Bush unveils $13B strategy to tackle U.S. drug problem

Press, 7 September 1989, Page 8

Bush unveils $13B strategy to tackle U.S. drug problem

NZPA-Reuter Washington The United States President, George Bush, yesterday unveiled a SNZI3 billion anti-drug plan to deal with what he called America’s toughest domestic test in decades.

In a 25 minute Oval Office speech designed to put the full weight of the presidency behind the new strategy, Mr Bush called for a national effort “that reaches into, every school, every workplace, involving every family.” “Victory will take hard work and time. But together we will win — too many young lives are at stake,” he added in his first Oval Office address as President. Mr Bush promised a big increase in law enforcement and drug interdiction efforts. He urged tougher penalties for drug users and materials provided by the White House and said local governments should revoke the driving licences of narcotics offenders and notify employers of drug convictions.

Some Democrats criticised the plan as not tough enough. “His rhetoric isn’t matched by the resources we need to get the job done. Quite frankly, the president’s plan is not tough enough, bold

enough or imaginative enough to meet the crisis at hand,” the Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, Joseph Biden, said in a broadcast response to Mr Bush. Mr Bush earmarked SNZ442 million in military and economic aid in the 1990 budget year starting on October 1 to battle cocaine production and marketing in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia as part of an Andean strategy that would cost SNZ3.4 billion in the next five years. “Our message to the drug cartels is this: the rules have changed. We will help any government that wants our help. When requested, we will for the first time make available the appropriate resources of America’s armed forces,” he said. The money for the An-

dean countries, the source of almost all of the cocaine available in the United States, will be in addition , to SNZIIO million in emergency aid that Mr Bush has pledged to help the Colombian President, Virgilio

Barco,in his war on Colombia’s drug cartels.

Mr Bush also called for an Andean summit to forge a united international battle against drugs. He said he had chosen the drug issue for his first direct talk to the country because “this is the first time since taking the oath of office that I felt an issue was so important, so threatening.” Holding up what he said was a bag of crack seized in the last few days in a park across the street from the White House, a stern-looking Mr Bush said:

“It’s as innocent looking as candy. But it is turning our cities into battle zones and it is murdering our children. Let there be no mistake. This stuff is poison.” He said a recent study showed a 33 per cent rise in the use of crack, a highly addictive form of cocaine that often causes violent behaviour.

“This is the toughest domestic challenge we’ve faced in decades,” Mr Bush said.