WATERS RENEWS CIA DRUG CLAIM.

Byline: Yvette Cabrera Daily News Staff Writer

U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters encouraged Cal State Northridge students Thursday to hold rallies, write Congress and educate the community about the CIA's possible role in funneling cocaine into Los Angeles.

Waters discussed the issue at a lecture officially kicking off the university's Black History Month celebration. About 600 students and others attended the campus event.

``There is no better time than this to focus on black history and talk about these issues,'' said Waters, whose district includes South Central Los Angeles.

The allegations surfaced last year in newspaper reports which claimed the CIA helped introduce crack cocaine into South Central Los Angeles in order to raise money for the U.S. backed-Nicaraguan contra rebels.

In a stunning appearance in November, CIA Director John Deutch denied any CIA wrongdoing at a community meeting in South Central, where he announced that an internal preliminary investigation found no evidence that CIA-connected Nicaraguans supplied Los Angeles drug dealers with cheap cocaine.

Waters, who is investigating possible ties between the CIA and Nicaraguan drug traffickers, is pushing for tougher laws on high-volume drug dealers and more rehabilitation for addicts, and has made drugs a top priority of the Black Congressional Caucus, which she chairs.