
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, December 8, 1993                   TAG: 9312080175
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

MAKE DRUGS LEGAL, SURGEON GENERAL SAYS

In remarks that jolted both the White House and Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders said legalizing drugs would "markedly reduce our crime rate" and called for further study of the radical idea.

The comments were in keeping with her blunt-spoken approach to delicate and controversial subjects - and an indication that she has no intention of changing her style now that she has been elevated to the nation's bully pulpit on health issues.

Nonetheless, they caught the White House off guard, and officials moved quickly to distance President Clinton from her position.

"The president is against legalizing drugs, and it's not something that is going to happen," White House spokeswoman Dee Dee Myers said. "He's studied this issue. It's not something that he is interested in studying any more."

On Capitol Hill, reports of her comments ignited a political brushfire, particularly among Elders' conservative critics. Sen. Don Nickles, R-Okla., called for her ouster, saying "President Clinton made a serious mistake when he appointed Dr. Elders as surgeon general."

The subject is a touchy one for the administration, in part because of criticism of its decision earlier this year to reduce significantly the size of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

The administration also has discussed shifting the federal government's emphasis away from efforts to stem the flow of illegal drugs into the country and toward more education and rehabilitation programs - a controversial idea that would represent a departure from the approach of other recent administrations.

Late Tuesday, Elders issued a statement stressing that her comments "should be portrayed as her personal observations based on the experiences of other countries," and adding that no plan to legalize drugs is being considered by the administration.

She made the remarks in response to a question during an appearance at the National Press Club.

"I don't know all of the ramifications of this," she conceded. "I do feel that we need to do some studies."

Although politically charged, decriminalizing illegal narcotics is an idea that has won support in conservative as well as liberal circles, largely in response to a perception that the nation's war on drugs is failing.

by CNB