VA. RACE TURNS TO WAR ON DRUGS

U.S. Senate hopeful George Allen (R) accused incumbent Charles S. Robb
yesterday of having done nothing to advance America's war on drugs, saying
the two-term Virginia Democrat and the Clinton administration lack the
stature to wage the fight against illegal narcotics.

"The Clinton-Gore-Robb crew have brought no moral authority whatsoever to
this issue," Allen said. "They've done nothing."

Allen told the Kiwanis Club of Richmond that he would support new federal
programs and tougher penalties to stem the flow of drugs into the country,
and he sharpened those comments later in talking to reporters.

Robb replied through a spokesman that Allen, as a member of Congress in
1991, voted against the kind of new funding for drug interdiction he
proposed to the Kiwanians yesterday.

"Such hypocrisy," said James F. Mulhall, Robb's campaign manager. "In his
fleeting moment in Congress, when he had not just the moral authority but
the authority of a voting card as a member, he failed to act. He dropped
the ball."

Mulhall said Allen voted against drug enforcement measures, border patrols
and new agents that would have cost a combined $100 million, as well as
other efforts to combat drugs in schools, the centerpiece of Allen's
address yesterday.

Since the Senate campaign began in earnest this year, Robb and Allen have
concentrated mostly on education and taxes, but the two former governors
dwelt yesterday on ways to control crime.

Robb focused on firearm restrictions, meeting in Vienna with a dozen
activists who plan to push for new gun controls Sunday at the Million Mom
March on the Mall.

Robb offered few specifics on how he would stem gun crime but told the
group he favors "common-sense firearm safety."

"I will do my best to try to carry your message," Robb said.

Allen and Robb largely disagree on gun issues, with Robb generally favoring
gun control measures and Allen generally opposing them. The two agree on
trigger locks to make guns safer, Robb said.

Otherwise, "we're on opposite sides," Robb said. Later, he told reporters:
"You do not have an unlimited, unfettered right to purchase any gun at any
time, with any magazine capacity."

Joan Fredericks, whose husband, U.S. Marine Band trombonist Dale H.
Fredericks, was shot to death in a Fairfax County car theft in 1993, showed
Robb, a former Marine, a family picture taken before the shooting.

"This is what my family used to look like," she said before switching to a
picture of her and her young son. "This is what my family looks like now."

In Richmond, Allen said he would push for a federal program modeled on the
local Exile initiative against illegal guns, which is credited with helping
to cut record homicide rates in the capital and other urban centers. Felony
convictions for gun crimes under Exile carry mandatory five-year sentences,
and Allen said the same could work against illegal drugs.

Allen said the federal government should be more active against drugs, but
he added that Washington could let local agencies plot strategy and "should
not dictate how every program should be run."

Allen said he was proud of his record as governor, when an increasingly
Republican legislature abolished parole and altered Virginia's juvenile
justice system at his request. He said he wanted to increase dramatically
the mandatory prison sentences for those convicted of selling drugs to minors.

"We ought to punish these pushers as severely as we would if they forced
our children to take rat poison," Allen said.

Robb could have been far more aggressive in battling drugs, Allen said. "I
haven't detected any strong resolve, any strong leadership or any moral
authority or effort whatsoever to make this a front-and-center issue,"
Allen said.