News Elicits Sadness, Not Shock

Responses Mixed on Barry Drug Test

D.C. Council member Barry would not discuss the drug test. (Susan Biddle - The Washington Post)

The news that D.C. Council member Marion Barry failed a court-ordered drug test in the fall drew sighs, prayers and a call for him to take a leave from his council seat. But at his old haunts and among his constituents, what was missing yesterday was a sense of surprise.

For many, this is the fourth decade of the sometimes rocky, sometimes inspiring marriage between Barry, the former four-term mayor who now represents Ward 8 on the council, and the residents of his adopted city. If there was one feeling, it was an amalgam of sadness, empathy and deja vu.

"I just think it's a damn shame," said Addie Cook, who had been among the Union Temple Baptist Church members who welcomed him back after he served six months for cocaine possession following his 1990 arrest at the Vista Hotel, where he was videotaped smoking crack.

Sources said Barry tested positive for cocaine during routine screening in connection with his guilty plea to two misdemeanor tax charges in October.

Yesterday, Barry held a news conference as he was being discharged from Howard University Hospital but would not discuss the drug test. During his two-day hospital stay, he was treated for diabetes and hypertension, said his doctor, Robert H. Williams, who appeared at Barry's side. The 69-year-old former mayor and civil rights leader is also a cancer survivor.

When asked whether Barry's condition was affected by the presence of any illegal drugs, Williams said: "I know nothing about that. I've told you what we treated him for, and that is a fact. We treated him for those two conditions and those conditions only."

Barry, wearing a black overcoat and a fedora, looked vibrant. He said he was in good spirits. "My lawyer has instructed me or anybody else not to have any comments on anything outside my medical situation," Barry said.

Regarding his medical treatment, he said: "I didn't wish these things on me. I find it very disturbing that a person can't have simple medical procedures without you all sensationalizing it. People suffer every day. I empathize with them."

The drug test that Barry failed was required as a part of a pre-sentencing investigation, said two sources familiar with the case. Now he is undergoing voluntary drug testing as part of his private treatment to help establish that he is making an effort to stay drug free, said the sources, who asked not to be named because the case is pending.

For many in the city yesterday, their first reaction was to wish Barry luck in his continuing struggles with drugs.

"If the reports are true, my heart goes out to Marion,'' Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) said in a statement. "I hope he is able to get the help he needs and to take care of his health.''

One Ward 8 leader said that should be a higher priority than his council work.