ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, October 20, 1996 TAG: 9610210081
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
In a pre-election bid to polish his anti-drug credentials Saturday, President Clinton proposed using the loss of teen-agers' coveted driver's licenses as a tool to curb youthful drug use and drinking.
Clinton also suggested testing for drug use every teen-age applicant for a driver's license, with licenses denied to those who fail. He said he would hope ``the 90 percent who are drug-free'' would participate willingly in such a program to enable identification of teens who use drugs.
Clinton declared a new ``zero tolerance'' regulation for teen drinking and said states that fail to bar young people from drinking and driving will lose a percentage of their federal highway aid.
In his weekly radio address, the president said he has a double-barreled message:
* ``If you're under 21 and you drink, you can't drive - period.''
* ``No drugs - or no driver's license.''
Clinton has been hammered repeatedly by Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole for a sharp increase in drug use by young people.
Commenting for the Dole-Kemp campaign, spokeswoman Christina Martin said: ``It's a shame Bill Clinton has been asleep at the wheel of leadership for three years while drug use among 12-to 17-year-olds skyrocketed 105 percent. Today's proposal is simply too little, too late.''
In his address, Clinton said he is directing the White House drug policy chief, retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey, and Transportation Secretary Federico Pena to develop within 90 days a plan requiring that young people be tested for drugs as a condition of obtaining driver's licenses. He said that might require new legislation.
And he said he would seek the help of the vast majority of American youth who don't use illegal drugs to help identify and change the habits of those who do.
``Let me make one thing clear,'' Clinton said. ``Even though teen drug use is up, all the evidence is that 90 percent of our children are drug-free. They are doing the right thing. They are not experimenting.
``So we're asking them, the 90 percent who are drug-free, to be responsible enough to participate in this drug-testing program to help us identify the 10 percent who are on the brink of getting in trouble and get them away from drugs before it's too late.''
In a memo to McCaffrey and Pena, Clinton said he believes the lure of a driver's license is so compelling for most young people that it can be used to affect their behavior.
``The driver's license is a privilege that should not be available to those who fail to demonstrate responsible behavior,'' he said. ``Denial of driving privileges to those who engage in illegal drug use can be a powerful incentive to stay away from and off drugs.''
Clinton said he is convinced that pulling the licenses of youthful drivers who test positive for even a tiny amount of alcohol in their blood will be equally effective.
He announced that the Transportation Department will issue a regulation Monday implementing a law passed by Congress that requires all states to make ``zero tolerance'' for alcohol a required standard for youthful drivers.
More than 2,200 young people died in alcohol-related car crashes last year, a number Clinton said can be sharply reduced.
Under terms of the new regulation, he said, all states must now pass laws permitting suspension of driver's licenses of people under 21 who are found to be driving after drinking. The penalty for failure to act: forfeiture of up to 10 percent a year of federal highway construction money.
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines KEYWORDS: POLITICS PRESIDENTby CNB