CLINTON RELEASES GRANTS FOR LOCAL DRUG FIGHTING

WASHINGTON -- Tests of criminal defendants in 23 major cities showed
yesterday the nation's drug problem is regional and generational, as the
use of "speed" rebounds in the West and Southwest and cocaine loses its
appeal among young troublemakers. In light of the findings, President
Clinton released $32 million to help local officials tailor anti-drug
strategies.

The grants announced in Clinton's weekly radio address followed a
nationwide $1 billion government anti-drug ad campaign launched Thursday.
Clinton also pushed yesterday for Congress to provide an additional $85
million to expand mandatory drug testing and treatment programs for
probationers, prisoners and parolees.

Of the federal money released yesterday, $27 million will be used to create
special drug courts in 150 jurisdictions. More than 270 drug courts already
exist around the country, combining supervision with sanctions, testing and
drug treatment to coerce nonviolent criminals to come clean.

"To stop the revolving door of crime and narcotics, we must make offenders
stop abusing drugs," Clinton said. He noted that in some cities, drug-court
participants have recidivism -- or repeat offender -- rates as low as 4
percent.

An additional $5 million in federal money was released to six cities with
documented problems of methamphetamine abuse. Phoenix, Salt Lake City,
Oklahoma City, Dallas, Minneapolis and Little Rock, Ark., are getting
grants to tailor enforcement and prevention efforts to the peculiarities of
methamphetamine use.

"There is no single national drug problem. We have lots of very different
local drug problems," said Jeremy Travis, director of the National
Institute of Justice, research arm of the Justice Department.

The grants came as the institute's Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring program,
or ADAM, showed a rebound in methamphetamine -- or "speed" -- use in
Western and Southwestern cities. Where use among arrested people fell in
these cities between 1994 and 1996, 1997 testing for the
aggression-inducing stimulant put its use back close to 40 percent of
adults arrested in San Diego; 18 percent in San Jose, Calif.; 16 percent in
Phoenix and Portland, Ore.; and 10 percent in Omaha, Neb.

By contrast, crack cocaine use continued to wane in Manhattan, with 21
percent of arrestees testing positive last year compared to 77 percent in
1988.

The ADAM survey also found cocaine is not as popular with young defendants
as it used to be. In Detroit and Washington, just 5 percent of those aged
15-20 tested positive for cocaine use, compared with almost 50 percent of
those 36 and over. In the late 1980s cocaine use among those arrested for
crimes reached 80 percent and higher.

"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,"' Travis said.

Marijuana use appeared to be leveling off among male criminals. Fifteen of
the 23 survey sites reported drops in marijuana use by the younger group,
including substantial drops of between 5 and 9 percentage points in
Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Omaha, Phoenix and Washington. Some
cities reported slight increases in pot smoking by arrested women.

Heroin is finding a younger client base in New Orleans, Philadelphia and
St. Louis, the only three sites where heroin abuse was more likely among
the 15-20 age group than the older one.

"These findings reinforce the need to be able to monitor the drug use
problems at the local level, to provide policy makers with specific
guidance about how their programs and interventions are succeeding," said
Dr. Jack Riley, the ADAM program's director.

The program exists in 35 cities -- 23 that reported in 1997 and 12 new ones
- -- and is due to expand by 2000 to 75 or 80, including every U.S. city with
populations greater than 200,000. In 1997, ADAM collected data, through
drug tests and interviews, from almost 32,000 men and women booked on
suspicion of crimes.