US LAWMAKERS, OFFICIALS QUESTION ANTI-DRUG EFFORTS

WASHINGTON - US officials and lawmakers Tuesday questioned how
effective efforts against narco-trafficking are and agreed that
reducing demand is key to solving the problem.

Despite the record seizure of 13 tonnes of cocaine off the coast of
California announced Monday, US Coast Guard Commander Admiral James
Loy admitted in the Senate that only 10.6 percent of contraband drugs
that reached the United States last year had been intercepted.

He said drug traffickers use fast boats capable of reaching 45 knots,
whereas Coast Guard cutters cannot go faster than 25 knots.

Last year, the Coast Guard intercepted 60 metric tonnes of cocaine and
23 tonnes of marihuana, setting a record for the second consecutive
year.

"Final seizure and cocaine shipment data for FY 2000 show a seizure
rate of approximately 10.6 percent," said Loy.

"Despite a strong effort and extensive interagency and international
cooperation, we were unable to meet our 13 percent seizure rate target
in 2000," admitted the admiral, adding that intercept targets for 2002
and 2007 were unlikely to be met.

Loy said that after 26 years on the job he has learned that "the
solution will have to come from the demand side."

Speaking at a different hearing, US Secretary of State Colin Powell
also admitted that "the ultimate solution to this problem is demand
reduction."

Powell defended the US decision to allocate more than 800 million
dollars for an Andean initiative designed to combat drug trafficking
in Colombia and neighboring countries.

The program calls for promoting alternative crops, improving the
infrastructure, fighting corruption and strengthening democracy in
Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil and Venezuela.

The initiative is aimed at complimenting Plan Colombia of President
Andres Pastrana, which is backed by 1.3 billion dollars in US aid.

"I think we can make a case that this is a worthwhile investment in
our overall drug strategy but also in our overall development
strategy," Powell said of Plan Colombia.

Several senators, however, displayed skepticism, saying return on the
investment has been insignificant.

Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy pointed out that the price of cocaine
sold on the street in US cities had gone down, an indication that
larger amounts of the drug are making across the US border.

I see it more as a case where we're spending an awful lot of money
with wonderful intentions, sometimes dealing with people that we can
admire for their policies, like President Pastrana of Colombia," said
Leahy. "But the results are still, I believe, negligible."

California Senator Dianne Feinstein pledged the Coast Guard her full
support.

"For me, this is much more of a national security issue than the
missile defense initiative, that is not going to work anyway," she
said.