Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 29, 1993 TAG: 9304290104
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A4 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Lee Brown, who has led departments in New York, Houston and Atlanta, was introduced by Clinton as his choice for director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Brown, 55, more recently has been on the faculty of Texas Southern University in Houston.
"We can't let drugs and drug-related crimes continue to ruin communities, threaten our children . . . and fill up our prisons with wrecked and wasted lives," Clinton said.
The choice of an experienced police executive came as a surprise to some heads of education and rehabilitation programs. Clinton had said he wanted to emphasize prevention and treatment, as opposed to reducing availability.
"On the face of it, it looks like business as usual," said Howard Josepher, executive director of ARRIVE, a New York program for abusers. "But maybe this man is teachable and open to new ideas."
Brown, who if confirmed by the Senate would be the first police officer to hold the post, also received praise from the rehabilitation community.
"I am encouraged that we have a man of stature who's been appointed," said Dr. Mitchell Rosenthal of New York, president of the Phoenix House, one of the largest drug rehabilitation programs in the nation.
Clinton has unveiled a drug-control budget that offers few changes from former President Bush's program. In his campaign, he spoke of providing drug treatment on demand while putting 100,000 more police officers on the beat.
Clinton's budget calls for a 10 percent increase in spending on treatment programs in 1994, although law enforcement still would get much more.
On Wednesday, he called treatment programs "a good urban policy and a good anti-crime policy."
by CNB