MENTAL HEALTH, DRUG FUNDS MAY BE YANKED FROM SEVEN STATES.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal officials on Monday threatened to yank $37
million in drug treatment dollars from states that haven't sufficiently
curtailed underage smoking.

The government has notified seven states and the District of Columbia that
because they failed to meet target rates for reducing sales of tobacco
products to minors, the law requires 40 percent cuts in 1999 block grants
for substance abuse and treatment programs.

States found in noncompliance may request an appeal hearing. Upon losing an
appeal, states can choose to pay the penalty from this year's budget or have
the funds shaved from the budget for fiscal 2000, which begins Oct. 1.

White House drug control director Barry McCaffrey criticized the law as too
harsh because he said it may force some drug treatment centers to close and
"some heroin addicts might be forced back on the streets to return to a
criminal life."

"We agree that the carrot-and-stick approach of the law can serve a purpose
of pushing compliance, but we must not throw the baby out with the bathwater
by increasing drug addiction and crime," said McCaffrey.

The law requires states to pass laws banning tobacco sales to anyone under
age 18 and aggressively enforce those laws through random, unannounced
inspections and other measures.

"Congress passed a law and it is our job to enforce that law," said Mark
Weber, spokesman for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration. "This program has had tremendous success in reducing youth
access to tobacco."

Missouri stands to lose the most, $9.6 million. The other states were
Delaware, with a $2.2 million penalty; Iowa, $5 million; Minnesota, $8.4
million; Oregon, $6 million; Rhode Island, $2.4 million; and Wyoming,
$980,950. The District of Columbia would lose nearly $2 million.