NATION IN BRIEF : KENTUCKY : Bennett Urges Strict Marijuana Policy

Observing that “marijuana is an illegal drug. It gets people stupid,” William J. Bennett, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said he believes marijuana is as bad as any of the other illegal drugs in use and the crackdown should be just as tough. “We know that 75% or 80% of the people who use a lot of marijuana move on down the line (to harder drugs),” Bennett said at a news conference following an address to the 96th annual conference of the International Assn. of Chiefs of Police in Louisville, Ky. “We are not going to win the war on drugs unless we do certain things, like make users accountable, work to see the drug user is fined, his assets are seized, or some other penalty,” Bennett said.