FEDERAL OFFICIALS FORGE ANTI-DRUG PARTNERSHIP WITH MARYLAND, OREGON

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- Federal drug czar Barry McCaffrey signed an
agreement Friday with Maryland to make the state, along with Oregon, a
national model for a joint federal-state partnership in the battle
against drug abuse.

McCaffrey said he will follow up by signing a similar agreement with
Oregon.

"What we hope to do is use Maryland and Oregon as a model for the
other 54 states and territories," he said at a ceremony where he and
Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend signed the agreement.

McCaffrey said the nation's drug problems cannot be solved by the
federal government.

"At the end of the day, the drug problem will be solved by the
counties and cities of Maryland...," McCaffrey said.

The partnership commits the states and the federal government to work
together to cut illegal drug use in half by 2007. The agreement
specifically targets drug use by young people and by people convicted
of crimes.

McCaffrey said the goals can be achieved.

"They are not political slogans. This is what we owe the people," he
said.

Ms. Townsend also said the goals contained in the agreement "are not
just predictions that will be shelved."

She said new programs being developed at the state and federal levels
can work to cut drug use.

The partnership agreement does not carry any funding commitments by
either party. It sets up a series of committees and working groups
with representatives from the state and federal governments.

Ms. Townsend and McCaffrey offered statistics to show the extent of
the drug problem and the cost to the nation of drug use.

Barbara Mason of Harford County, whose 20-year-old son, Elliott, died
of a heroin overdose just over a year ago, put a human face on the
tragedies associated with drug use.

Displaying a framed picture of her son, Ms. Mason said he was out with
some friends when "he tried heroin for the first time and died from
it."

When he started having respiratory problems, his friends brought him
home, and she sent him to bed, Ms. Mason said.

"I knew nothing about it because I was not educated about drugs," she
told state and local officials, parents and students who attended the
event in the State House.

When she found him barely clinging to life the next morning, nothing
could be done to save him.

"Tell parents they need to get educated. Tell kids to make the right
choice," Ms. Mason said.