Wilson Plans Bill Linking Issuance of Driver License to Passing Test on Drug Use

Sen. Pete Wilson, who has been mounting an election year crusade against drug crime, said Tuesday that he plans to introduce legislation that would require young people to pass a drug test before they are issued driver licenses.

The proposed legislation is the latest in a series of provocative anti-drug proposals supported by Wilson that have focused attention on the normally low-key Republican senator, eliciting praise but also charges of election year grandstanding.

“Before Pete Wilson launched his reelection bid, he voted twice to cut federal funds for drug enforcement. Now, he’s launched a feverish effort to change his stripes for public consumption,” said a spokesman for Wilson’s Democratic opponent, Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy.

Budget Resolutions

The spokesman, McCarthy campaign director Darry Sragow, said Wilson voted twice in 1983 for budget resolutions that, had they passed, would have cut spending for drug enforcement. Moreover, Sragow said the cost of drug testing California driver license applicants would be well over $80 million a year, and he challenged Wilson to tell how he would pay for the testing.

Wilson offered just a few details of his drug testing proposal, which appeared to take his own campaign aides by surprise.

Flanked by Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates and U.S. Atty. Robert C. Bonner and standing behind a table bedecked with $15 million in cocaine and an array of guns seized by local drug agents, Wilson said that under his plan, federal highway funds would be withheld from states that did not impose drug tests on applicants for driver licenses.

Wilson said his proposal would apply “at the very least” to first-time drivers, thus falling more heavily on young people. Wilson said he would recommend extending the drug testing to people seeking license renewals only “if there is sufficient evidence that they constitute a problem.”

Although there is nothing quite like it before Congress now, Wilson’s proposal has a precedent in the failed presidential campaign of former Delaware Gov. Pierre S. (Pete) du Pont. Also a Republican, Du Pont called for random drug testing of young people before granting them licenses to drive.

Wilson has been a co-sponsor or a prominent supporter of several controversial anti-drug measures now pending in Congress. One bill would establish a federal death penalty for drug “kingpins” convicted of murder in the course of drug trafficking. Two other measures would give the Navy limited powers to arrest drug suspects and invoke economic sanctions against Mexico for failing to “fully cooperate” in the international war on drugs. Wilson also has spoken out in support of legislation that would require drug testing for airline pilots, train engineers and bus drivers.

Wilson has admitted that his attempt to punish Mexico for not working harder to catch drug criminals is a symbolic gesture because President Reagan has made it clear he will veto the plan.

High Seas

Wilson’s proposal to involve the military in drug arrests on the high seas has drawn criticism from members of his own party, notably Connecticut Sen. Lowell P. Weicker Jr., and from Administration officials who are concerned about granting police powers to the military.

At the same time, even some of Wilson’s critics concede that he has gotten the jump on his opponent in addressing an important election issue: drugs.

Sragow said McCarthy, who has been hampered by a lack of campaign funds, will offer a set of proposals dealing with drugs in the near future. Up to now, McCarthy’s rather general comments on the issue would appear to set the stage for a demand versus supply campaign debate, with McCarthy urging more drug education and rehabilitation to reduce domestic demand and Wilson advocating new ways to shut off the incoming supply.