MINNEAPOLIS ASKED TO APPLY FOR METHAMPHETAMINE FIGHTING MONEY

Minneapolis is one of six cities that have been invited to apply for $5
million in federal money aimed at combating the eastward spread of
methamphetamine, President Clinton said Saturday during his weekly radio
address.

The announcement came as Clinton urged Americans not to become complacent
about drugs because of dramatic declines in drug use over the past decade.
He continued to build on his antidrug message Saturday, announcing a total
of $32 million in federal grants to expand drug courts and to curb the rise
in methamphetamine use.

He cited new federal statistics showing that, while more than half of those
charged with crimes have drugs in their system at the time of arrest, the
drug-use trend continues to be downward, especially for crack cocaine.

"Today there are 50 percent fewer Americans using drugs than just 15 years
ago," Clinton said. But, he added, "There is no greater threat to our
families and communities than the abuse of illegal drugs."

The study by the Justice Department showed that, after two years of
decline, methamphetamine use is up again among those arrested in San Diego,
Phoenix, San Jose, Portland, Ore., Dallas and Denver. (Minneapolis was not
part of that study.)

Known as crank, speed, crystal or meth, the synthetic drug has been a
serious problem in several Western cities, most notably San Francisco, San
Diego and Phoenix. And officials have warned that the drug, which is
snorted, injected and smoked, is moving east and into suburban and rural
communities, including the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

In January, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno warned a large gathering of
law enforcement officials and business leaders in Minneapolis to be on the
lookout for the stimulant, which has reared its head in Nebraska, Iowa and
South Dakota.

"I'd like to see what you can do about narcotics," she said then. "You have
got a danger to your west: methamphetamine."

A report released last month by the Hazelden Foundation's Butler Center for
Research and Learning found the number of people seeking treatment for
methamphetamine addiction more than doubled in the metro area from 1996 to
1997, especially among young people. Hazelden is an internationally known
nonprofit organization near Center City, Minn., that provides treatment and
educational materials related to drug and alcohol dependency.

"Methamphetamine abuse is a problem of growing size and concern,
particularly among young people," said Carol Falkowski, Hazelden's senior
research analyst. Her report gathers information from treatment programs,
hospitals, medical examiners and law enforcement agencies throughout the
metro area.

According to that report, 586 people were admitted for methamphetamine
treatment in 1997, up from 270 in 1996. And those under age 25 accounted
for 46.5 percent of admissions last year, compared with 40 percent in 1996.
Most were white males. Snorting was the primary way the drug was used. Most
users had been treated for drug abuse in the past, the study said.

"All levels of law enforcement reported growth in methamphetamine-related
activity, as did school-based chemical health specialists," she said.

A growing problem

David Lillehaug said Saturday that, during his four-year tenure as U.S.
attorney for Minnesota, the number of investigations into methamphetamine
use rose.

"We have seen a significant uptake of methamphetamine in the Twin Cities,"
said Lillehaug, who recently resigned to run for Minnesota attorney general.

In 1994 the Minneapolis office of the Drug Enforcement Administration spent
5 to 10 percent of its time investigating methamphetamine cases. Last year,
Lillehaug said, DEA agents spent about a third of their time on such cases.

Recently, more than a dozen people were convicted in a local case that
involved 14 pounds of the drug, which traditionally has been cooked by
outlaw motor cycle gangs in clandestine labs. But now the majority of
methamphetamine is smuggled into the United States from Mexico and
distributed by Mexican-owned and -operated crime organizations.

According to the Hazelden report, 15 clandestine labs were dismantled in
the Twin Cities area by law enforcement officials from January through
April of this year, compared with 22 in 1997.

"In addition to the labs, the amount of methamphetamine 'finished product'
removed by law enforcement increased considerably," the report said.

The price of an ounce of meth was about $100 a gram, $1,000 an ounce and
from $10,000 to $12,000 a pound.

Although Minneapolis does not have the federal grant money in hand, such
invitations as were issued Saturday -- which could net the city $750,000 --
usually mean that officials have to write a proposal showing how the money
will be used.

Other cities invited to apply for the grants are Oklahoma City; Salt Lake
City; Little Rock, Ark.; Dallas, and Phoenix. The cities were chosen on the
basis of an examination of several factors, including the number of
clandestine lab seizures, the number of deaths related to methamphetamine
abuse, the percentage of arrestees testing positive for methamphetamine and
the growing admissions for methamphetamine addiction treatment in those
communities.

The money must be used to develop community policing strategies in the
cities.

In addition to the $5 million, Clinton also announced $27 million to expand
the number of local drug courts around the country, from 270 to 400.
Although Hennepin County has a drug court, it did not appear that it would
receive any of that money.

Typically, in drug courts, addicts who plead guilty to nonviolent crimes
enter treatment and testing programs rather than prison. Early analysis
suggests that about 4 percent of those completing treatment are arrested
again -- a much lower rate than is common for ex-inmates.

Jeremy Travis, director of the National Institute of Justice, called drug
courts "one of the very important, very significant, very effective
innovations" that have come about since the early 1990s.

Clinton's new announcements completed a weeklong antidrug blitz that
included the unveiling of a $195 million media campaign designed to flood
the airwaves with public-service warnings about drug use.

Experts say the new marketing effort is needed because, while overall drug
use is down 50 percent or more since the mid-1980s, it remains steady among
the very young, the next generation of drug users.

"We find kids starting at 13 with a marijuana that's two to 20 times
stronger than their parents used," said James Burke, chairman of the
Partnership for Drug Free America. "And we haven't reached those kids."

The new report by the arrestee drug abuse monitoring program cited by
Clinton shows generally favorable trends on cocaine.

"We're seeing younger people now coming of the age where they might engage
in risky behaviors . . . who are using at much lower rates than their
slightly older brothers," Travis said. "The younger brother looks at what's
happening to his older brother, who is now either in jail or a crackhead .
. . and says, 'I don't want that to be me.' '

At the same time, the 1997 study reports that heroin use has been
increasing among young people arrested in New Orleans, Philadelphia and St.
Louis.

The study was based on drug and arrest records in 23 major U.S. cities.
Twelve cities, including Minneapolis, are being added to the database this
year.

- -- The McClatchy Company's Washington Bureau contributed to this report.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski