From: [C c s m] at [clari.net] (CSM / BY: Barry R. McCaffrey)
Newsgroups: clari.news.alcohol+drugs,clari.news.issues
Subject: Stopping the Flow of Drugs
Organization: Copyright 1996 by Christian Science Monitor
Date: Thu, 12 Sep 1996 17:00:33 PDT
                                         
        Each year abuse of illegal drugs costs our society $67 billion, and  
20,000 Americans suffer drug-related deaths. Despite our collective 
success in reducing the number of illegal drug users by almost 50 
percent in the past 10 years and the number of cocaine users by 28 
percent in the past five years, these costs are unacceptably high.

        Two trends among our youth should underscore the need for a  
comprehensive counterdrug strategy: the 10-year trend of drug use at 
earlier ages; and the six-year trend of greater tolerance by young 
Americans of drug use. We can further reduce drug use by all Americans 
and reverse these youth trends in part by attempting to keep illegal 
drugs out of America. Here are some thoughts on this issue:

        We owe the American people an energetic and comprehensive defense  
of our air, land, and sea frontiers. This is one of the five goals of 
our national counterdrug strategy. Hemispheric interdiction efforts 
have consistently intercepted about one-third of the cocaine produced 
every year. Our 1997 counterdrug budget proposes an increase of 43 
percent in national drug-supply reduction efforts to reinforce these 
and other successes. Nevertheless, the global supply of illegal drugs 
exceeds US demand. American consumption of heroin accounts for 6 
percent of the world's opium crops. Our cocaine consumption accounts 
for about 30 percent of the world's coca crops. Most of the marijuana 
consumed by Americans is domestically grown. The demand for synthetic 
drugs also can be met by domestic production.

        But stopping the flow of drugs will be difficult because there are  
too many windows of opportunity for drug smugglers to pursue. Last 
year, more than 60 million passengers entered the US on 551,000 
commercial aircraft and 125,000 private planes. Some 370 million 
people, 5 million containers, and more than 116 million vehicles 
crossed our land borders. More than 6 million people and more than 4 
million containers entered the US on 91,000 ships and more than 
157,000 private boats. Realistically, we can't completely seal our 
borders from drugs. But we can and should reduce the tonnages that now 
cross our inadequately protected frontiers.

        We are committed to breaking foreign and domestic drug sources of  
supply. This is another of our 1996 strategy's five goals. The 
National Drug Strategy suggests the most effective interdiction 
approach is one that knocks the profits out of the drug trafficking 
business. Our success against cocaine is instructive in this regard. 
The US-led international coalition that is attacking cocaine smuggling 
via air from Peru to Colombia succeeded in temporarily driving down 
the price of coca paste by 50 percent. If we can make any aspect of 
drug production or trafficking unprofitable, we can help break the 
long chain that connects drug crops in distant lands to drugs on our 
streets.

        The 1996 National Drug Control Strategy released by President  
Clinton in Miami last April recognizes these realities. Our No. 1 goal 
is preventing drug abuse by young Americans. Our strategy underscores 
the need to also shield our air, land, and sea frontiers from the drug 
threat and to break foreign and domestic drug sources of supply. 
Prevention, education, treatment, enforcement, and interdiction must 
all play a role.

        The metaphor ``war on drugs`` is inadequate to describe our  
national counterdrug efforts. The victims of drug abuse are not our 
enemies. They're our relatives, coworkers, and classmates. There is no 
surprise attack that will yield a quick victory. We must instead care 
for the victims of drug abuse, address its multiple causes, and use 
scientific knowledge, compassion, and legal remedies to develop 
effective preventive programs.

        Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey (USA, ret.) is the national drug policy  
director.