Idaho names first drug czar

BOISE – A former interim Boise police chief and current state Board of Correction member has been named Idaho’s first drug czar, coordinating drug enforcement, treatment and education efforts among state agencies, local governments and Native American tribes.

Jim Tibbs, 59, was introduced Tuesday by Gov. Jim Risch. Tibbs is also a Boise city councilman. He said he’ll remain on the council but resign from the Correction Board.

Tibbs said his first task will be to meet with the heads of different agencies, including Health and Welfare, the Idaho State Police and the Department of Correction, as well as the Department of Education. He said he’ll try to identify what programs are working, in particular to fight methamphetamine’s advance in Idaho.

“This isn’t just a state issue – it’s going to be a community issue,” he added.

Last year, an Idaho Office of Performance Evaluations review of state-sponsored treatment concluded efforts were “fragmented.” It called for improving management of drug programs that cost about $28 million in 2005.

According to the state Department of Correction, roughly 52 percent of Idaho inmates say methamphetamine abuse was the primary reason they went to prison.

In addition, state welfare officials have said four-fifths of foster child placements result from meth-using parents.

Tibbs stopped short of saying whether the state should spend more money to help pay for local drug-treatment centers.

“We’ll see,” he said, while conceding there’s a “void” in the system.

Tibbs spent 34 years with the Boise Police Department and resigned in 2004 when city officials passed him by for the permanent chief’s job.

With the creation of the drug czar office, Idaho follows the lead of states including Iowa, where that state’s director of the Office of Drug Control Policy has lobbied for more federal money to fight methamphetamine abuse.

That’ll be part of Tibbs’ job, too.

Risch said Tibbs will act as his liaison, initially performing an inventory of federal and state programs in Idaho that aim to reduce substance abuse.

Tibbs, who is being paid a $98,000 annual salary, will serve until at least Dec. 31, the end of Risch’s seven-month term.