U.S. OFFICIALS SAY COLOMBIAN COCAINE PRODUCTION IS BOOMING

WASHINGTON - Even as they unveiled an optimistic plan for
combatingdrug abuse in the next decade, federal officials disclosed
yesterday that they have seen an alarming new "explosion" of cocaine
production in Colombia.

Gen. Barry McCaffrey, the White House drug czar, said cultivation of
cocaine has jumped 26 percent in the past year in Colombia, with signs
of an increase in opium production there as well.

The troubling trend has threatened to cut deeply into the dramatic
gains made recently in stemming drug-trafficking in the Andean region
- - particularly in Peru and Bolivia, McCaffrey said.

McCaffrey blamed the Colombian upturn in part on the fact that heavily
armed paramilitary groups now effectively control some 40 percent of
the nation, tying the hands of President Andres Pastrana and his young
administration. "The problem that President Pastrana and his team face
is enormous, and it's getting worse," said McCaffrey, director of the
White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy.

The general stressed, however, that Pastrana's administration has
demonstrated "a tremendous sense of partnership" with the United
States and a strong commitment to curtailing drug production.

That sentiment could prove a key factor next month when it comes time
for the Clinton administration to certify whether Colombia and other
nations have cooperated in anti-narcotics efforts. Colombia's status
was upgraded last year after two years of economic penalties.
Colombian officials had no immediate reaction yesterday to McCaffrey's
comments.

McCaffrey, speaking at a press briefing, refused to elaborate on some
elements of the Colombian situation until his office can put out a
more detailed analysis in the next few days.

In fact, the Colombian issue drew no mention from top Clinton
administration officials at a White House ceremony as they presented a
long-term plan for controlling drugs in the United States.

Vice President Al Gore and other officials stressed that the nation
must not ease up in the drug war, despite recent gains in quelling
drug use among young people and other problem groups.

"When drug dealers still roam our streets and rob our children of
their dreams, and drug-related crime still ravages so many of our
neighborhoods, we know that we have barely begun," Gore said. "We must
do so much more."

As part of $17.8 billion in anti-drug funding proposed in President
Clinton's recent budget plan, the National Drug Control Strategy seeks
a 50 percent reduction in drug use and availability by 2007.

But some anti-drug groups and Republican lawmakers were clearly
unimpressed, saying the White House's priorities are misplaced.

"More of the same failed policies" was the reaction from the
Lindesmith Center, a drug research group based in New York.

The group said federal officials should rely more heavily on proven
treatment programs instead of pumping more money into a "bottomless
pit" of failed programs, including another $195 million allotment this
year for slick celebrity advertisements urging young people off drugs.

"We're just really disappointed with all this," said Lindesmith
spokesman Ty Trippet. "We've seen no clear benefits from these ads.
It's a big PR campaign."