
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, July 2, 1990                   TAG: 9007020201
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A/1   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Short

FAITH FADING IN WAR ON DRUGS

Confidence in President Bush's war on cocaine is waning and concerns are on the rise about drug abuse in the nation's neighborhoods, a national survey has found.

Nearly half the respondents in the Media General-Associated Press poll said drugs are a serious problem where they live. That was up from 40 percent 10 months ago, when Bush announced his anti-drug campaign.

Many Americans - more than four in 10 of those under 45 years old - continued to say they know a cocaine user. While most believed the government can reduce drug abuse, 55 percent expected the problem to worsen.

At the same time, 18 percent said the problem of drug abuse is "very serious" in their own neighborhoods - up from 14 percent in September - and 30 percent said it was "somewhat serious," up from 26 percent.

The survey confirmed the severity of the drug plague in poor areas: the poorest respondents were nearly twice as likely as the wealthiest to say drugs were a "very serious" problem in their neighborhoods. Of those earning less than $15,000 a year, 27 percent called the problem "very serious"; among those earning more than $50,000, 16 percent said so.

by CNB