CLINTON PLAN TO FIGHT DRUG USE IN PRISONS

$200 million slated for cleaning up jails

WASHINGTON - President Clinton says he will push states to toughen
penalties for drug trafficking in prisons and will earmark $200 million to
promote drug abstinence and treatment in the criminal justice system.

"Fighting drugs in our prisons and among prisoners is absolutely critical
ultimately to keeping drugs off the streets and away from our children,"
Clinton said Monday.

"Somehow, jail time has to be cold turkey for those who are addicted and
must represent unemployment for those who are drug dealers," said retired
Gen. Barry McCaffrey, director of the Office of National Drug Control
Policy.

Across the nation, 1.6 million men and women are in federal, state and
local prisons. Last year, 9 percent of those checked tested positive for
drugs behind bars, McCaffrey said. The problem was much worse in state and
local jails than in federal prisons, he said.

Controlling drugs in prison is important because between to 80 percent of
prison population is incarcerated because of drug- or alcohol-related
crimes, McCaffrey said.

The initiative was the latest in a series of anti-crime issues by the
president. Once the domain of Republicans, law-and-order measures have
become a mainstay of Clinton's presidency, including tougher handgun
controls and a plan to put 100,000 more police on the streets.

Clinton directed Attorney General Janet Reno to draft legislation, in
consultation with states, that would require them to toughen penalties for
drug trafficking into and within correctional facilities. States that did
not comply could lose prison construction funds from the federal
government.

Clinton also instructed Reno to take steps requiring states to determine
the level of drug use in their prisons and report annually.