National Drug

Congressional lawmakers investigating the shortage of lifesaving drugs used to treat cancer and other illnesses are looking into three companies in North Carolina and Maryland that they believe set up "fake pharmacies" to access the drugs that they then sold at a markup. The lawmakers, led by Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, a Baltimore Democrat, said Wednesday that they sent letters to the three pharmacies that they believe sold drugs to wholesalers that they also owned, which then sold the drugs on the "gray market" to entities that do not manufacture drugs or treat patients.

As the federal government shifts its drug control strategy toward drug treatment and education initiatives, the U.S. drug czar said Wednesday at an event in Baltimore that he plans to emphasize the expansion of drug courts to divert nonviolent offenders to treatment instead of prison. Gil Kerlikowske, director of national drug control policy, announced the changes at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine as he laid out his goals for the year. The former Seattle police chief said there would be no official change in the federal stance that marijuana is an illegal and harmful drug, a hot issue since two states voted to allow its use last year.

Continuing his effort to refocus the battle against drugs, Baltimore Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke called yesterday for a national commission to investigate the drug problems that plague the nation's cities.Mr. Schmoke issued his call at the American Society of Newspaper Editors' 70th annual convention during a panel discussion on "The Prospects for Cities."He was joined on the panel by Henry G. Cisneros, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Mayor Stephen Goldsmith of Indianapolis.

Congressional lawmakers investigating the shortage of lifesaving drugs used to treat cancer and other illnesses are looking into three companies in North Carolina and Maryland that they believe set up "fake pharmacies" to access the drugs that they then sold at a markup. The lawmakers, led by Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, a Baltimore Democrat, said Wednesday that they sent letters to the three pharmacies that they believe sold drugs to wholesalers that they also owned, which then sold the drugs on the "gray market" to entities that do not manufacture drugs or treat patients.

IN the debate over national drug policy, too many policy makers, unsure of what might work or why, appear to rely upon what seems politically safe: harsher law enforcement based on more prison time.A nonpartisan Federal Commission on Drugs needs to be formed. Its object should be to report candidly on the costs, benefits, risks and advantages of present and potential national drug policies.Such a commission could provide the fact-finding and serious analysis lacking in the political climate surrounding drugs.

WASHINGTON -- Former Florida Gov. Bob Martinez, in line to become the new coordinator of the nation's drug policy, faced stiff questioning from senators yesterday about his credentials for the job and his drug-fighting record.In the opening day of confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Democrats asked Mr. Martinez whether President Bush provided him the job as a "political payoff.""I'm not sure you are the right man for the job. The burden of proof is on you," said Sen. Howard M. Metzenbaum, D-Ohio.

WASHINGTON -- The Clinton administration is planning radical change in national drug policy, shifting the federal focus away from catching smugglers and dealers to treating those who use drugs, says the New York Daily News.The strategy overhaul, still in the works, could move the office of National Drug Control Policy -- the nation's drug czar -- out of the White House hierarchy and put it under another department."We're thinking of putting it somewhere else," Clinton transition chairman Vernon Jordan said of the office.

WASHINGTON -- Alarmed by the rapid increase of AIDS cases stemming from drug use, the National Commission on AIDS today urged a radical policy change and recommended that addicts be given legal access to needles.This recommendation flies in the face of federal and state laws intended to discourage drug use. It is contained in a report that sharply criticizes the Bush administration's anti-drug policies for failing to deal with the AIDS problem.The commission is the first federal entity to recommend elimination of legal barriers to the purchase and possession of needles.

Warning of a new heroin epidemic attracting suburbanites and children as young as 12 who are snorting a purer form of the drug, federal law enforcement officials called yesterday for quick action to prevent a new class of addicts.Speakers who included an assistant attorney general and a doctor opened a Baltimore conference on drugs using stark language to describe an emerging problem of snorting heroin that is being sold on city streets to suburban residents."Heroin, once thought to be the drug of choice of a small group of older users confined to the inner cities has emerged as a growing threat," said Deputy U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

Service clubs are alive and fighting drug abuseThe Sun's March 31 article "End of the `glory days of service clubs,' " lamented the decline of service organizations. But I'd like to suggest that they are alive and well and working for drug abuse prevention.The Office of National Drug Control Policy is part of a historic substance abuse prevention alliance of 47 civic, service, fraternal and women's organizations that represent more than 100 million members. In 1997 leaders of these groups signed an agreement calling for more than 1 million hours of volunteer service in mentoring, drug education and local activities that educate and enable America's youth to reject illegal drugs as well as alcohol and tobacco.

When the nation's drug czar visited Friday, the recovering addicts at Tuerk House in West Baltimore did a little showing off. Those taking the culinary jobs training course whipped up a lavish breakfast. Those in the landscaping and maintenance program spruced up the grounds. "It's been a blessing to me," Mack Campbell, 56, said of the program that he hopes will finally break his personal cycle of addiction, imprisonment and relapse. "I'm learning how to live without drugs. " Inside, Gil Kerlikowske was offering much the same message — but on a broader level.

Victor Capoccia says he got into the drug treatment arena "sideways." Recently named director of a drug addiction program of the Baltimore-based Open Society Institute, Capoccia was teaching planning and community organizing at Boston College's school of social work when he got involved in health planning programs for the Boston area in 1979. That work took him to the Boston Department of Health and Hospitals, working on HIV and AIDS programs, which eventually led to running a community-based drug and alcohol treatment program.

WASHINGTON - Authorities and drug abuse counselors are witnessing a sudden and dangerous spike in the use of Ecstasy, a drug once confined to nightclubs that is creeping into suburban neighborhoods. From Maryland to California, officials are seizing increasing amounts of Ecstasy, a mix of stimulant and hallucinogen that is taken as a pill. Drug use surveys also show a rise in Ecstasy use by teens. "The increase has been tremendous," said Joe Keefe, the special agent in charge of the Special Operations Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

On the well-trodden paths of the national drug debate, Barry R. McCaffrey likes to surprise his audiences, undermining stereotypes and shattering assumptions. He tells them, for instance, that the rate of illegal drug use among African-Americans younger than 30 is lower than that for white Americans. That casual drug use peaked in 1979, when 14 percent of Americans had used an illegal drug in the preceding month; the number now is 6 percent. He informs them that the United States consumes less than 4 percent of the heroin produced in the world; Pakistan has more than twice as many heroin addicts.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.-- Gary Johnson used marijuana and cocaine in his younger days. Now Johnson, 46, shuns illegal drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, Coca-Cola -- even candy bars.Not that unusual a transformation for a man who came of age in 1960s America.Today, he advocates decriminalizing marijuana, cocaine and heroin, arguing that the government should spend its financial resources elsewhere.Again, not that unusual a stance -- unless you know that Johnson is a Republican, the governor of New Mexico and the highest-ranking elected official in the United States to advocate legalization.

Service clubs are alive and fighting drug abuseThe Sun's March 31 article "End of the `glory days of service clubs,' " lamented the decline of service organizations. But I'd like to suggest that they are alive and well and working for drug abuse prevention.The Office of National Drug Control Policy is part of a historic substance abuse prevention alliance of 47 civic, service, fraternal and women's organizations that represent more than 100 million members. In 1997 leaders of these groups signed an agreement calling for more than 1 million hours of volunteer service in mentoring, drug education and local activities that educate and enable America's youth to reject illegal drugs as well as alcohol and tobacco.

WHEN BILL BENNETT announced his resignation as national drug czar the same day Mr. Bush announced more troops were going to the Persian Gulf, the swifter thinkers here immediately saw it as a combination shot.The president, praising Mr. Bennett, asserted that "We're on the road to victory" against drugs and promised he would remain "on the front lines until this scourge is stopped." Mr. Bennett maintained that during his crusade, the country had turned against drugs.The parlay was obvious: Mr. Bush, with more forces in the Middle East than he apparently knows what to do with, would appoint Mr. Bennett as theater commander.

Washington. -- "It's amazing,'' said the Orange Hat anti-drug patrol member in one of this capital city's crack-infested neighborhoods. ''You come around the corner and the dealers freeze in their tracks like jack-lighted deer. Cars start backing down the street so you can't read their license plate numbers. Within minutes of pulling out a video camera, there isn't a dealer within a block and a half radius, where before there were a dozen dealers blocking the sidewalk.''The example comes from ''The Winnable War -- A Community Guide to Eradicating Street Drug Markets,'' a booklet that may be the best manual ever for citizens trying to rid their neighborhoods of increasingly violent open-air drug markets.

Warning of a new heroin epidemic attracting suburbanites and children as young as 12 who are snorting a purer form of the drug, federal law enforcement officials called yesterday for quick action to prevent a new class of addicts.Speakers who included an assistant attorney general and a doctor opened a Baltimore conference on drugs using stark language to describe an emerging problem of snorting heroin that is being sold on city streets to suburban residents."Heroin, once thought to be the drug of choice of a small group of older users confined to the inner cities has emerged as a growing threat," said Deputy U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

SAINT-NICOLAS, Quebec -- The bomb was simplicity itself. Fifty pounds of dynamite affixed to the gasoline tank of a Jeep. Insert detonator. Set timing device. Leave vehicle on the quiet street where Hell's Angels live.On March 8, the blast, attributed to a rival gang, shattered the stillness of this community, but hardly scratched the intended target -- the steel-shuttered, concrete-reinforced headquarters of the local chapter of "Les Hells," as riders of the world's most infamous motorcycle gang are called in Quebec.