Pubdate: Tue, 14 Jul 1998 Source: Associated Press U.S. DRUG CZAR PRAISES SWEDEN'S DRUGS POLICIES STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - U.S. drug czar Barry McCaffrey on Monday praised Sweden's drug policies, saying they make far more sense than liberalized policies such as those in the Netherlands. McCaffrey, who's beginning a European fact-finding tour, sparked Dutch ire last week by saying the country's policy of letting its citizens use marijuana and other soft drugs for therapeutic and recreational purposes was ``an unmitigated disaster.'' The trip comes as the U.S. government launches a $1 billion, five-year ad campaign aimed at steering young people away from trying drugs. ``We are sure that the most important inoculation for a society is to convince your own young people to reject the abuse of drugs ... that includes alcohol and cigarettes. And I think Sweden by the evidence that's available has done a better job at that than almost any society in Europe and certainly better than the United States,'' McCaffrey told a news conference. Sweden, which discourages alcohol and tobacco use through high taxes, and which keeps a tight watch on other drug use, has created a ``national consensus'' against drugs, he said. Statistics compiled from various sources by McCaffrey's Office of National Drug Control Policy show that about 3 percent of Swedish teen-agers report having used cannabis, compared with 9.1 percent in the United States and 30.2 percent in the Netherlands. McCaffrey, however, cautioned countries with low drug-use rates that they may come under increasing pressure as U.S. drug use declines and sellers look for new markets. ``The United States is probably in the end phases of an epidemic; it's possible that Europe is in the beginning phases of an epidemic,'' he said. Despite his criticism of Dutch drug policy, McCaffrey will travel this week to the Netherlands ``to learn from them and listen to their own viewpoint. The Netherlands ``does have a drug abuse problem in general that is enormous and growing, not getting better ... Their prison population has doubled, their murder rate is much higher than it used to be,'' he said. Copyright 1998 Associated Press. All rights reserved. - --- Checked-by: Melodi Cornett