DOLE PROMISES ANTI-DRUG FIGHT

WASHINGTON (AP) - Taking a stand at the Mexican border, Republican
presidential candidate Elizabeth Dole today promised a strong fight
against illegal drugs and an unhesitating cutoff of U.S. aid to any
foreign country that fails to cooperate.

She also condemned President Clinton's recent veto of the Republican
Congress' attempt to block the legalization of medical marijuana in
the District of Columbia.

``President Elizabeth Dole will lead a crusade with the goal of a
drug-free America,'' Dole said in remarks prepared for delivery at
Borderfield State Park on the California-Mexico border.

``I do not and will not - under any circumstances - support the
legalization of marijuana or any other drug,'' she said. As for
Clinton, ``he lacks the moral authority to send a message that drugs
aren't cool,'' Dole added.

The get-tough address is her third in a rollout of what aides call the
four cornerstones of her campaign: education, national defense, drugs
and, still to come, taxes.

Her campaign hoped Dole's focus on illegal drugs would earn her credit
for leadership on an issue that voters do not rank as a priority
public opinion polls.

``Pundits and pollsters tell me that drug abuse is not an important
issue. But I don't get my passion from polling,'' Dole said. She noted
studies that show a doubling of teen drug use since 1992, the year
Clinton was elected.

On the international front, Dole said Clinton has rendered hollow the
United States' ``certification'' process, whereby foreign countries
with lax counter-narcotic efforts are supposed to be punished with
economic sanctions.

In March, Clinton certified Mexico as an ally in fight against drugs
despite its disappointing record of extraditing of drug criminals and
a declines last year in cocaine and heroin seizures.

``It is time we throw down the gauntlet and cease timid negotiations
with foreign governments that cannot or will not put a stop to the
production or smuggling of drugs,'' Dole said.

``Mexico, long a close friend and important neighbor, needs to
extradite drug lords to the United States and make a concerted effort
to reduce the flood of methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine and crack
across the border.''

She called for an end to U.S. military aid for Colombia until it
reclaims a zone where Dole said the government has ceded control to
narco-guerillas.

Dole said she would meet personally with all foreign leaders in an
effort to foster counter-narcotic cooperation. But if all else fails,
she pledged to cut aid to countries that ``do not vigorously combat
the drugs that are destroying our communities and killing our young
people.''

Trying to break through with limited cash in a Republican nomination
race dominated by Texas Gov. George W. Bush, Dole presented her
drug-fighting experience in a way that served to remind voters of her
executive and public-service credentials.

During her tenure as secretary of Transportation, Dole said she
instituted random drug testing of all rail workers after a deadly rail
accident was blamed on operators found to be using marijuana and
alcohol. She also made the department the first civilian agency to
begin random drug testing of its 30,000 employees in critical safety
and security positions, such as air-traffic controllers.

On Wednesday in Kentucky, in the heart of tobacco country, she
criticized a Justice Department lawsuit against tobacco companies that
seeks to recover billions of dollars that taxpayers have spent on
smoking-related health care.

She said the government should instead focus on making sure that more
than $240 billion cigarette-makers already have agreed to pay the
states is spent on anti-smoking education for children. She also
called for an all-out effort to prevent tobacco companies from selling
cigarettes to young people.