MCCAIN UNVEILS ANTI-DRUG PLAN IN SOUTH CAROLINA

COLUMBIA, S.C. (Reuters) - Sen. John McCain,
returning to the state that is vital to his Republican presidential
campaign, on Tuesday called on fellow veterans and teenagers to join
him in a war against drugs.

Speaking to students at South Carolina's Criminal Justice Academy, the
senator from Arizona pledged to form a nationwide program to pair
troubled teens with veterans who could teach them "the virtues of
discipline, civic responsibility, integrity and character."

McCain, a former Navy pilot and Vietnam War POW, also vowed to
incorporate the war on drugs into his foreign policy, particularly to
cut off the supply of cocaine and battle "narco-terrorists" in Colombia.

"The biggest threat in our hemisphere is no longer communist
dictators, but drug lords trafficking in death, civil disorder and
destruction of democracy -- financed with U.S. drug profits," he said.

McCain delivered his address as he resumed campaigning in South
Carolina, where has climbed from more than 20 percentage points behind
Texas Gov. George W. Bush to running neck-and-neck
in advance of the crucial Feb. 19 primary.