CLINTON CALLS FOR NATIONS TO UNIFY IN DRUG FIGHT

Diplomacy:The president announces a $2 billion effort to educate young people.

United Nations-President Clinton challenged world leaders Monday to work
together attacking illegal drugs and stop wasting time "pointing fingers"
of blame at each other. He also announced a $2 billion media campaign aimed
at young people.

"The debate between drug-supplying and drug-consuming nations about whose
responsibility the drug problem is has gone on too long," Clinton told a
U.N. General Assembly special session on drugs.

In his speech, Clinton announced a $2 billion, five-year media campaign to
tell young people that "drugs destroy young lives; don't let it destroy
yours." Similar campaigns will be launched in Mexico, Venezuela and Brazil,
Clinton said.

Only $175 million of the $2 billion would be federal funds; the rest would
be contributed by corporations and philanthropic organizations.

Clinton also thanked Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo for his country's
cooperation in combating the trafficking of drugs into the United States.

The two presidents met separately later to discuss, among other things, the
diplomatic fallout from Operation Casablanca, a U.S. money-laundering sting
that led to the arrests last month of 42 people - including about two dozen
Mexican bankers.

The Mexican government strongly protested that U.S. drug agents had carried
out the operation without notifying Mexico City beforehand.