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  Utahn Tapped for Drug Office
Posted by FoM on July 17, 2001 at 08:35:48 PT
By Greg Burton, The Salt Lake Tribune 
Source: Salt Lake Tribune 

justice President Bush wants Iron County Attorney Scott Burns to be the next deputy director for state and local affairs in the Office of National Drug Control Policy, an agency headed by the nation's drug czar.

Burns, a native of Cedar City, was first elected to county office in 1987 and helped launch a multicounty Narcotics Task Force, still operating today, which has seized more than $2 million in asset forfeitures from narcotics traffickers.

"We may be a rural jurisdiction but we've seen our share of narcotics," said Burns, whose county sits along the heavily traveled east-west I-70 and north-south I-15 drug trafficking corridors. "I've prosecuted hundreds of drug offenses, from minor offenses to what was over 1,000 pounds of cocaine."

Burns' appointment requires approval from the Senate Judiciary Committee, which may take several months. The committee has yet to endorse Bush's May 10 nomination of John Walters to replace ex-czar Gen. Barry McCaffrey at the helm of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).

Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch is the ranking Republican on Judiciary.

"I have had the opportunity to work with many people in the fight to eradicate the scourge of drugs in our society," Hatch said. "Scott Burns has played a significant role in this fight."

Burns, who has never met Bush, said his experience at the front line of the drug war probably appealed to the president. "I'm somebody in the trenches."

Said Hatch: "He has seen firsthand the impact drugs have had on our neighborhoods and families."

Source: Salt Lake Tribune (UT)
Author: Greg Burton, The Salt Lake Tribune
Published: Tuesday, July 17, 2001
Copyright: 2001 The Salt Lake Tribune
Contact: letters@sltrib.com
Website: http://www.sltrib.com/

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Comment #1 posted by FoM on July 17, 2001 at 09:14:55 PT
Troy Woman is Picked To Help Fight Drug War
Oakland News Briefs:

Source: Detroit Free Press
Published: July 17, 2001
Copyright: 2001 Detroit Free Press

By States News Service

President George W. Bush has tapped a Troy woman to be a top lieutenant in the war on drugs.

The White House on Monday announced the selection of Mary Ann Solberg to be the deputy director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, home to the nation's drug czar.

Solberg, 59, is the executive director of the Troy Community Coalition, a nonprofit organization made up of business, government and community leaders that seeks to reduce drug and alcohol use by teenagers. She also heads the Coalition of Healthy Communities, a regional antidrug group.

Solberg said it was hard to leave the coalition. "I love this program. I will miss it very much," she said.

If the Senate confirms her nomination, Solberg will report to Bush's choice for drug czar, Nolan Walters. Walters, also a Michigan native, has come under fire by some for emphasizing long jail terms for drug abusers over prevention and treatment.

During her 10 years at the Troy coalition, Solberg focused on treatment for drug addicts and discouraging teens from trying drugs.

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