European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 15, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes Friday september 15,1989 George will military might a futile gesture against drugs the martial metaphors miss the Point. For All the rhetoric about a War on drugs the government s Job is primarily one of pressure and persuasion com parable to the Job the government undertook 35 years ago when the civil rights crisis could no longer be deferred. In democracies where Public opinion must be pal listed there arc necessary utilities. One such is the warlike aspect of drug policy the use of Azacs and the Navy and perhaps even the infantry for interdiction of drug shipments. Interdiction today May be stopping one percent of the drug flow. Assume something highly improbable that extensive use of the military could boost that to five percent. Every Gram interdicted would be As expensive As a Gram of Moon rocks. If we committed Large forces for a Long Lime to the Depths of colombian Jungles we probably could succeed in driving the processing apparatus into Peru or Bolivia or elsewhere. In 1984, . And colombian efforts smashed a cocaine Industrial Park in the Jun Gle 4 laboratories seven air planes Barracks for hundreds of workers 11,000 Drums of chemicals 14 tons of cocaine. The result a Small Brief five month Price Rise. In a decade cocaine traffic has grown from hand bag is cd parcels to shipments like the four tons found in a shipment of brazilian lumber. In 1988, 55 percent of High school seniors Sun eyed said cocaine was fairly easy or very easy to obtain up from 45 percent in 1984. Acreage allotted to production of coca leaves has increased enormously. Peru which produces 60 per cent of such leaves has a per capita income of $900 a year. America s drug dollars arc about equal to the combined Gnu s of Peru. Bolivia and Columbia those nations police and judicial systems will not soon suppress an activity employing hundreds of thou Sands of people and Woven into the fabric of those nations economies. But then political economic factors Here Ameri Ca s unwillingness to put its Money where its Mouth is will keep the drug War quite limited. William bin not the epigrammatic drug Czar says crack is worse than  but his commander in chief emphatically disagrees. So there will still be Long waiting lists at drug treatment facilities which properly funded could Dampen demand. This is not new. In 1980, Ronald Reagan denounced drugs mightily. But in 1981, the drug enforcement administration was not exempted from budget cuts. Surveillance was Cut so a arc undercover buys. Republican tax phobia qualifies As a dangerous addiction. Actually we already arc winning the  and As is generally the Case in wars the casual pics arc disproportionately increasingly among the poor. The use of cocaine and other drugs by High school seniors has fallen to the lowest level in More than a decade. The information acquiring segments of the population have got the message drugs arc dangerous and dumb. Their cachet is gone. Drugs like cigarettes arc de Classe. A potent weapon in the War is adolescent status anxiety. But people who make it to senior year in High school Are not the most at risk group. Drugs and Atten Dant pathologies Are increasingly confined to inner City enclaves Beirut without heavy artillery. Let us As sume it cannot be assumed that the nation will re main aroused when it realizes that the crisis is one of poor neighbourhoods devouring themselves. Is there any Model of government Success in confronting a task of Large scale behavioural and hence attitudinal changes the conspicuous government successes of recent generations have included the second world War an the reconstruction of Europe Tva and Rural electrification the Manhattan and Apollo projects the inter state Highway system. All these were essentially mate rial achievements. Even the Radical reduction of poverty among the elderly was essentially a material act mailing checks to a stable population  achievements arc not models for Victory in the War against the myriad social pathologies of which drug use is part cause and part effect. But therein one heartening analogy. At Bottom the purpose of civil rights legislation usually enacted in Advance of Public altitudes was attitudinal change. Such legis lation was statecraft As soul Craft. It succeeded no completely but to a remarkable extent and remarkably  drug crisis is not a crisis of latin american production or of interdiction. It is a crisis of american behaviour of appetites produced by bad attitudes. But political action can change attitudes it has done so regarding drugs in segments of society in this  crucial prerequisite is political leadership pre pared to blame americans first. A wait Langton Post James Kilpatrick Congress should have guts to join drug fight they turned out the to flood lights in the Oval office about 9 30 Las tuesday night. By 9 35 we had an instructive look at the problems the presi Dent faces in stepping up the War on drugs. Sen. Joe Biden. The Delaware Tiger gave a response for the  president s strategy he said was not Tough enough bold enough or imaginative enough. You will search Biden s response i vain for a single sentence containing even one proposal that is Tough bold or imaginative. He had nothing to offer As a remedy but the same old bottled Snake Oil the democrats have been peddling for years spend More Money. Rep. Charlie Rangl of new York was equally helpful. He blamed Ronald Rea Gan for the drug epidemic. Other democrats set up a familiar chorus of where s the Money coming from the to networks obligingly pitched in by tracking Down a Covey of police chiefs and mayors who sounded the drop in the bucket theme. An $8 billion Federal program suddenly struck All kinds of people As no More useful than a can of flit in a Square mile of mosquitoes. At the end of this unbiased and non partisan response Biden gave us his Choirboy look and spread his  knocked the president s Appeal in every by no could think of. He had final word. All we want to do is help he said. If congressional democrats really want to help they have the Power to raise the additional funds that arc the object of the Tiger s meow. Without Rais ing taxes they can trim some of the lard off the Federal budget and Transfer the savings to still greater efforts at drug treatment drug education and drug interdiction. Let me Advance some modest proposals. The pending appropriations Bill for the legislative Branch provides $1.9 Bil lion for Congress in 1990, an increase of$144 million Over 1989. Generous senators would earmark $296,000 for the office expenses of the Senate s ceremonial president pro Tern Robert Byrd of West Virginia. That represents an in crease of 90 percent Over the $ 156,000now provided. Do you want to find More Money Joe president Bush has urged that the non essential subsidies for Rural airlines be phased out. The pending transportation Bill carries $12.4 million to keep them going. Marilyn Quayle. Wife of the vice presi Dent asked and May receive $200.000 to add More bedrooms on the third floor of the vice presidential mansion. Is this an outlay that could be postponed Bush would Cut Rural housing Loans to$100 million. A pending appropriations Bill would hike this to $1.9 billion. Bus would put an end to subsidies for Rural electric cooperative Loans. House an Senate amendments would provide $1.8 billion for these utterly unwarranted out lays. In a pending foreign Aid Bill. Israel i Down for $ 1.8 billion. Egypt for $ 1.3 Bil lion. Is a Cut of 10 percent in these appropriations truly unthinkable for programs of the department of housing and Urban development the president has requested $12.9 billion. The House would raise this to $15.1 Bil lion. Is every Dollar of that sum acc Essary could some of Hud s funds be better spent on driving the crack houses out of Public housing projects one of the More useless agencies of the Federal government is the Small Busi Ness administration. Bush has proposed to Cut its budget to $290 million. The House proposes $436 million instead. These Are random examples of area where additional funds might be raised. A definitive list could go on for Page. Must the taxpayers spend $170 million through the National endowment of the arts the better to subsidize local sym phonies Ballet groups and pornographic photographers the b-2 stealth Bombe will sop up $4.8 billion the strategic de sense initiative another $4.9 billion. The department of education will spend Mil Lions on conferences seminars and sym Posia that arc a waste of everyone s time. Every Agency wastes Money on Consul  Are we serious about waging War on drugs then let us get serious. Bush s strategy is sound. It relies heavily upon the states to do their part. Inputs heavy emphasis upon reducing the demand for drugs. It appeals to schools colleges churches families to join the crusade. Get with it Biden be useful ranged vote the $8 billion and if More is needed have the guts to vote some More. Ouro venal Pimp Syndicate