Pubdate: Mon, 04 Dec 2000
Source: Akron Beacon-Journal (OH)
Copyright: 2000 by the Beacon Journal Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.ohio.com/bj/
Forum: http://krwebx.infi.net/webxmulti/cgi-bin/WebX?abeacon
Author: Scott Lindlaw, Associated Press writer

AS COCAINE WANES, DRUG BATTLE GROWS MORE REGIONAL

WASHINGTON (AP) -- With cocaine use waning, authorities waged the war on
drugs this year with strategies tailored to the regional battlegrounds:
marijuana in the Appalachian states, methamphetamine in the Rocky
Mountains, cocaine in South Florida.

``There is no longer any one drug that consumes America as cocaine did in
the 1980s,'' said Barry McCaffrey, director of the White House Office of
National Drug Control Policy.

``We need to be ready to defend against emerging threats of a wide variety
by region, as well as increasingly sophisticated changes in the operations
of drug traffickers,'' he said.

McCaffrey's prepared remarks accompanied his annual report on drug threats
and strategies, to be released Tuesday.

While the use of crack and powder cocaine is declining nationwide, it
remains the No. 1 problem in the Ohio region. Moreover, the report states,
``marijuana is ubiquitous in Ohio.''

The report outlines the government's war on drugs in 26 ``High Intensity
Drug Trafficking Areas,'' where drug manufacturing and sales flourish and
where federal, state and local law enforcement agencies cooperate. HIDTA
spent more than $191 million in fiscal year 2000, up from nearly $187
million the previous year.

McCaffrey reported that the cooperating agencies destroyed $787 million
worth of marijuana in Kentucky last year, a value greater than the state's
tobacco crop. Authorities eradicated another $700 million in Tennessee and
West Virginia.

They also battled against ``a general judicial sentiment within some of the
state judicial circuits that trafficking marijuana was a less serious
offense than trafficking other substances.''

Marijuana is also the most prevalent illegal drug in the Atlanta area, but
cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin are also widespread, the report said.

Heroin is the principal problem in central Florida, though the region is
also favored by drug traffickers because of its air, land and sea
transportation networks. Hawaii, Houston, Los Angeles New York and the Gulf
Coast are other hot spots for drug smugglers.

The New England states are seeing ``unprecedented'' increases in
heroin-related deaths and overdoses, according to the report.

The central California valleys are favorite locations for methamphetamine
labs, which are proliferating at an ``alarming'' rate, the report warns.
The region's two international airports, hundreds of private airstrips and
interstate highways make it a clearinghouse for movement of all types of
drugs.

Chicago, meanwhile, remains another ``major distribution hub of narcotics
and other controlled substances for the entire heartland of the United
States.''

Mexican, Colombian and Nigerian drug cartels distribute drugs throughout
the city and the entire Midwest. Ecstasy and other ``club drugs'' are
growing in popularity among suburban residents.

In the Northwest, heroin, marijuana and cocaine are growing threats, and
methamphetamine labs are proliferating throughout the region, according to
the report. Smuggling at the U.S.-Canadian border is on the rise.

McCaffrey, a retired Army general, will leave his post next month to teach
national security at West Point and write books on drug policy and the Gulf
War.
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