DRUG CZAR TO COME TO AUSTIN

National Drug Policy Director Barry McCaffrey -- scheduled to address an
open audience next week at the University -- emphasized the threat posed by
drug abuse and outlined plans to curb the flow of illegal drugs across U.S.
borders Thursday.

[Note: Talk is at 12:30pm in Bass Lecture Hall on the UT Campus. Open to
the public]

ASSOCIATED PRESS White House Drug Czar Gen. Barry McCaffrey, center left,
and Colombia's top police officer Gen. Rosso Jose Serrano present a
memorial wreath at Police Headquarters in Bogota, Colombia, Tuesday. "The
threat to the United States from the drug abuse problem is enormous,"
McCaffrey said. He added that while only 6 percent of Americans use illegal
drugs, they spend $57 billion a year on their habits.

McCaffrey was appointed by President Bill Clinton and confirmed by the U.S.
Senate in 1996 as director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
He serves as a member of the President's Cabinet, the President's Drug
Control Policy Council and the National Security Council for drug-related
issues. Prior to his appointment, he coordinated national security
operations in Latin America as the commander-in-chief of the U.S. Armed
Forces Southern Command. He will speak next Monday in Bass Lecture Hall and
will focus on his office's drug control strategy.

Also while in Texas, McCaffrey will brief Gov. George W. Bush on drug
policy issues, said Linda Edwards, spokeswoman for the governor. One of
McCaffrey's goals is to diminish the flow of drugs from the southwest
border of Texas where drugs seep in by way of Mexico. "The problem isn't
going to go away," he said. He added that Mexico is experiencing a
"peaceful revolution" by attempting to establish democratic principles and
increase free trade through the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement.
He said he wants to forge more partnership ties with the United States'
southern neighbor. "Texas has been the most effective in getting the point
on that argument," McCaffrey said. He added that better technology and
intelligence are key to cutting drug flow in places such as Latin American
countries. He explained that the intelligence capability formerly used to
combat the Soviet threat during the Cold War is now being used to combat
international terrorism and drug problems.

McCaffrey recently returned from a tour of Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela,
Curacao and Aruba. As a former commander in Latin America, he is familiar
with the region's problems. "The biggest emergency is Colombia, which is
just a tragedy," he said. McCaffrey added that much of the country is
ravaged by guerrilla forces and violence and that "the economy is a
disaster" with about 20 percent unemployment. "The heart and soul of [the
problems], one would argue, is a doubling of coca production in three
years," McCaffrey said. Eighty percent of all cocaine and most heroin
seizures in the United States originate from or travel through Colombia,
according to McCaffrey's office. McCaffrey said the United States is
providing financial assistance -- $256 million last year -- and
intelligence support to help the area. He added that the United States
should work with Colombian President Andres Pastrana to combat his ailing
country. "We must support the Government of Columbia as it attempts to
reassert democratic control over its drug-producing regions," he said in a
press release in mid-July.

Edwin Dorn, dean of the LBJ School, said he jumped at the chance for
McCaffrey to speak when he learned the drug czar would be in Texas to see
the governor. He added that he hopes to expose students to a senior-level
federal policy maker, a representative of the important issue of drug
abuse, and a great military figure and man. "I want our students to begin
to appreciate the very high quality of people who are involved in public
service," he said.