PRESS CONFERENCE BY UNITED STATES SENIOR OFFICIALS ON WORLD DRUG PROBLEM

Press Briefing

PRESS CONFERENCE BY UNITED STATES SENIOR OFFICIALS ON WORLD DRUG PROBLEM

It was no longer appropriate to talk in terms of producer, transit and consumer nations, rather it was necessary to recognize that there were some 200 million drug addicts in the world community, General Barry McCaffrey, Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy of the United States, said at a press conference held today at Headquarters on the occasion of the twentieth special session of the General Assembly devoted to countering the world drug problem together.

General McCaffrey began the press conference by introducing Janet Reno, Attorney-General of the United States; Donna Shalala, United States Secretary of Health and Human Services; and Mack Mclarty, Special Envoy for Latin American Issues, who would also be addressing correspondents. General McCaffrey said he also wished to underscore the participation in the United States delegation this morning of Dick Riley, the United States Secretary of Education. It had been an important statement by United States President William Clinton not only to have given this morning's address to the General Assembly, but also to have been joined by the senior officials of his Government working on the United States national drug strategy, General McCaffrey said.

Commenting on President Clinton's address, General McCaffrey said it had been the United States' purpose to underscore that there had been a year's hard work behind the three days of the special session -- an enormously important gathering of 150 nations and more than 30 heads of government. That hard work had been, in many ways, put together not only by the active intervention of Mexican leadership and others, but also by Pino Arlacchi, Executive Director of the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention. It was the viewpoint of many, including President Clinton, that Mr. Arlacchi brought a renewed sense of energy and vision to bare on the subject. That could produce enormous good in the years to come.

The President had tried to make several fundamental statements, General McCaffrey said. There was a commonality in the problem shared in the world community. The United States had been quick to underscore that it was now a drug producing nation, as a rise in chemically produced drugs was being witnessed.

The President had also made the point that the issue had to be addressed through community action, General McCaffrey said. That process had begun a few months ago at Santiago, Chile, at the Second Summit of the Americas. The 34 democratically-elected heads of government of the region had committed to a

process using the Organization of American States (OAS) as the mechanism for cooperation on the North/South access.

General McCaffrey said that the President had also made a commitment to stand behind the leadership of the United Nations in an attempt to fundamentally change the approach to confront the nature of the drug threat. It was believed that this was possible; it was not a war that had been fought and lost. This was the beginning of an international effort, which had seen enormous initial success in Thailand, Pakistan, Peru and Bolivia. It was possible to drastically slash the production of illegal drugs, and, even more importantly, to reduce drug demand. Thailand was a model in reducing the demand coefficient. The United States had successfully reduced cocaine consumption by more than 70 per cent in the last decade, he added.

The notion of cooperation would be fundamental in the current effort, General McCaffrey said. That would not simply mean cooperation in obvious areas like intelligence sharing, but also in sharing evidence and judicial extradition of those wanted in one country for violating the laws of another, and, most importantly, cooperation on demand reduction. Mexico and the United States, which had a very special relationship, had begun the process of having very close contact.

The President had announced that he was now asking for continued bi-partisan support from the United States Congress for a 2 billion dollar five-year campaign to speak to United States children and their adult mentors about the destructive impact of drugs, General McCaffrey said. That campaign would go nationwide in July. Television, radio, Internet and other media would be used in the effort. It was hoped that it would provide another element in the reduction of drug use in the United States.

United States Attorney-General Janet Reno said that today was a very important day, as the nations of the world had come together to focus on how they, together, could fight drugs. "No nation can wage this battle alone, and we all need to be allies", she said.

Ms. Reno said that the effort against drugs must be long-range and comprehensive, if the violence, suffering and problems associated with drugs were to be dealt with. Drug laws must be vigorously enforced, and those organizations engaged in the spread of drug usage must be disrupted and dismantled.

Young people must be taught that using drugs was a dangerous road leading nowhere, Ms. Reno said. Prevention programmes must be enhanced in every way possible. Common sense treatment programmes, so successful in cutting down demand, must be continued. If there was no demand, there was no drug business. It was also necessary to provide treatment for those who had gone to prison for using or selling drugs, so that when they had been released they would have a chance for success.

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Those were important steps that could work and were working, the Attorney-General continued. She stressed, however, that they must be carried out comprehensively by all. No nation could sit on the sidelines. "By working together, all our nations can help make our communities safer places in which to live", she added.

United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala said that one of today's themes was that all the senior members of the President's cabinet saw themselves as part of the international drug control and prevention effort. Last month at the World Health Assembly, Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), had called for increased global cooperation on global health problems.

Drug abuse was seen by the United States as a global problem, and it was, therefore, committed to gathering its resources and will to fight drug abuse together, Secretary Shalala said. That was why the United States anti- drug strategy included sharing with other nations its most effective ways for curbing drug abuse and addiction. Prevention training courses had been held by the United States all over the world, including Bangladesh, Thailand, Peru, Colombia and Japan.

Drug research findings had also been shared and were being used around the world as models, she continued. The initiatives announced by the President today would reinforce the international efforts in prevention and research.

"We've got a very good story to tell the world about fighting drug use", Secretary Shalala said. It was no accident that it had dropped in the United States in the past decade. That had taken both leadership and consistency and a willingness to change programmes, materials and strategies as more was learned.

Children remained vulnerable, the Secretary continued. The President had outlined a goal of cutting the rate of drug use on the demand side in half within 10 years. In order to achieve that, Congress had been asked for the largest anti-drug budget in history -- $17 billion, including $6 billion to fight drug demand with strong media campaigns and solid prevention, research and treatment programmes.

United States Special Envoy for Latin American Issues Mack McLarty said that the global approach that had been outlined today would have as one of its critical foundational pieces the Summit of the Americas process in Miami and then in Santiago, where a multilateral approach had been agreed upon. Progress had been made in terms of that cooperation in Bolivia, Peru and Mexico where substantial crop eradication had been seen. Such cooperation had changed some of the basic patterns of narco-traffickers' distribution routes, as well as some of the more fundamental aspects of their business.

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It was clearly not only a supply, but a demand effort, Mr. McLarty continued. Real progress, however, should not be confused with complete success. The line had not only blurred in terms of demand and supply, but also in terms of security and economic issues. The effort being made against narco-traffickers was absolutely critical in terms of building stable and prosperous economies throughout the hemisphere. That would indeed take a community of action.

Mr. McLarty said he would have an opportunity to meet with a number of heads of State from Latin America during the special session. The United Nations was the proper place to move forward in the critical endeavour in the coming months and years.

A correspondent asked if a recent United States operation -- "Operation Casablanca" -- which had led to indictments against 22 Mexican Bank officials for laundering drug money had been worth it.

General McCaffrey said that the United States probably spent $57 billion a year on illegal drugs. To some extent, money out of Western Europe and the United States fuelled the international crime thread. Great progress had been made in finding common laws to combat money-laundering and asset seizure. Great pride was taken in the dedication of United States law enforcement in aggressively pursuing international crime.

The problem was not Colombia, Panama, the Cayman Islands, or other countries, the problem was international crime that was corrosive to democratic institutions, General McCaffrey said. It was necessary for the United States to work in partnership with its neighbours, and with absolute respect and deference for their own sovereign institutions.

The correspondent asked if any damage in relations between Mexico and the United States had been done by "Operation Casablanca". General McCaffrey said that there was a common belief between President Clinton and President Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico, that one of the dominant threats to democratic institutions and families was the drug issue. There was no question that it threatened both populations and required a mutually respectful partnership to confront it.

A correspondent asked what impact recent comments -- that the drug strategy of the United States was a failure -- would have on United States policy. General McCaffrey said that the various viewpoints were being listened to very carefully. The Administration's strategy took into account a comprehensive approach that was based on the reduction of drug demand. "I think in many cases, this is 1990's reaction to a 1950's perception", he added.

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The heart and soul of the United States strategy was, "watch our budgets", General McCaffrey said. The 1999 budget had a 33 per cent increase over drug prevention funding levels of three years before. There was a dramatic increase in drug treatment funding, and now it was being linked to criminal justice system.

Responding to the same question, Attorney-General Reno said that in the last several years the United States had focused on a balanced approach that included education, prevention, treatment and enforcement. In enforcement, significant results had been shown with drug courts which used a "carrot and stick" approach -- cooperate in treatment or face more serious sanctions each step of the way. Such balanced approaches, which incorporated provisions for treatment and follow up, were making a significant difference.

Also responding to the question, Secretary Shalala said there were no substitutes for initial prevention strategies -- parents, teachers, and institutions at the community level sending a consistent message to young people and reinforcing that message. There was no "silver bullet" for the problem and there was no chance that the United States was going to give up and walk away from what it considered a fundamental public health issue.

In the 15-year context, the United States was doing quite well with that issue, General McCaffrey added. In 1979, 14 per cent of the population had been using drugs regularly -- the figure now stood at 6 per cent. However, historically, that figure was unacceptably high. Therefore, the President had entered into a long-term commitment to reduce the level of drug usage by more than half.

Asked for her opinion on the legalization of drugs, Attorney-General Reno said, "I'm opposed to the legalization of drugs, because I have seen so many instances in which people who were abusers were motivated into treatment by the threat of sanction. I think the balanced approach that includes vigorous enforcement and focus on traffickers and appropriate sanctions against users coupled with treatment can have a dramatic impact."

Responding to the same question, Secretary Shalala said that the Administration believed that public health issues ought to be based on science, and there was clear evidence that marijuana was dangerous. Public policies that did not reflect the danger of drugs should not be made. There was no such thing as a soft drug, she added.

Asked to comment on Mr. Arlacchi's proposals, General McCaffrey said that Mr. Arlacchi's evolving thinking on the elimination of cocaine and opium production in the coming decade was not yet in the form of a plan that was on the table. It was not clear that adding resources would "bulldoze" the situation. The United States had had dramatic successes in Peru with somewhat modest help from the international community. The most important ingredient

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at stake had been Peruvian political will, and the reintroduction of civil law and police into the growing areas in the region.

There were problems in Myanmar, Afghanistan and elsewhere where the United States had a principal foreign policy goal of support for democratization and human rights, General McCaffrey said. How those extremely important democratic principles would be sorted out was not yet clear. It was clear, however, that drug production in Myanmar was an enormous threat to the People's Republic of China, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Thailand, Japan and the United States. That was not a case of consumer nation versus producer nation -- it was a regional problem, he added.

Asked if "Operation Casablanca" could be done over again, how it would be done differently, Attorney-General Reno said that the mutual problem faced by both nations was what to do about drugs and money-laundering -- that would continue to be a focus. The United States would continue to work with the Government of Mexico in every way possible. In any investigation, problems could arise, but they would always be worked through to achieve the goal of real impact on drug trafficking.

A correspondent asked a further question about "Operation Casablanca". Attorney-General Reno said that in some investigations the circumstances were such that great care had to be taken. In this instance such care had had to be taken in order to ensure the safety of the individuals involved. It had in no way been a question of disrespect, she added.

Asked if figures proposed by Mr. Arlacchi were within the area that the United States could participate in if it determined that the proposed programmes were worthy of funding, General McCaffrey said that it was premature to speculate on a funding package to go along with Mr. Arlacchi's visionary thinking -- of which the United States was absolutely supportive. During the special session, political consensus was being built to look at the problem as one that required a sense of partnership.

A discussion of mechanisms that might be used could occur at a later stage, General McCaffrey said. United States money was already going in to both Afghanistan and Myanmar, and some good was coming out of that. The cost of the world community of living with the scourge was so enormous, that it was not clear that the resources required to address the problem would dominate the debate.

A correspondent asked a question regarding the issue of crop eradication in Myanmar -- were there any new ideas or strategies within the United States Administration for dealing with it? General McCaffrey said that if comparative levels of suffering were considered, the hill people of Myanmar had suffered more from opium production than any other group. What could be done about it was not clear. There was a growing sense of regional concern

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and cooperation to confront the issue. The Chinese were actively involved in the dialogue and there was a modest United States presence in Myanmar. There had not been any real progress in lowering the rates of drug production.

Asked by the same correspondent to comment on a question regarding extradition from Myanmar, Attorney-General Reno said that what was generally important was that procedures were developed for bringing people to justice so that there was no safe place to hide. One of the reasons that today's meeting was important was that it provided an opportunity for learning how extradition efforts could be improved and what could be done to build trust so that drug traffickers knew there was no safe place to hide.

A correspondent asked a question regarding the Administration's stance on a growing "pro-drug" element within the intellectual and academic communities -- what could the Administration do to increase support in those communities for the anti-drug movement? General McCaffrey said he was very disturbed by the trend. However, to some extent, it was a case of the "mouse that roared". If polling data was considered, there was not a shred of support for drug legalization -- that would not happen in the United States. That was why subtle and nuanced approaches were being taken to the question of drug legalization.

Attorney-General Reno, also responding to the question, said that was the wrong way to go. The best way to go was to join with General McCaffrey and others in trying to find a balanced approach.

On that subject, Secretary Shalala said that a kind of pseudo- intellectualism was involved, because there was no scientific base to their conclusions. "These drugs are harmful, and there is no way that they can make the case that they are not harmful, or that they won't lead to the worst kind of public health effects", she added. General McCaffrey said that Harvard University, University of Michigan, Johns Hopkins, and other institutions, shared in that viewpoint.

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