NATION'S DRUG CZAR DISCUSSES POLICY ISSUES AT SHERIFF'S OFFICE

The nation's drug czar said Monday that marijuana is leading more teens to
dependency treatment than any other illegal drug.

The Director of National Drug Control Policy, John Walters, spoke at the
St. Johns County Sheriff's Office with Congressman John Mica and leaders of
the North Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program Monday morning.

Walters is the head of an office that has a $3.6 billion budget for drug
control in 2002. The request for fiscal year 2003 is for $3.8 billion.

A nationwide educational thrust against the dangers of marijuana use will
begin this fall, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Mica, who is running for reelection to Congress, now has St. Johns County
as part of his district.

Walters was exchanging information with the High Intensity program, which
began in North Florida in January 2001. It melds agencies from eight
counties into an anti-drug team.

According to HIDTA Chairman Paul Perez, from Florida's United States
Attorney Middle District Office, the team has eight major initiatives:

* Currency and Narcotics Transportation Interdiction, led by the
Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, which fights the criminal use of bus, rail,
highway and mail facilities.

* Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team, led by the U.S. Marshals Service,
which focuses on major drugs and violent crime, and on capturing fugitives.

* North Florida HIDTA Task Force, led by the Drug Enforcement
Administration, which focuses on major drug trafficking and money
laundering organizations.

* Seaport, led by U.S. Customs, which focuses on major dug traffickers who
use seaports and cargo containers.

* Tri-County Narcotics Enforcement Team, led by the Florida Department of
Law Enforcement, which focuses on mid-to-upper level drug trafficking groups.

* Northeast Florida Investigative Support Center, led by the FDLE, which
focuses on intelligence work for violent, economic and drug crime.

* Management and Control, led by the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office.

* Training, led by the Florida National Guard.

"Florida was the original high-intensity drug trafficking area," Walters
said, referring to the influx of cocaine in urban areas.

But now, the major national problem is marijuana use, he said. Baby-boomer
parents have come to think of it as a "rite of passage," but marijuana use
at an early age causes the brain to be more susceptible to addiction later
in life, Walters said.

"If you don't begin in your teenage years ... you're unlikely to go on
later," he said.

Mica said that between 60 and 70 percent of people in jail committed crimes
that were related to drugs or substance abuse.

St. Johns County Sheriff Neil Perry said that methamphetamine production
has become a problem in St. Johns County, where new organizations are
picking low income, rural areas to work in.