U.S. TO ENDORSE U.N. PROGRAM AGAINST DRUG PRODUCTION

By Raymond Bonner

Slamabad, Pakistan The Clinton administration has decided to endorse an
ambitious U.N. program to eliminate drug production worldwide, according to
an American proposal on combating the drug trade.

The proposal, which has not been made public, calls on governments "to
commit themselves to ending all illicit cultivation of opium poppy and coca
bush by the year 2008, using all available means, including alternative
development, eradication and law enforcement."

"This is a major development," the head of the U.N. drug control agency,
Pino Arlacchi, said when asked about the American position.

The Clinton proposal will be presented for adoption to a U.N. drug control
committee that is scheduled to meet in Vienna on Friday. Arlacchi said he
thought it would be accepted.

It was particularly important, Arlacchi said, that Washington endorse the
10year timetable.

In a change of policy, the administration recognizes alternative
development projects as a means of combating drugs by giving peasants other
sources of income. Past administrations have focused on tough laws to stop
the supply of drugs.

At the same time, Arlacchi received some advice here at the end of a visit
to Afghanistan intended to get the Taliban rulers to crack down on poppy
growing. "We told him don't let them pull the wool over your eyes," said a
senior European diplomat who met with Arlacchi on Friday, along with
representatives from some 20 other countries concerned about drug
trafficking.