ACCESSION 
NUMBER:326072

FILE ID:LEF214

DATE:02/08/94

TITLE:CLINTON'S ANTIDRUG BUDGET REFLECTS ANTICRIME PLEDGE (02/08/94)

TEXT:*94020814.LEF

*LEF214   02/08/94



CLINTON'S ANTIDRUG BUDGET REFLECTS ANTICRIME PLEDGE

(Focuses on treatment, prevention, enforcement) nrb (440)

1With Lsi205 of 02/08/94)

By Norma Romano-Benner

USIA Staff Writer

WASHINGTON -- President Clinton's fiscal 1995 budget asks Congress to

sharply increase antidrug funds to treat heavy drug users, prevent young

people from using drugs, and aid cocaine and heroin-producing countries in

Latin America and Asia.



The proposed $13,179.8 million budget represents an 8 percent increase over

1994, Lee P. Brown, director of the White House Office of National Drug

Control Policy (ONDCP), told reporters Feb. 7.



Brown said the 1995 budget, together with the provisions and funding offered

by the pending Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, "will begin

the shift in emphasis from a wholly federal response to a response which

empowers states and communities to fight crime and drug abuse locally."



The Clinton antidrug budget shows the president's determination to deal with

drugs and violence in the United States, Brown said.  Most of the requested

money, $7,131 million, will go to law enforcement, $4,924 million to drug

prevention and treatment, and the rest to research and intelligence.



The antidrug budget coincides with the administration's request of $18,300

million for crime control; an increase of $3,200 million, or 21 percent,

over 1994.



Brown said the major emphasis on treating chronic addicts and preventing

drug use represents a "fundamental change in the way the nation responds to

the drug problem."



ONDCP estimates there are about three million long-term cocaine and heroin

addicts, who consume most of the illegal drugs and are responsible for a

high proportion of drug-related crime.



Internationally, the Clinton administration's budget also reflects the

administration's commitment to eradicate cocaine and heroin at source

countries in Latin America and Asia.  Most of the cocaine consumed in the

United States comes from Peru, Bolivia, and Colombia.  Most of the heroin

comes from Asia's Golden Triangle, Laos, Burma, and Thailand.



The proposed international budget calls for spending $427.8 million, a 21.7

percent increase from $351.4 million in 1994.



Additionally, the new strategy calls for a slight reduction in interdiction

efforts to stop drug smugglers at the borders and at sea.  In 1994 the

enacted interdiction budget was $1,299.9 million; the 1995 request is

$1,205.6 million.



Brown often says that it is more cost-effective to destroy the beehive

rather than catch the bees.  He also says there would be "no change" of

emphasis at the 2,000-mile long border with Mexico.



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