TERROR WAR TARGETS DRUGS

February 13, 2002 -- President Bush pitched fighting illegal drug use
as a patriotic way to combat terrorism yesterday as he vowed a 25
percent cut in drug use in the next five years - or he'll take the
blame.

"Make no mistake about it. If you're buying illegal drugs in America
it is likely that money is going to end up in the hands of terrorist
organizations," Bush said.

He noted that Afghanistan produced 70 percent of the world's opium
and said that meant "significant" money for "harboring and feeding
and hiding" those who attacked America on Sept. 11.

Bush also took a jab at ex-President Bill Clinton in a report to
Congress that said drug use among high-school seniors showed "steady"
drops from 1985 to 1992 - but "in recent years we have lost ground."

Clinton took office in 1993. The "progress" praised by Bush covered
his father's term as president and the final years of Ronald Reagan's
term after his wife Nancy launched the "Just say no" campaign in 1983.

Bush stressed that he'll measure results by the numbers and hold
himself accountable - "I'll be measured first" - for reducing illegal
drug use by 10 percent in the next two years and 25 percent in five
years.

"I'm the kind of fellow that likes to say, 'What are the results?' "
said Bush, who has also pressed to measure schools by test scores.

Bush's terror theme was tried out in three Super Bowl TV ads aimed at
teens that cost $3.5 million and ask where terrorists get their
money, then reply: "If you buy drugs, some of it might come from you."

But Ethan Nadelman of the Drug Policy Alliance - which favors
legalization of marijuana - dismissed the anti-terror theme: "It's a
joke."

Nadelman agreed "every violent political organization in the world is
making money out of the drug trade" but said that won't help teen
users stop - although it might spur them to grow their own marijuana.

Bush also called for a slight increase in drug-treatment funds - $3.8
billion or a 6 percent increase, especially targeted at "the most
vulnerable" people like pregnant moms, the homeless and people with
AIDS.

And he vowed to "fire up" parents "to do their jobs" and promote
responsibility instead of "if it feels good, do it" - by telling
their kids not to take drugs.