[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 98 (Tuesday, July 21, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1370-E1371]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      ``LET'S GET TOUGH ON DRUGS''

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. RON PACKARD

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 21, 1998

  Mr. PACKARD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask if the Clinton 
Administration has any defined position on casual drug use and any

[[Page E1371]]

specific strategy to fight drug abuse in our schools, our workplaces 
and our homes.
  A few weeks ago, I was pleased to hear the White House drug policy 
chief Barry McCaffery's harsh words of criticism for the liberal drug 
policies he observed while traveling through Europe. General McCaffery 
strongly criticized the approach of the Netherlands, where marijuana 
and other drugs are legal, and called the result of their policies ``an 
unmitigated disaster.''
  Mr. Speaker, there is absolutely no doubt that legalizing marijuana 
would have disastrous results for any society. General McCaffery 
pointed that there are now over 1200 ``pot clubs'' in Holland alone. 
Crime has risen and the state is now responsible for thousands of 
heroin addicts that now require extensive methadone treatment.
  According to today's Washington Post, General McCaffery has once 
again modified his remarks and is now calling the drug policies of 
countries like Holland ``very impressive.'' Mr. Speaker, I know General 
McCaffery is tough on drugs. We've heard his `zero' approach time and 
time again and I applaud him for that. However, I believe General 
McCaffery was right when he first offered his opinion on policies of 
nations like the Netherlands when it comes to drugs.
  Mr. Speaker, this Administration continues to send mixed signals on 
casual drug use. Meanwhile, children all over America are faced with 
the temptation to try drugs every day.
  Those nations that choose to tolerate recreational drug use are going 
down a very dangerous path. The statistics of drug-related health 
problems and death in those countries can not be disputed. Mr. Speaker, 
it's time for this Administration to stop worrying about criticizing 
our friends in Europe and start worrying about the protection and 
welfare of our own children.

            [From the Washington Post, Tues. July 21, 1998]

                   Drug Chief Mitigates Slap at Dutch


      After Tour, McCaffrey Softens His Criticism of Drug Policies

                          By Michael Grunwald

       Less than two weeks ago, White House drug policy chief 
     Barry R. McCaffrey sparked an international stir by attacking 
     Dutch drug-fighting policies as ``an unmitigated disaster.'' 
     Yesterday, he offered a new description of their efforts: 
     ``very impressive.''
       McCaffrey is still no fan of the permissive Dutch attitude 
     toward marijuana, and he was appalled by a ``heroin 
     provision'' experiment for addicts he saw during a one-day 
     dash through the Netherlands last week. But he said he was 
     pleasantly surprised by aggressive Dutch efforts to rein in 
     drug smuggling, ``drug tourism'' and drug-related violence.
       He even said that the United States could learn a great 
     deal from the expansive Dutch approach to funding drug 
     treatment, especially methadone programs for heroin users.
       ``I am envious of their ability to deliver drug treatment 
     and health care to heroin addicts,'' said McCaffrey, director 
     of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. ``Our program 
     is inadequate in coverage.''
       It was quite a change of tune for McCaffrey, who made 
     front-page news in the Netherlands with his ``unmitigated 
     disaster'' comment during a July 9 appearance on a CNN talk 
     show. McCaffrey said on the program that Dutch acceptance of 
     marijuana as a harmless ``soft drug'' has fueled dramatic 
     increases in crime and warned that official toleration of 
     nearly 1,200 ``cannabis clubs'' in the Netherlands was 
     setting a terrible example for Europe. The Dutch ambassador 
     to the United States, Joris Vos, responded that he was 
     ``confounded and dismayed'' by McCaffrey's remarks.
       McCaffrey, a four-star general who served with distinction 
     in the Vietnam War and the Persian Gulf War, has courted 
     controversy since President Clinton named him to lead 
     America's war on drugs in 1996. He was a bitter critic of 
     needle exchange programs, then muted his criticism somewhat 
     after Clinton endorsed them as a useful tool against AIDS. He 
     praised Mexico's top anti-drug official, Gen. Jesus Gutierrez 
     Rebollo, as ``an honest man,'' then professed shock when 
     Gutierrez was arrested in a corruption sting after just 10 
     weeks in office.
       Yesterday, in a news conference about his week-long swing 
     through six European countries, McCaffrey acknowledged that 
     he had overstepped with his ``unmitigated disaster'' 
     criticism of the Dutch. ``In a more balanced vein, I'd 
     suggest that there are areas of agreement and areas of 
     disagreement,'' he said. ``Friends can disagree with 
     friends.''
       Dutch officials yesterday said they welcomed his more 
     conciliatory tone. ``I think he made a good visit and learned 
     a lot,'' said embassy spokeswoman Madelien DePlanque. ``He 
     doesn't agree with everything we do, but he's entitled to an 
     opinion.''
       McCaffrey visited a methadone program in Amsterdam and said 
     he came away impressed by the ease with which Dutch heroin 
     addicts can get treatment. In America, he said, methadone 
     clinics are few and far between, and addicts who do find them 
     often face a maze of bureaucratic obstacles; only 115,000 of 
     the estimated 800,000 U.S. heroin addicts currently get 
     methadone.
       McCaffrey also said he now believes that the Dutch are 
     doing an ``excellent job'' cracking down on serious drug 
     crimes and getting though with ``drug-daze'' foreign tourists 
     who visit the country for its marijuana-selling ``coffee 
     shops.''
       But McCaffrey is not quite ready for America to go Dutch 
     when it comes to drug abuse. He criticized the toleration of 
     cannabis clubs as ``legal hypocrisy.'' He distributed 
     statistics indicating dramatic across-the-board increases in 
     crime and drug-related deaths in the Netherlands since 1978. 
     He said he was disturbed by his visit with Rotterdam 
     scientists who are dispensing heroin to 750 addicts. And he 
     warned that ``this beautiful, clean, quiet little country'' 
     has become a production and distribution hub for much of the 
     European drug trade.
       ``They just haven't connected their problems to their 
     attitudes towards drug abuse,'' McCaffrey said. ``They seem 
     to think marijuana is benign. It's not benign.''
       McCaffrey refused to visit a cannabis club, explaining that 
     he already knows what people look like when they smoke pot. 
     But he's done calling Dutch policy an ``unmitigated 
     disaster.''
       ``You can say it's a mitigated disaster,'' he said.

       

                          ____________________