MCCAFFREY IN UTAH TO MAKE 2002 GAMES 'MOST DRUG-FREE'

PARK CITY -- Barry McCaffrey, the nation's "drug czar," is just as
worried about athletes taking drugs as he is about street corner
addicts.

The director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy is in Utah
this week to work with organizers of the 2002 Winter Games on making
the Salt Lake City Olympics "the most drug-free Games in history."

He told a group of Utah law enforcement officers Wednesday that
first-rate Olympic athletes on drugs are a threat to America's youth.

"And now girls are using steroids at almost the same rate as boys," he said.

When young competitors see their Olympic idols using
performance-enhancing drugs, McCaffrey said, often the youngsters
believe they must do the same.

Indeed, many top-flight competitors are convinced that if they do not
use drugs that make them stronger, quicker or give them more
endurance, they will lose -- even though the long-term effects of the
substances include liver damage, mood disorders and even death.

When the youngsters' coaches absorb that same message, he said, the
country is in trouble.

"Coaches, in many cases, have more credibility among young people
than parents do," McCaffrey said.

He cited statistics showing the number of young people on steroids
has increased by 50 percent over the past year.

America's youth are not the only ones threatened by Olympic doping.
The "purity" of athletic competition is diluted when not all athletes
are on a level playing field, McCaffrey said.

One American weightlifter told McCaffrey that in 13 years of
competition, the best he had managed was a third place.

"There's a huge suspicion among athletes that those who compete are
forced into a doping regimen," McCaffrey said. "The [weightlifter]
told us, 'You owe us a level playing field.' "

McCaffrey said that for the first time, equal chance for all athletes
is a possibility. With pressure from Great Britain, France, Germany
and the United States, the International Olympic Committee has agreed
to allow an independent World Anti-Doping Agency. That group will run
more than 5,000 random drug tests for U.S. athletes -- half of them
outside of competition.

McCaffrey welcomes the departure of IOC President Juan Antonio
Samaranch and described a need for "new blood."