CZAR TAGS OHIO AS DRUG MECCA

DRUGS AREN'T JUST A BIG-CITY OR national problem any more, U.S. drug czar
Barry McCaffrey said Wednesday. He said the national drug problem has
mutated into local epidemics throughout the nation, including Ohio.

The state borders on Kentucky, which with Tennessee and West Virginia
produces more than 40 percent of the marijuana grown in this country. Ohio
also is within easy driving distance from New York- New Jersey, a
drug-trafficking hub. Ohio was among 31 drug locales Mr. McCaffrey
identified as high-intensity drug-trafficking areas due to receive
concerted attention from federal, state and local law-enforcement and
prosecution agencies.

Marijuana is not the threat that drugs such as cocaine and heroin are, but
the trafficking can be corrosive. Ohio can benefit from the focus if the
increased attention keeps pressure on the crime- sponsoring, hard-core
trade that corrupts where it goes and enslaves where it sells.