Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, January 28, 1992 TAG: 9201280149
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A8 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
BUSH PROPOSES MORE MONEY FOR DRUG WAR
President Bush vowed again Monday to win the war against drugs as he unveiled a $12.7 billion strategy that sticks pretty close to past battle plans - and drew criticism for that reason."Everybody that is working the problem is determined that we will win this war," he told a White House audience. "It is imperative that we put more resources into our fight."
His request to Congress for money to fight drugs next year amounts to a 6.5 percent increase.
But he said the war is far from won, even as federal spending to fight drugs has almost doubled from the $6.6 billion spent in 1989.
"The poison of drug abuse and the violence it breeds have left a trail of death and destruction in our cities; and anyone who lives in a big city knows of places close to home that look like war zones, the neighborhoods burned and scarred, tyrannized by gangs, by drug gangs," Bush said.
The breakdown of the proposed budget is much like those that preceded it, allocating $8.6 billion to reducing drug supplies and $4.1 billion for cutting demand.
"Prevention is the only answer in the long run," said Bob Martinez, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. But in the short run, "increased interdiction, international and law enforcement efforts are necessary, as well as treatment for those currently using drugs."
One of the few changes in the strategy is an emphasis on curtailing alcohol use by minors.
Congress, which has been criticized by the administration for failing to fully fund the drug strategy's demand-reduction programs, was quick to criticize the new strategy.
Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., chairman of the House Government Operations Committee, said that the strategy misses the "millions of people . . . who live on the margins and are addicted to drugs."
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.