LATEST TWIST IN WAR ON DRUGS

34 Countries Approve Report-Card Approach

OTTAWA -- Thirty-four North and South American countries have formally
committed themselves to a new anti-drug campaign which amounts to a
direct repudiation of longstanding U.S. drug policy.

The agreement sets up a standard report card system to measure how
each member country of the Organization of American States is faring
in the war on illicit drugs.

The first report is due in 2001, when Quebec City will host the next
Summit of the Americas.

"There will be one set of rules for all, which gets us away from
finger pointing and conflict and recrimination and punishment and
sanctions," said Jean Fournier, chairman of the working group that
hammered out the reporting system over the past 18 months.

Current U.S. drug policy includes "decertification" of countries
considered illicit drug pipelines to the United States.

The 1998 list includes a number of OAS states, including Brazil,
Colombia and Jamaica, which face U.S. financial sanctions.

Asked directly if the new OAS stand is an explicit contradiction of
American policy, Fournier said: "Well, it is certainly a strong
reflection on the part of 33 of the 34 countries that current
practices have not proven effective. I'll just leave it at that."

David Beall, executive director of the Washington-based Inter-American
Drug Abuse Control Commission, said the Clinton administration gave
the green light to explore the new evaluation system at the 1998
Santiago summit.

Since then, "people who represent the government at the policy
decision level" have been involved, Beall said.