DRUG WAR EFFORTS IN NEED OF REFORM

As my five-year tenure as director of the White House Office of National
Drug Control Policy draws to a close, I depart knowing we increased federal
spending on prevention by 55 percent over the past four years. We funded
anti-drug coalitions in 307 communities across the country and launched an
unprecedented five-year, $2-billion anti- drug media campaign.

This public health communication effort, conducted by the Partnership for a
Drug-Free America and this agency, is a model of cooperation between the
public and private sectors. Vulnerable youth are now receiving accurate
information about the dangers posed by illegal drugs, and more parents are
involved in substance abuse prevention. Use of illegal drugs by adolescents
has declined 21 percent since 1997.

The consequences of substance abuse are still devastating. We estimate at
out 50,000 drug-related deaths occur each year. This figure includes more
than 14,000 drug-induced deaths plus mortalities from drug-related causes.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse estimates that illegal drugs account
for $110- billion in expenses and lost revenue each year. The public health
burden is shared by all of society, directly or indirectly.

No wonder a recent Gallup poll found that 83 percent of the public view
drugs as a "very" or "extremely" serious problem for the country.

Nevertheless, the number of Americans who believe we are gaining ground
against illegal drugs is higher than at any point since Gallup started
asking the question in 1972. A consensus is emerging about what needs to be
done.

America has learned we can't arrest our way out of the drug problem. We've
gone to extremes in limiting judicial discretion and over relying on
mandatory sentences. The inequitable nature of federal cocaine sentencing
laws is another problem among people convicted on crack cocaine charges, 90
percent are African-American. This disparity has fostered a perception of
racial injustice within the criminal justice system. We must change from a
predominantly punitive approach to a practical system that provides
approximately 600,000 convicts released each year with a realistic chance
of reintegration into society.

That's why we brought together public health and public safety
professionals from all branches of government to fashion sensible policies
to break the cycle of drugs and crime. Transitional support for convicts
must involve coordination among correctional treatment and other services
and rehabilitation programs, like education and job training, parole
supervision, halfway houses and self-help, peer-group initiatives that aid
in rehabilitation.

This approach is the only way to stop the revolving door for jails.

Given that chronic drug users are caught up in the criminal justice system,
we must continue expanding coerced abstinence programs --- such as drug
courts, which have grown from just 12 in 1994 to more than 700 in operation
or planning today. Nonviolent drug-law offenders who represent minimal
threats to society should be able to avoid conviction by becoming drug free.

Unfortunately, the policy discussion over drug-law enforcement has been
distorted by the misperception that individuals are being locked up
willy-nilly for minor possession offenses. During fiscal year 1998, only 33
federal defendants were imprisoned for offenses involving less than 5,000
grams of marijuana; 196 criminals were sentenced for crimes involving
1-million to 3-million grams of marijuana. Only 55 federal defendants were
jailed for crimes involving 25 grams of powder cocaine or less. During this
time, 749 federal defendants were sentenced for crimes involving 5,000
grams or more of cocaine, with 249 of these cases involving more than
150,000 grams.

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, more than 70 percent of
222,100 state inmates serving time for drug offenses in July 1997 were
incarcerated for drug trafficking as opposed to possession. More than 82
percent of the total state prison drug-offender population had prior
criminal histories - one in four were violent recidivists. In Florida
(according to its "drug czar'), only 40 of the more than 68,000 prisoners
in the corrections system in July 1999 were incarcerated for a primary
offense of marijuana possession. All had criminal histories; more than 60
percent had been in prison previously.

We know that as a nation we are not doing enough to close the treatment gap
- - defined as the difference between individuals who would benefit from
treatment and those receiving it. We estimate that about 5-million drug
users need immediate treatment while just 2-million receive it. Over the
last decade, spending on substance-abuse prevention and treatment rose to
an estimated $12.6-billion annually. Of this amount, public spending is
estimated at $7.6-billion, with the federal government contributing about
half this figure.

This agency has sought to address many of the factors limiting treatment,
including restrictive Policies and regulations and incomplete, knowledge of
best practices. We have been staunch advocates for methadone therapy, which
now reaches less than 25 percent Of the opiate addicts who could benefit
from it. We persuaded the president to sign an executive order requiring
health insurance policies for 9- million federal employees and family
members to cover substance abuse treatment. Our five-year planning budget
calls for an additional $25- billion for treatment. However, much more must
be done by state and local governments as well as than private sector.
Communities must develop the public-health infrastructure to deal with
addicted sub-populations. This problem cannot be resolved by the federal
government, alone.

Some question the need for continued focus on the supply side of the
equation, believing the answer, to the drug problem lies exclusively, in
prevention and treatment. The phenomenon of Ecstasy is instructive in this
regard. The University of Michigan's Monitoring the future study reports
that Ecstasy use by,, 10th- and 12th-graders increased 40 percent over the
past year while among eighth-graders, use increased 80 percent. The survey
also noted the largest increase in perceived availability of any drug in
its 26 years of canvassing. The supply of Ecstasy is driving up demand.

Keeping illegal and dangerous substances out of the country is uniquely
federal responsibility. Illegal drugs constitute less than one part in a
million of total imports Finding them is like looking for a needle in a
haystack, yet about a third of cocaine destined for U.S. markets is
interdicted each year. Cocaine, heroin, Ecstasy, marijuana and
methamphetamine would be much more readily available were if not for the
concerted law enforcement effort to suppress trafficking. No community
favors unfettered access to dangerous, addictive substances.

Over the past five years, we have reinvigorated the national response to
the drug problem. President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore have
strongly supported our work. Our initiatives have also been advanced by a
broad bipartisan congressional coalition. The involvement of governors,
mayors, law enforcement, agencies, educators, coaches, athletes, corporate
America, the advertising and entertainment industries, and private citizens
has been instrumental in focusing renewed attention on illegal drugs. As a
society, we've learned that we can't afford to take our eye off this ball.

Barry McCaffrey is retiring director of the Office of National Drug Control
Policy.

Scripps Howard News Service