CHIEF OF DRUG AGENCY TO STEP DOWN

Ex-general To Exit In Early January

WASHINGTON -- Barry McCaffrey, the military strategist and commander who
has directed the nation's war on drugs for nearly five years, plans to
leave in early January. He says he's considering teaching offers, including
a return to West Point.

"I'm enormously proud of what we've done," McCaffrey said Monday. "We had
exploding rates of adolescent drug use, and we've reduced it."

His resignation as director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy
is effective Jan. 6, two weeks before President Clinton leaves office. By
law, McCaffrey's term is indefinite. He said announcing his intentions now
gives the presidential hopefuls a clean slate to shape their policies on
drug abuse.

"It's important for me to put up the notion that my name's off the table,"
he said.

McCaffrey, a retired Army general, has been Clinton's director of national
drug control policy since 1996 and was head of the U.S. Southern Command.
In the mid-1970s, he was an associate professor at West Point, teaching
courses in U.S. government and national security.

"In the nearly five years (Gen.) McCaffrey has led our war on drugs, we
have made significant progress both at home and abroad," Clinton said in a
statement.

Critics, who include Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush, have
said the Clinton administration undermined McCaffrey's efforts.

McCaffrey dismissed that and rejected any suggestion that he's leaving out
of frustration.

"We've taken important strides in addressing a problem that costs our
society 52,000 deaths and more than $100 billion a year."

The White House job was created in 1988 by Congress to reduce the number of
illegal drug users -- especially among youth.

The office coordinates efforts among federal agencies and state and local
law enforcement officers and health officials.

Some critics said Monday that McCaffrey's policies were harsh and costly.

"His fight against medical marijuana has caused untold pain and suffering
among the seriously ill," said Chuck Thomas of the Washington-based
Marijuana Policy Project, which seeks to decriminalize the drug.

McCaffrey also backed rigorous drug-testing programs in sports and a plan
in which the office once reviewed television scripts for anti-drug messages
before the shows aired.

McCaffrey also has been overseeing a $1.3 billion U.S. aid package to
Colombia that includes combat helicopters, weapons and training by U.S.
Special Forces to stanch the flow of drugs out of the country.