ACCESSION
NUMBER:326072
FILE ID:LEF214
DATE:02/08/94
TITLE:CLINTON'S ANTIDRUG BUDGET REFLECTS ANTICRIME PLEDGE (02/08/94)
TEXT:*94020814.LEF
*LEF214 02/08/94
CLINTON'S ANTIDRUG BUDGET REFLECTS ANTICRIME PLEDGE
(Focuses on treatment, prevention, enforcement) nrb (440)
1With Lsi205 of 02/08/94)
By Norma Romano-Benner
USIA Staff Writer
WASHINGTON -- President Clinton's fiscal 1995 budget asks Congress to
sharply increase antidrug funds to treat heavy drug users, prevent young
people from using drugs, and aid cocaine and heroin-producing countries in
Latin America and Asia.
The proposed $13,179.8 million budget represents an 8 percent increase over
1994, Lee P. Brown, director of the White House Office of National Drug
Control Policy (ONDCP), told reporters Feb. 7.
Brown said the 1995 budget, together with the provisions and funding offered
by the pending Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, "will begin
the shift in emphasis from a wholly federal response to a response which
empowers states and communities to fight crime and drug abuse locally."
The Clinton antidrug budget shows the president's determination to deal with
drugs and violence in the United States, Brown said. Most of the requested
money, $7,131 million, will go to law enforcement, $4,924 million to drug
prevention and treatment, and the rest to research and intelligence.
The antidrug budget coincides with the administration's request of $18,300
million for crime control; an increase of $3,200 million, or 21 percent,
over 1994.
Brown said the major emphasis on treating chronic addicts and preventing
drug use represents a "fundamental change in the way the nation responds to
the drug problem."
ONDCP estimates there are about three million long-term cocaine and heroin
addicts, who consume most of the illegal drugs and are responsible for a
high proportion of drug-related crime.
Internationally, the Clinton administration's budget also reflects the
administration's commitment to eradicate cocaine and heroin at source
countries in Latin America and Asia. Most of the cocaine consumed in the
United States comes from Peru, Bolivia, and Colombia. Most of the heroin
comes from Asia's Golden Triangle, Laos, Burma, and Thailand.
The proposed international budget calls for spending $427.8 million, a 21.7
percent increase from $351.4 million in 1994.
Additionally, the new strategy calls for a slight reduction in interdiction
efforts to stop drug smugglers at the borders and at sea. In 1994 the
enacted interdiction budget was $1,299.9 million; the 1995 request is
$1,205.6 million.
Brown often says that it is more cost-effective to destroy the beehive
rather than catch the bees. He also says there would be "no change" of
emphasis at the 2,000-mile long border with Mexico.
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