Clinton Unveils New Anti-Drug Effort

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AllPolitics, April 29) -- President Bill Clinton, criticized in some quarters for letting the nation's anti-drug efforts wither, outlined a new, five-part national drug control strategy today in a talk here (288K WAV sound).

"While it is true that in the end this work has to be done student by student, family by family, school by school, neighborhood by neighborhood, we must acknowledge that the nation's government has a role to play," Clinton told an audience of 700 students at George Washington Carver Middle School in this Miami.

"We still have a responsibility to help people in American make the most out of their own lives ... to feel secure in their homes, on their streets and in their schools."

The president's speech, aimed at restoring the Clinton Administration's leadership in the war on drugs, emphasized the need to improve anti-drug education and reduce illegal drug use among young people (128K WAV sound).

Other goals of the president's new policy will include cutting drug-related crime; increasing funds for treatment of drug abusers and other steps to cut the health and welfare costs of drugs; tightening up on the flow of drugs on land, at sea and in the air; and cutting off the source of drugs, both internally and internationally.

"Our challenge right now is young people and crime," retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey, White House drug policy chief, said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." "Those are the two places where it seems to me we've got to get moving."

McCaffrey, who assumed his post several weeks ago amid charges that the administration's drug policy was a failure, said that while the number of Americans using illegal drugs dropped from 22 million people 15 years ago to 11 million today, and that cocaine use is down 30 percent in the past three years, there has been a sharp rise this decade in young people smoking marijuana.

McCaffrey said the administration will continue to support drug courts, which give first-time abusers a right to stay in school or jobs and get treatment rather than serve a prison sentence. Drug courts, he said, cost $1,000 per person rather than the $15,000 it costs to keep a drug abuser locked up for a year.

The Clinton Administration has asked Congress for $15.1 billion in the budget year starting October 1 to fight drugs, with 9 percent going for interdiction and 55 percent for law enforcement and prisons. While punishment is important, McCaffrey said, "at the end of the day, the problem will not be in more ferocious penalties but in more effective education."

Republicans and some Democrats have been critical of Clinton's actions on drugs, saying he has hurt anti-drug efforts by cutting staff in the drug office and trying to shift money from interdiction to prevention programs.

The new strategy includes several objectives:

Motivate youngsters against drugs
Surveys show increased use of drug use among young people, with marijuana the most common. The administration wants to highlight what it believes are successful efforts to keep the country's 39 million youth under the age of 10 from getting hooked.
Increase safety by reducing drug-related crime
More than a million people each year are arrested in drug-related cases. Drug crime and gang violence are rampant in many neighborhoods. The new strategy emphasizes programs like Community Oriented Policing Services, which aims to put more police officers on the streets. It also includes more coordination among federal programs targeting youth crime.
Reduce the costs of illegal drug use relating to health, welfare and crime
The administration estimates drug use costs $67 billion a year, with most of that from crime. About one-third of convicts committed crimes while under the influence of drugs. The administration will push for an increase in funding for federal and state prisoners and increased funding for treatment aimed at "breaking the cycle," by linking criminal justice and drug treatment.
Interdiction - targeting the drug threat on land, at sea and in the air
Clinton's strategy aims at increasing customs and border patrol programs that target the flow of drugs over land. He also aims to combine the resources of federal law enforcement agencies and other nations, including those in the Caribbean.
Cut drugs at the source
In addition to working within the United States to cut marijuana and methamphetamine production, the administration also will work internationally to curb the drug trade as a threat to democratic stability.

From CNN's Pat Neal and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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