U.S. Reports Gains in Drug War, but the Battles Keep On Shifting
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Almost three years after President Bush declared a war on drugs, the blossoming of the Cali cartel in Colombia is only one development that challenges Administration claims that major progress is being made. Government studies indicate that casual use of cocaine and marijuana is declining, particularly among the affluent, the middle class and students. But critics in Congress say the Administration’s statistics are not persuasive, and officials concede that progress is far slower among the homeless, blacks and other minorities. Skeptics point to a rise in drug-related crime and in the number of deaths linked to use of heroin or cocaine. “I think we are winning a lot of individual battles,” said Bob Martinez, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. “But there are a number of areas of great concern.” More Heroin Arriving Some Administration officials say they are bracing for a new wave of heroin addiction, with heroin possibly replacing crack as the drug of choice in urban ghettoes by the end of the decade. The United States Customs Service said it seized nearly 1,500 pounds of heroin last year, more than double the amount for 1986, suggesting an improvement in enforcement but also a larger volume of traffic. Cocaine and marijuana producers are facing stiffer opposition from a number of Latin American governments, but opium and heroin manufacturers in much of Asia meet with little official interference. While cocaine trafficking through the Caribbean and Miami has been reduced somewhat by by tighter American enforcement, the Latin American traffickers have adjusted by moving more cocaine through Panama and Central America. Melvyn Levitsky, the Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics Matters, told a Congressional panel on Wednesday that there “are real signs of progress” in the anti-drug effort pursued in conjunction with Andean nations, the primary source of cocaine consumed by Americans. But he warned that the Peruvian program was “hampered by a collapsed economy, anarchy, wanton terrorism and widespread corruption.” In Bolivia, he said, “Government corruption continues to compromise counternarcotics operations,” impeding economic programs designed to steer peasants away from growing coca leaf and find new sources of income for them. Like ‘Squeezing a Balloon’ Efforts to reduce drug cultivation and trafficking are like “squeezing a balloon,” Mr. Martinez said. While Colombia is making strides in shutting down sites for cocaine production, for example, “laboratories are springing up in Bolivia and Brazil,” he said. Mr. Martinez had praise for Mexico’s efforts to limit the flow of drugs through its territory, but said that traffickers are now refueling in Guatemala and Belize instead. Since President Bush announced his national strategy for drug control in January 1990, federal spending to combat trafficking and abuse has jumped from $6.3 billion in 1989 to $9.5 billion in 1990 to an estimated $10.4 billion in the current fiscal year. “I am more and more convinced that we will win this war,” he declared recently. Mr. Martinez said the Administration’s efforts were beginning to make a dent in the problem. He pointed to a recent report indicating that Americans spent about $40.4 billion on drugs last year, down from $49.8 billion in 1989. The number of Americans who use illegal drugs has also dropped, to 12.9 million last year from 23 million in 1985. Critics Distrust the Figures Congressional critics say that such figures are highly unreliable. “I don’t know of any successes,” said Representative Charles B. Rangel, Democrat of Manhattan, the chairman of the House Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse. “They say there are less high school seniors on drugs, but in my community if you have made it to be high school senior, you are already a success. It’s the dropouts we have to be concerned about.” He said the Administration had failed to come up with effective programs to teach children about drugs, or new treatment techniques that could be suggested to state governments. More : query.nytimes.com |