21ST CENTURY HOLDS CHALLENGES FOR COLORADO

Should John Elway be ranked ahead of Joe Montana? Who are the 50
greatest athletes of the 20th century? When will the citizen of the
century be named? All these end-of-the-century ratings make
fascinating reading but what about the century to come? Who's talking
about the future and the extraordinary challenges, changes and issues
that it will bring.

Looking at the international scene, let me mention one issue that I
predict will come crashing down on us and two opportunities for
Colorado to play a leadership role.

Drugs and crime.

Colombia, a huge country larger than Texas and California combined, is
the world's major source of cocaine and an increasingly important
supplier of heroin. Forty percent of its land mass is now under the
control of guerrilla armies, principally the Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN).
These armies are heavily armed, well equipped, financed by drug money
and gaining power.

In July five American soldiers were killed in a plane crash
there.

It still isn't clear whether the plane encountered bad weather or was
shot down by guerrillas. The wife of Col. James Hiett, the commander
of the 200 American military anti-drug personnel in Colombia, has been
arrested on drug charges. Our "drug czar," Gen. Barry McCaffrey
visited Colombia in July. His expressions of surprise at the enormous
increase in coca production made you wonder how well-informed he has
been.

On Aug. 13, two gunmen assassinated Jaime Garzon, Colombia's most
popular satirist as well as a strong promoter of the peace process. On
Aug. 15, the Rev. Jose de Jesus Quintero, the bishop of Tibu, was
kidnapped for the second time in two years. On Aug. 18, relatives of
382 Colombian police and soldiers who are being held hostage were
summoned to a meeting with leftist guerillas where they were told that
no one would be released until 450 jailed guerrillas were released.

President Andres Pastrana's peace initiative seems to be falling
apart, and violence is increasing again. In short, Colombia is in
danger of collapsing as a country. The driving force is the money
behind the drug traffic and the profits that can be gained from drug
users in this country.

Can this problem be solved militarily? The land area controlled by
these guerrilla armies is roughly equal to Colorado and Nebraska
combined. To put it another way, it's 40 times the size of Kosovo.

Mexico is the second major supplier of drugs to the United States, and
it too is facing a period of increasing instability. The year 2000 is
a presidential election year, and election years are always unstable
because members of the outgoing administration often tend to use their
last months in office for self-enrichment. Next year could be
particularly disruptive for two reasons. First, the PRI, the party
that has ruled Mexico for decades, could well lose to a combined PAN
and PRD candidate. This will cause an even greater-than-normal
last-minute scramble for riches from outgoing PRI functionaries.
Second, the role of drugs is increasing.

On June 7, a very popular talk show personality, Francisco "Paco"
Stanley, was shot to death in Mexico City. It turned out that he was
carrying cocaine. On Aug. 15, Mexico's drug czar, Mariano Herran
Salvatti, and his wife were attacked by four men on motorcycles as
they drove away from a Mexico City restaurant. About 40 shots were
fired but neither of them was hurt.

Is the destabilization of other countries sufficient reason to take a
fresh look at our drug policy? Will the George W. Bush cocaine debate
bring about that discussion? What about the comments of New Mexico
Gov. Gary Johnson, TV anchorman Hugh Downs and District Judge John
Kane about the need to look at decriminalization? Is this just too hot
a topic for an elected official? In the mid-'70s, then-state Rep. Mike
Strang from Carbondale introduced a bill to legalize marijuana. Strang
refused to allow other legislators to co-sponsor his bill because he
thought it was so politically volatile, yet he was subsequently
elected to Congress from the 3rd District, hardly a bastion of liberalism.