PLAN TO COMBAT DRUG TRAFFICKING

Re "A New Attack on Drugs," editorial,Feb. 20: A multilateral approach to
reducing drug trafficking and abuse holds tremendous promise. It is
important to note, however, that in the short term we do not expect the
certification law (which requires the president to certify that individual
nations have made progress in meeting the goals of the 1988 U.N. convention
on drugs) to be changed.

Recent joint evaluations by our international partners have been quite
useful. For example, under the Financial Action Task Force system, each
participating country conducts an annual self-assessment and undergoes a
detailed multinational evaluation. This approach, designed to combat money
laundering, works because it uses objective standards and relies on
technical experts from partner countries. A similar system must be
developed to combat wider issues of drugs and drug abuse.

At the Summit of Americas in Santiago, Chile, in April, President Clinton
will ask all the leaders in the hemisphere to join the U.S. in a coalition
against drugs (no formal treaty, as implied in your editorial, is yet
planned). This partnership, to be managed through the Organization of
American States, would include a multinational evaluation process. Such an
alliance will be an important step toward a unified approach to our common
hemispheric drug problem.

Barry R. Mccaffrey, Dir. National Drug Control Policy Washington