CLINTON WANTS MORE DRUG TESTING

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 (UPI) President Clinton is unveiling new policies that
he believes will curb access to illegal drugs by half over the next 10 years.

In his weekly radio address this morning, Clinton says he wants to hire
1,000 more border patrol agents, increase drug testing for parolees of the
federal prison system, and implement better drug use prevention programs.

The president said, "Nothing weakens our families and the fabric of our
nation more than the use, abuse and sale of drugs."

White House drug czar Barry McCaffrey says the strategy should reduce drug
use from what is believed to be currently 6 percent of the population to
only 3 percent by the year 2007.

McCaffrey says the new strategy is designed to cut illegal drug use and
availability in half over ten years. The plan will rely on specific annual
performance goals for federal departments and agencies.

For example, the Customs Service would set targets for drug seizures, and
the Department of Health and Human Services would establish objectives for
measuring the effectiveness of drug treatment programs.

Clinton, who is spending the President's Day holiday weekend at Camp David
in western Maryland, taped the radio address Friday in Philadelphia.