Bermuda could soon be at the forefront in multinational efforts to combat drug trafficking.

Because of the Island's location relative to the US east coast and the Caribbean, it could play a pivotal role in the battle against the drugs trade, US Consul General told Hamilton Rotarians yesterday.

Speaking on the demise of the Island's military role to the United States, Mr.

Robert Farmer said Bermuda will remain strategically significant in the eyes of the US Government.

He later made the unusual move of commenting on the domestic issue of drugs and crime in Bermuda.

Drug-related crime in Bermuda is "minuscule'' compared with US cities where increased crack and cocaine use in the 1980s caused crime to spiral, he said.

His comments stemmed from his claim that almost half a million US citizens visit the Island each year.

"The US Government, and particularly the Consulate, has a responsibility for the welfare and safety of these tourists,'' he said.

He urged Bermudians to take action and to strongly support initiatives dealing with drugs and crime.

"I do applaud the increased public awareness and concern that currently can been seen in Bermuda about the effects and social costs of drug abuse,'' he said.

"Hopefully Bermuda will then be spared from the worst horrors of this scourge.'' Mr. Farmer also spoke at length on his own views on US foreign policy and how it impacts Bermuda.

With the end of the Cold War, US military and diplomatic outposts will continue to be slimmed down. And US foreign policy will be increasingly focused on advancing American economic interests overseas, he said.

Bermuda's political-military significance to the United States, which has declined significantly over the past few years, is likely to decrease even more with the closure of the Naval Air Station next year.

But Mr. Farmer said the Island would continue to be an emergency divert location for ships and aircraft and key part of the NASA space shuttle tracking station.

The reappearance of any future military threat in the Atlantic would cause Bermuda to reemerge as a key site in the Western defence system, he said.

In light of the recent Republican assumption of power in congress, Mr. Farmer said there would be noticeable changes in US foreign policy.

But this did not mean fundamental principles of US foreign policy were likely to change.

Quoting Harry Truman, Mr. Farmer said the great issues remain the same: prosperity, welfare, human rights, effective democracy and peace.

He said while the Cold War provided a "starkly simple frame of reference'' for the formulation of American foreign policy, since the demise of communism, American foreign policy has had to be reevaluated.

"While American principles and goals have remained consistent and clear, the question of how to achieve these goals has become more complex and nuanced,'' he said.

"We have been asking ourselves if policies still make sense, if some of the Government agencies born during the Cold War still have worthwhile functions, if our old ways of doing things could be done better, more effectively and at less cost.'' Mr. Robert Farmer