LATIN LEADERS: U.S. DRUG WAR FAILED

WASHINGTON (AP) - As delegates from 34 nations assembled for what is
billed as the first drug summit for the Western Hemisphere, U.S. and
Latin leaders said Wednesday that the war on drugs is being lost and
new strategies are needed.

``As you meet to develop a hemispheric drug strategy, it is time to
admit that after two decades, the U.S. war on drugs - both in Latin
America and in the United States - is a failure,'' according to a
letter that prominent Americans and Latin Americans wrote to delegates
attending the conference.

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy and the
Organization of American States are sponsoring the event, which ends
on Friday. The meeting is being held to exchange ideas on drug
challenges expected in the first decade of the 21st century.

``This conference provides an opportunity to share our ideas and
strategies for stopping the flow of illegal drugs,'' said Barry
McCaffrey, President Clinton's chief drug policy adviser.

The letter urged officials at the conference to focus on policies to
reduce consumption, expand drug treatment programs and promote
economic development as a way to decrease the reliance on drug income
among people who produce drugs.

McCaffrey's office said it hadn't seen the letter but countered that
anti-drug efforts netted a 13 percent drop in drug use among U.S.
youths last year.

``What they are protesting is exactly what we have been doing, so we
find the protest somewhat disingenuous,'' said McCaffrey spokesman Bob
Weiner. ``If they look at our national strategy, Goal No. 1 is to
educate and enable young people to reject illegal drugs.''

The letter was released at a press conference organized by the
Washington-based Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, which pushes for
reform on crime issues.

Among those who signed the letter were jurists, doctors, artists,
religious leaders and three former Latin presidents - Belisario
Betancur of Colombia, Violeta Chamorro of Nicaragua and Nobel Peace
Prize Laureate Oscar Arias of Costa Rica - as well as fellow laureate
Adolfo Perez Esquivel, Argentine human rights activist.

``The escalation of a militarized drug war in Colombia and elsewhere
in the Americas threatens regional stability, undermines efforts
towards demilitarization and democracy and has put U.S. arms and money
into the hands of corrupt officials and military ... units involved in
human rights abuses,'' the letter said.