Mayoral hopeful Brown pushes new post to battle illegal drugs

By JOHN MAKEIG
Copyright 1997 Houston Chronicle

Former Police Chief Lee P. Brown, buoyed by a poll showing him
among the leading contenders for mayor, called Friday for
creating a city "drug czar" to coordinate antidrug efforts.

At a news conference in front of Houston's Lamar High School,
Brown said that while crime rates are falling nationally, drug
usage continues to plague the city, even down to the elementary
school level.

"The problems of drugs continue to plague Houston," Brown said.
"We didn't get into this mess overnight; we won't get out of it
overnight."

To deal with the problem, Brown said he wants a "neighborhood
oriented government" and a new city position to be called
director of the Mayor's Office of Drug Control Policy.

The drug czar's job would be to coordinate the efforts of many
antidrug abuse groups, municipal, school and otherwise, and
relay to the mayor a clear picture of the drug situation here. He
said it would be funded "by consolidating existing city staff
positions."

Asked if this meant adding another layer of bureaucracy, Brown
said only that the policysetting coordinator would be a new sort
of post. There currently are many "assistants" to the mayor with
different responsibilities. Brown said his drug czar alone would
report directly to the mayor.

Brown is a former police chief in Atlanta, Houston and New York
City. He served in the Clinton administration as the national
drug czar, a post he left to become a sociology professor at Rice
University.

He called for a continuation of random and preemployment drug
testing for city workers, a citychurch coalition to combat drugs
at the neighborhood level and an annual "mayor's summit on
substance abuse."

Brown also said he wants hospital emergency room workers to
collect drug data. This would not mean working up lists of drug
users to give the police, the candidate said, only gathering
numbers and "statistical information" on the overall situation.

Brown further said he wants a concerted effort by city, state and
federal authorities to focus on "high trafficking areas" of
Houston. He used the Port of Houston as an example, citing the
many containers of goods that arrive daily from foreign nations.

Emphasis on high drug trafficking areas is one area where Brown
said a drug czar could be helpful. Another area of responsibility
might be evaluation of treatment providers, prevention programs
and treatment programs.

Brown said he was pleased by the results of Houston
Chronicle/KHOUTV poll showing him at the top of the heap among
the five major candidates for mayor.

The poll shows Brown favored by 25.4 percent of city voters.
Businessman Rob Mosbacher was preferred by 18.3 percent, and
former city controller George Greanias was picked by 15.4
percent. Candidates Gracie Saenz and Helen Huey, both members of
City Council, trailed with 6.4 percent and 5.1 percent,
respectively. More than 28 percent were undecided.