President Clinton Nominates New Drug Czar President Clinton announced during the State of the Union address that he will nominate U.S. Army General Barry R. McCaffrey to be his next Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. As commander of U.S. forces in Latin America, McCaffrey built an international and interagency coalition that achieved significant successes over the last 2 years against narcotraffickers attempting to bring cocaine into the United States. His service and leadership will build upon the success of his predecessor, Lee Brown, who contributed to the dismantling of the Cali Drug Cartel. Illegal drugs, cocaine in particular, extract a frightful toll in America. Drugs kill 10,000 Americans each year.
Crack babies require expensive treatment to survive, and then face the prospect of impaired lives.
Drug-fueled crime, violence, and corruption affect us all. American consumers spend almost as much on illegal narcotics as we spend on our Army. The President's National Drug Control Strategy recognizes these costs and correctly addresses both the domestic problem of demand and the international problems of drug manufacturing and smuggling. General McCaffrey will lead an aggressive interdiction and enforcement effort, and lead the fight for effective drug treatment and prevention programs. A new Research Preview highlights a recent evaluation of an innovative drug enforcement strategy in Jersey City, New Jersey that focused on hot spots of drug activity.