BAUCUS, DRUG CZAR PLAN MEETING JAN. 20 IN BILLINGS ON METH ABUSE

U.S. Sen. Max Baucus and two of the nation's top drug enforcement
officials will hold a town hall forum in Billings this month to
discuss the growing abuse of methamphetamines in Montana.

Baucus, D-Mont., will be joined by Barry McCaffrey, director of the
Office of National Drug Control Policy, and McCaffrey's deputy
director, Dr. Donald Vereen. The meeting will be at the Lincoln Center
auditorium, at 7 p.m. Jan. 20.

Gov. Marc Racicot also is scheduled to take part.

Baucus said in a press release that the problem of methamphetamines is
growing acute. "Meth use is exploding in Montana, one of only eight
states identified by Gen. Barry McCaffrey ... as having 'serious meth
problems.' Meth-related arrests in Montana increased by 65 percent
between 1997 and 1998; the amount of the drug seized by law
enforcement increased by nearly 30 percent during that time."

Dr. Vereen and Baucus will meet the morning of Jan. 20 at Montana
State University-Billings with invited community representatives for
an hour and a half to discuss meth abuse.

The meeting will be broadcast live over the Montana Educational
Telecommunications Network (METNET) to audiences at Montana State
University, University of Montana, Montana Tech, Great Falls College
of Technology, MSU-Northern, Flathead Valley Community College,
Western Montana College, Montana DPHHS in Helena and Miles City
Community College.

Vereen has been deputy director of the Office of National Drug Control
Policy since 1998. He is a Harvard graduate and earned his medical
degree at Tufts University. He completed a residency in psychiatry at
Massachusetts General Hospital and holds a master's degree in public
health.

McCaffrey's schedule in Billings begins with a meeting with the the
Billings Gazette's Editorial Board, followed by a meeting with law
enforcement officials from the state, including the DEA and FBI, a
visit to the Rimrock Foundation, and ends with the public forum that
night.