DRUG USE-PRISONS

NEW YORK (AP) -- Seeking to break "the cycle of crime and drugs" in
prisons, the Clinton administration may withhold federal funds from state
prisons that fail to report the extent of illegal drug use among inmates,
The New York Times reported today. The information the prisons provide is
to be used as a barometer of their efforts to reduce inmate drug use, the
newspaper said.

President Clinton was scheduled today to sign the directive, a copy of
which was obtained by the Times. The document reflects the administration's
belief that reducing inmates' drug use might also reduce their demand for
drugs once they are released.

"With more than half the individuals in our criminal justice system
estimated to have a substance abuse problem, promoting coerced abstinence
within the criminal justice system offers us a unique opportunity to break
the cycle of crime and drugs," the document says.

A report last week by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse
at Columbia University estimated that alcohol and illegal drugs contributed
to the incarceration of 80 percent of the 1.7 million inmates in the
nation's prisons.

The report also said that most of them were not being treated for addiction
before being released. The administration has increased to 42 from 32 the
number of drug treatment centers in federal prisons and more than tripled
the number of federal inmates undergoing substance abuse treatment -- from
5,450 in 1993 to 19,943 in the last fiscal year.

The Clinton plan also proposes that Attorney General Janet Reno draft
legislation allowing states to use federal money earmarked for prison
construction to test and treat prisoners and parolees for drugs.

Copyright 1998 The Associated Press.