Nation : Drug Czar Urges Pupils to Turn In Parents, Says It’s Not ‘Snitching’

MIAMI — President Bush’s drug czar, William J. Bennett, today encouraged youngsters to turn in their relatives and friends if they are drug users.

“Let’s be absolutely clear about this point,” Bennett said in a speech at W. R. Thomas Middle School here. “It isn’t snitching or betrayal to tell an adult that a friend of yours is using drugs and needs some help. It’s an act of true loyalty--of true friendship. It’s the right thing to do.”

Bennett was in Miami on a fact-finding trip in preparation of his report due in September to plan a national campaign to fight narcotics.

In his speech to the mostly middle-class Latino area school, he lectured the teen-agers about dangers of getting involved in drugs. He said drugs are bad for health and can kill. “Drugs make you stupid . . . they turn you into a jerk,” he said.

Bennett, who advocates school suspension for youngsters using drugs the first time and expulsion for second-time use, vowed to get tough on all drug users.