Charles Rangel: The Front-Line General in the War on Drugs

Norment, Lynn, Ebony

CHARLES RANGEL: The Front-Line General In The War On Drugs

IT is an understatement to say that U.S. Rep. Charles B. Rangel is simply angry about the devastating effect that drug abuse is having on his community, this country and our youth. "Outrage" more accurately expresses the New York congressman's feelings about the cancerous epidemic that manifests itself in the form of crack, hereoin, cocaine, marijuana and PCP.

An outspoken force against the evils of drugs long before he arrived on Capitol Hill in 1971, Rangel was a natural choice to chair the House Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control. He has traveled hundreds of thousands of miles -- to Bolivia, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Haiti and other areas -- to inspect possible drug sources and check on enforcement of agreements to ban crop growth. With the fire and passion of a Baptist minister, the Harlem lawmaker has been tackling the problem with legislation, congressional hearings, speeches and personal conversations (and confrontations) with government officials as well as ministers, lawmakers, educators, parents, doctors and anyone-else who will listen.

Consequently, he has emerged as the n ation's most aggressive foe of those responsible for the drug invasion. He has become a front-line general in the war against drugs.

And that in itself outrages the congressman, for he insists that the executive branch should be at the forefront of the battle. "If there really is a war against drugs," he says, "you'd think …

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Publication information: Article title: Charles Rangel: The Front-Line General in the War on Drugs. Contributors: Norment, Lynn - Author. Magazine title: Ebony. Volume: 44. Issue: 5 Publication date: March 1989. Page number: 128+. © 1999 Johnson Publishing Co. COPYRIGHT 1989 Gale Group.

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