| Pat Buchanan, center, and his wife, Shelley, talk with Todd Beveridge, director of House of Mercy in Des Moines, on Monday. House of Mercy is a halfway house for substance abusers. |
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BOB NANDELL/The Register |
Republican candidate starts his tour of Iowa at a local halfway house.
Iowa's methamphetamine problem has been worsened by a U.S. trade policy that increases the flow of goods between Mexico and the United States, Republican presidential candidate Pat Buchanan charged Monday.
After touring a Des Moines halfway house, Buchanan, a conservative commentator, said support for the North American Free Trade Agreement is a defining issue in the race for the White House.
He said Republican front-runner George W. Bush and Democratic favorite Al Gore both support the trade pact.
Bush, the Texas governor, is "a Xerox copy of Clinton-Gore" on trade, said Buchanan, who kicked off a six-day, 15-town tour of Iowa.
A spokesman for the White House drug policy office said there is no empirical evidence to back Buchanan's charge, maintaining "it's all speculation."
"The fact is drug crime has gone down in most border communities just as crime has gone down around the country," said Bob Weiner, a spokesman for federal drug policy chief Barry McCaffrey.
NAFTA has been a frequent Buchanan target, though he has usually focused on allegations that jobs are lost to cheap labor in Mexico.
Buchanan spoke on the trade deal's impact on drug trafficking after he toured the House of Mercy in Des Moines, which focuses on helping female substance abusers and their children lead productive lives again. The center has seen a significant increase in clients battling meth in recent years, according to director Todd Beveridge.
Most law enforcement officials insist that Mexico and Southern California are the primary source for illicit drugs in Iowa, including methamphetamine.
Buchanan said the 1994 free-trade deal increased the flow of goods into the United States from Mexico. Trucks and trains heading into the country face less scrutiny today, Buchanan said, allowing more illicit drugs to reach the United States.
Some law enforcement officials say Mexican traffickers have gone to great lengths to study NAFTA and determine the best way to exploit the agreement, which will wipe out tariffs among the United States, Mexico and Canada by 2008.
But Weiner said advances in drug detection allow inspectors to more efficiently look for hidden compartments in trucks and trains that could be used to hide drugs.
"NAFTA has had no impact on the drug trade," Weiner said.
Bush's Iowa campaign office did not respond to calls for comment.
Buchanan said the GOP establishment is now hoping to use an Aug. 14 GOP straw poll in Ames to clear the way for Bush to get the nomination even before the residents of Iowa and New Hampshire have their say.
Nevertheless, Buchanan expects to do well in both the straw poll and the caucuses.
"I expect this race to come down to Buchanan vs. Bush," he said.
