DRUG CZAR: DRUG WAR REGIONALIZED

Washington (AP) From the border with Mexico to the port of New York and
out to the Great Plains, the war against drugs is being regionalized, White
House drug chief Barry McCaffrey said Wednesday.

``What we are facing is not a national drug problem but a series of
regional drug epidemics,'' the retired Army general said as he closed a
conference that brought together officials of 22 ``highintensity drug
trafficking areas.''

Each is designed to tailor antidrug efforts to local conditions.

>From a beginning of five such regions in 1990 with a federal investment of
$25 million, the focus areas have grown to 22, dividing a $162 million
federal payment, McCaffrey said.

At a news conference, he portrayed them as an integral part of a strategy
of prevention, treatment, law enforcement and prosecution aimed at reducing
drug use by a third over the next decade.

And he asserted that while drug use remains huge, drugrelated crimes are
falling and the number of Americans using drugs is decreasing.

``We are seeing results,'' he said.

In a report, the White House National Drug Policy office spelled out drug
threats in each of the 22 regions, including the number and type of
trafficking organizations, the number of hardcore drug abusers, the
dominant drugs in the market, the number of moneylaundering organizations
and the geographic factors making each area unique.

The report also prescribed an antidrug strategy for each region.

In the New YorkNew Jersey region, for example, suggested initiatives
include a regional druginformation clearing house, regional coordination
of antidrug efforts, a photoimaging network, an information retrieval
system, and a firearms mapping system and information sharing by regional
prosecutors.

Along Arizona's border with Mexico, the strategy is aimed at attacking the
upper echelons of drug organizations by maximizing seizures of drugs and
money, dismantling drug laboratories and by prosecuting numerous defendants
simultaneously. Steps to enhance border surveillance and drug interdiction
also are planned.

In Chicago the aim is to dismantle the street gangs said to control the
supply and distribution of illegal drugs, primarily cocaine.

Each antidrug region will rely on cooperation of a team of police forces,
sheriff's departments, federal prosecutors, the Drug Enforcement
Administration, FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the U.S.
Customs Service, U.S. marshals and treatment and prevention officials.

The 22 regions are headquartered in Seattle; San Francisco; Los Angeles;
San Diego; Tucson, Ariz.; Las Cruces, N.M.; San Antonio; Houston; El Paso,
Texas;

Also Denver; Kansas City, Mo.; Chicago; Crown Point, Ind.; Detroit;
Philadelphia; New York City; WashingtonBaltimore; Atlanta; Metairie, La.;
Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. San Diego has two regional
headquarters, one focusing on southern California, the other on the
Southwest border.