REASSESSING THE FIGHT AGAINST DRUGS

In Allentown, DEA's Hutchinson talks of handling dealers, users.

Asa Hutchinson, head of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, was in
Allentown last week to kick off a two-day drug summit in Allentown.

The DEA's pilot program, Integrated Drug Enforcement Assistance, provides
resources to localities to fight both the supply of and demand for illegal
drugs in a community. Allentown was one of three cities selected for IDEA.

President Bush appointed Hutchinson DEA director in August 2001, when he
was serving his third term as a congressman from Arkansas. He is a former
U.S. attorney for western Arkansas.

Morning Call reporter Keith Herbert interviewed Hutchinson after he gave
the keynote address for the summit at Sacred Heart Hospital.

Question: It seems that, from the demand side, you have a daunting task -
empowering people to say no to drugs, particularly adolescents and teens.
What's your response?

Hutchinson: This is a difficult task, which is why we should not be looking
for easy solutions, because there are none. It just simply takes a lot of
perseverance, hard work and compassion. In terms of treatment, that's what
we've learned. Drug problems are very entrenched.

When you're looking at heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, the addiction
problems are difficult to overcome with a 30-day treatment program. Many
times you need six months, you need a year. Then you have to have treatment
with accountability. If there's not any threat of incarceration or an
accountability to a judge, treatment programs are not as successful. You
know, they drift in and out of them. The programs that have had a great
deal of success are drug courts. They have, historically across the
country, had about a 70 percent success rate.

Question: Is that something we might see in Allentown?

Hutchinson: You have in Pennsylvania some pilot drug courts. It's something
I hope this conference takes a look at. I'm a very strong supporter of it.

Question: Are there any trends out there that have yet to reach cities like
Allentown? We're seeing crime and gang activity from the bigger cities move
into the smaller cities.

Hutchinson: Allentown has entrenched drug problems of heroin and cocaine.
But the drug concerns and trends would be Ecstasy and methamphetamine. Meth
has been primarily a Midwest problem, but in talking with the officers
you're starting to see it on the streets. But Ecstasy is a growing problem.

Question: When you say you want to change the culture in the city , exactly
what do you mean by that?

Hutchinson: What I'm speaking of is that right now, Allentown has a demand
for drugs, an addict population and casual use here, from teens to young
adults. That's what I'm speaking of when I say the culture of the
community, those people who are creating the demand for drugs, and that's
what has to be changed. Law enforcement might dismantle an organization,
but as long as there is some demand in a community another organization
will come back. That's what I speak of. I'm not talking about beyond the
drug problems; I'm talking about a culture that addresses it and where the
community takes a lot of responsibility as you have here in Allentown.

Question: Is there a goal you have in mind for, say six months from now,
when this conference is over. What reports do you want to hear about Allentown?

Hutchinson: I would like to believe that the ideas that come out of this
conference will be implemented, and that there will be community solutions
and partnerships that are built and are sustaining, and that they don't end
when this initiative ends, that they are ongoing, so that there are
successful programs in schools and adequate treatment facilities, and that
it be long lasting.