ILLEGAL DRUG USE IS DOWN 50 PERCENT, REPORT SAYS

Clinton Laments That Some Drugs Are Becoming Increasingly Popular

Illegal drug use in the United States has dropped 50 percent in the last
two decades, but the war against drugs is not over because millions of
Americans still take illegal substances, the White House drug policy
director said Thursday.

President Bill Clinton praised the recent signs of progress in curbing drug
use but also bemoaned the fact that "drugs continue to exact a tremendous
toll" on young people dabbling in steroids and "club drugs," such as ecstasy.

In receiving the final report from his drug policy adviser, Barry
McCaffrey, Clinton said he was glad that the report showed that
drug-related murders were at their lowest level in 10 years and that drug
use by young people 12 to 17 was down 21 precent since 1997.

But, he said, studies also are providing disturbing evidence of increased
use of steroids, ecstasy and other drugs. "Too many young people are still
using alcohol, tobacco and illegal substances," Clinton said.

"We must never give up on making our children's futures safe and drug-free.
Despite our progress, drugs continue to exact a tremendous toll on our nation."

McCaffrey, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, told
reporters that "a lot remains to be done" despite the progress cited.

"There is no question that we are still looking at a U.S. society in which
6 percent of us last month used an illegal drug - 14 million Americans," he
said.

McCaffrey noted that drug education and prevention efforts had not kept up
with the onslaught of new drugs such as ecstasy.

Those who use ecstasy normally experience feelings of euphoria and an
increased desire for social interaction. They also experience dramatic
increases in blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature.

Use of ecstasy, once mainly an East Coast drug, has spread rapidly across
the country, McCaffrey said, with an "explosive increase in exposure among
our children."

"They think it's a hug drug, it's a dance-all-night, feel-good drug,"
McCaffrey said. But ecstasy also may permanently impair the brain's
neurochemical functions, McCaffrey said, "never mind the possibility of
dropping dead the first time you use it."

McCaffrey also noted that steroid use was up, particularly among youths who
want "to get that slightly ripped look ... to improve their chance of
getting selected for Little League baseball, or high school diving, or track."

And he said treatment remained a goal of the National Drug Control
Strategy, pointing out that chronic drug users in the United States tend to
be employed and stable but view treatment as a stigma.

"We've got 5 million chronically addicted Americans. If we don't have them
in effective drug treatment programs, we can't ever break the cycle of
crime, violence, accidents, health costs that come from drug abuse,"
McCaffrey said in an interview Thursday on CBS' "The Early Show."

McCaffrey, who is stepping down today, said he was confident that the
incoming administration of George W. Bush was aware of the importance of
treatment.

Ethan Nadelmann, director of the New York-based Lindesmith Center Drug
Policy Foundation, said in choosing McCaffrey's successor, President-elect
Bush should focus on "a new bottom line" for drug policy that emphasizes
reducing the consequences of drug use - death, disease, crime and overall
suffering - rather than focusing on cutting the total number of drug users.

"The war on drugs persists because most politicians dare not admit that the
strategy itself is fundamentally flawed," Nadelmann said.

McCaffrey's report said curtailing illegal drug use required an approach
much like the fight against cancer - "prevention coupled with treatment
accompanied by research."

"The moment we believe ourselves victorious and drop our guard, drug abuse
will resurface in the next generation. To reduce the demand for drugs,
prevention must be ongoing," the report says.