GINGRICH RIDICULES CLINTON'S 'HODGEPODGE' WAR ON DRUGS

House speaker calls plan to cut drug use by half in 10 years 'timetable for
defeat'

WASHINGTON - President Clinton's plan for cutting illicit drug use in half
over the next decade was attacked harshly Saturday by House Speaker Newt
Gingrich, R-Ga., who ridiculed the proposal as "a hodgepodge of half-steps
and half-truths."

Calling Clinton's anti-drug strategy a "timetable for defeat," Gingrich
pledged that the Republican-dominated Congress would propose more sweeping
legislation to shrink drug use.

Gingrich delivered the GOP response to Clinton's weekly radio address,
which focused on the administration's anti-narcotics plan. Some details of
Clinton's plan were disclosed last week.

Clinton called upon parents to join the government in ridding America of
the scourge of drug use and said citizens should recognize "that the fight
against drugs must be waged and won at kitchen tables all across America."

Clinton said his new 10-year plan to cut illegal drug use by 50 percent is
based on the "very encouraging news in recent months that more and more of
our young people are saying no to drugs" and that overall the number of
Americans who use drugs has fallen by one-half since 1979.

The recent White House report, written by drug czar Barry McCaffrey, said
that in 1996, 13 million people in this country were drug users-down from a
peak of 25 million people in 1979.

The president said his drug-reduction strategy is based on "tougher
punishment, better prevention and more partnerships to shut down the
international drug trade."

For the 1999 budget year, which begins Oct. 1, Clinton's anti-drug plan
would cost $17 billion, an increase of $1 billion over current spending.

Key parts of the plan are to send - "prevention educators" to 6,500 schools
nationwide and to devise an anti-drug media campaign aimed at young people,
he said.

On the law enforcement side, Clinton's plan calls for 1,000 more Border
Patrol agents to be hired to help curtail drug smuggling along the border
with Mexico. He also is seeking money for improved X-ray technology to help
agents to inspect large vehicles and railroad cars.

Drug testing and treatment of l federal prisoners also would be up
upgraded. He cited a recent Justice Department study showing that inmates
who received drug treatment ~were 73 percent less likely to be rearrested
after their release.

In contrast to Clinton's assertion that progress is being made in the fight
against drugs, Gingrich declared that the battle is "going downhill."

Gingrich focused on a reversal n trends that began earlier this decade for
teen drug use: After years of decline, the usage rate among adolescents
surged.

The increase in "drug use ~among teens has skyrocketed ... an unthinkable
70 percent" since l9g2, Gingrich said, and he said "a resounding silence
from the White House on drugs" bears part of the blame.

Administration officials have acknowledged concern about teenage drug use,
but they were encouraged by a recent study showing that drug use among
younger teens appears to be leveling off.

For older teens, the picture was mixed: Marijuana use is still ticking
upward, but the use of other illicit drugs is growing little or not at all,
a White House study showed in December.

Declaring that Clinton's plan will be "dead on arrival in this Congress,"
Gingrich pledged to seek passage of "the largest, most dynamic, most
comprehensive anti-drug strategy ever designed."