MCCAFFREY WILL BE MISSED

The person who replaces Gen. Barry McCaffrey as the nation's drug czar will
have big shoes to fill.

McCaffrey, a retired Army general who has been President Clinton's director
of the Office of National Drug Control Policy since 1996, has resigned that
position effective Jan. 6.

He has brought a military, no-nonsense approach to the post that has served
the country well. McCaffrey has not only been dedicated to reducing the
number of illegal drug users, especially among youth, but in eliminating
performance-enhancing drugs from sports, particularly the Olympic Games.

McCaffrey's harsh views of the International Olympic Committee as the
governing body for dope control — last year he dismissed the IOC as an
arrogant organization that shouldn't be allowed to police the use of drugs
by athletes — resulted in significant change.

The new World Anti-Doping Agency, though it is led by an IOC official and
funded by the IOC, gained credibility with its tough measures at the
recently completed Summer Olympic Games in Sydney.

And the new U.S. Antidoping Agency plans to conduct more than 5,000 tests
on athletes in the next year, at least half of them unannounced checks. The
goal of Terry Madden, chief executive officer of the U.S. Antidoping
Agency, is to clean up the Games by the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City.

For far too long athletes have used illegal drugs in Olympics and other
competitions with near impunity, due to the lack of effective tests and
failure by the IOC to focus on the problem. Thanks in large measure to the
efforts of McCaffrey, that is changing.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy coordinates efforts among state
and local law enforcement officers and health officials and federal agencies.

For it to be effective in the war against drugs requires a strong leader.
Barry McCaffrey has been such a man. His successor needs to follow suit.