By JOHN MAKEIG
Copyright 1997 Houston Chronicle

Former Police Chief Lee P. Brown, buoyed by a poll showing him among the
leading contenders for mayor, called Friday for creating a city "drug czar"
to coordinate antidrug efforts.

At a news conference in front of Houston's Lamar High School, Brown said
that while crime rates are falling nationally, drug usage continues to
plague the city, even down to the elementaryschool level.

"The problems of drugs continue to plague Houston," Brown said. "We didn't
get into this mess overnight; we won't get out of it overnight."

To deal with the problem, Brown said he wants a "neighborhoodoriented
government" and a new city position to be called director of the Mayor's
Office of Drug Control Policy.

The drug czar's job would be to coordinate the efforts of many antidrug
abuse groups, municipal, school and otherwise, and relay to the mayor a
clear picture of the drug situation here. He said it would be funded "by
consolidating existing city staff positions."

Asked if this meant adding another layer of bureaucracy, Brown said only
that the policysetting coordinator would be a new sort of post. There
currently are many "assistants" to the mayor with different
responsibilities. Brown said his drug czar alone would report directly to
the mayor.

Brown is a former police chief in Atlanta, Houston and New York City. He
served in the Clinton administration as the national drug czar, a post he
left to become a sociology professor at Rice University.

He called for a continuation of random and preemployment drug testing for
city workers, a citychurch coalition to combat drugs at the neighborhood
level and an annual "mayor's summit on substance abuse."

Brown also said he wants hospital emergency room workers to collect drug
data. This would not mean working up lists of drug users to give the
police, the candidate said, only gathering numbers and "statistical
information" on the overall situation.

Brown further said he wants a concerted effort by city, state and federal
authorities to focus on "high trafficking areas" of Houston. He used the
Port of Houston as an example, citing the many containers of goods that
arrive daily from foreign nations.

Emphasis on high drug trafficking areas is one area where Brown said a drug
czar could be helpful. Another area of responsibility might be evaluation
of treatment providers, prevention programs and treatment programs.

Brown said he was pleased by the results of Houston Chronicle/KHOUTV poll
showing him at the top of the heap among the five major candidates for mayor.

The poll shows Brown favored by 25.4 percent of city voters. Businessman
Rob Mosbacher was preferred by 18.3 percent, and former city controller
George Greanias was picked by 15.4 percent. Candidates Gracie Saenz and
Helen Huey, both members of City Council, trailed with 6.4 percent and 5.1
percent, respectively. More than 28 percent were undecided.