect parents - parents talked about how this would be an important and powerful way to talk to the young people. The dimension that I think is important here is that we have done a lot of ads taking about the harm drugs do to you. Young people have some concern about their well being but they are at an age where the feel more invulnerable sometimes. So these ads appeal to their idealism -what do you want to be seeing in the world. "

"In order to effectively control drug production in this hemisphere, we have to stimulate other economic growth and growth in the producing countries. We are doing more to destabilize illicit trade in places like Columbia ....we can't successfully create and expand the kind of partnership we need to have in the region if we are not going to expand trade. We understand that the drug control policy and our cooperation with them on fighting drugs and drug organizations is ongoing. But the concomitant part of that for bringing poor farmers and developing those countries and their democratic institutions is economic development, and that is what the president is going to focus on."

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