So let me step into the breach and suggest a nominee. He's a popular Republican governor, the first in his state to be elected to two consecutive four-year terms, the only governor to complete the Ironman triathlon in Hawaii, a model of abstinence who doesn't drink and an expert on drug policy who, on the same day that McCaffrey held his rambling farewell press conference, oversaw the release of a report by a blue-ribbon drug policy panel detailing a comprehensive strategy for really tackling the drug problem.

Mr. Bush, I give you New Mexico's Gary Johnson. I understand you two are already friends -- in fact, I hear you guys had a darn good time this weekend when, with other Republican governors, he visited your ranch. Now, like you, he used to party. But, unlike you, once in office he didn't hypocritically introduce tougher drug sentences for first-time offenders and instead launched a crusade for sensible drug policies. As drug czar, he would have the courage and the passion -- and, yes, the compassion -- to lead the nation in a long-overdue debate on this critical subject.

According to one of the proposals Johnson has endorsed, individuals "convicted of minor drug-possession offenses would be given prevention and treatment rather than jail." A drug czar who is clear about the urgent need to shift from supply reduction to demand reduction is all the more important if Ashcroft survives the confirmation process. "A government which takes the resources that we would devote toward the interdiction of drugs," Ashcroft has said, "and converts them to treatment resources ... is a government that accommodates us at our lowest and least."

When the New Mexico Legislature convenes on Jan. 16, Johnson will introduce eight bills designed to reform his state's drug policies, including allowing the use of medical marijuana for terminally ill patients, decriminalization of possession of less than an ounce of marijuana and elimination of mandatory minimum sentences.

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