Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 11, 1990 TAG: 9005110273
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
"This news is as alarming as it is tragic," Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., said at a news conference.
Biden released a report prepared by his committee that indicated the number of hard-core addicts was more than double an earlier estimate by the National Institute of Drug Abuse.
William Bennett, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, called Biden's statement "ridiculous" and said it was designed to provide ammunition for next fall's congressional elections.
The administration, Bennett said, has assumed from the outset of the drug war that there are about 4 million hard-core addicts and that the national drug strategy is working.
Nearly one of every 100 Americans is a weekly cocaine user, and some areas of the United States have "extraordinarily high concentrations" of addicts, according to the report. The study defined a hard-core user as someone who uses cocaine once a week.
Biden said an earlier estimate of 862,000 U.S. addicts made by the National Institute of Drug Abuse was far too low.
Biden has said hard-core users should be the primary target, while Bennett has advocated efforts directed mainly at stemming casual cocaine use.
"Our consciences demand that we act, our pocketbooks command that we do so and our safety demands that it be done immediately," Biden said, unveiling a $3 billion drug-fighting plan that includes stepped-up research to find new treatments and doubling crime-fighting grants to $900 million a year.
by CNB