MOST SEE WAR ON DRUGS AS A FAILURE, POLL FINDS

WASHINGTON--Nearly three-quarters of Americans say that the United States is
losing its war on drugs and that the appetite for drugs is so great the
problem will never disappear, a poll by the Pew Research Center for the
People and the Press showed Wednesday.

"The real lesson here . . . is we have to give a lot more attention and
connect with the public about what's possible. You can't wave a magic wand
and make it go away," said Maureen Steinbruner, president of the Center for
National Policy, which publicized the report.

The Washington-based Pew researchers polled 1,500 people in February and
found 74% consider the U.S. campaign against drugs a failure. The poll had a
margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

The poll also found that 68% of those questioned thought Latin America would
never crack down on the problem despite U.S. drugs-related aid packages
totaling $700 million a year.

More than 40% thought the Bush administration should reduce the amount of
U.S. money given to Colombia and other countries fighting drug producers.

U.S. Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft made renewing the war on drugs one of his
priorities when he took office in February.

With 1 in 5 Americans admitting their families had been affected by drug
use, the poll found the public inclined to favor more compassionate
treatment of drug offenders.

More than half said drug use should be treated as a disease.

Although still in favor of maintaining traditional tough approaches, such as
drug bans and jail terms, the public is more skeptical of them, the poll
showed.

Steinbruner of the Center for National Policy agreed that there is a role
for interdiction and imprisonment but that other approaches should be
examined.

Steinbruner said the government should consider establishing compulsory
treatment programs for drug abusers as an alternative to incarceration.

The Pew Research Center is an independent opinion research group that
studies attitudes toward public policy issues.