DRUG CHIEF LAMENTS RISE IN CLUB DRUGS BY YOUTHS

WASHINGTON -- President Clinton praised recent signs of progress in curbing
drug use on Thursday but 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, Clinton said he
was glad that the report showed drug-related murders are at their lowest
level in 10 years and that drug use by young people aged 12-17 is down 21
percent 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," he said. "Despite our progress, drugs continue to exact a
tremendous toll on our nation."

Barry McCaffrey, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy,
noted that drug education and prevention efforts have not kept up with the
onslaught of new drugs such as ecstasy, known chemically as
methylenedioxymenthylamphetamine, or MDMA.

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 MDMA, 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 is 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 remains 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 is confident the incoming
Bush administration is 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 requires 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 said.

Among the other elements of the drug control strategy:

Shielding air, land and sea frontiers from the drug threat.

Breaking foreign and domestic drug sources of supply.