[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 434 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 434

   Designating the week of February 10-16, 2008, as ``National Drug 
                    Prevention and Education Week''.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 29, 2008

   Mr. Biden (for himself, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Menendez, Mr. 
   Grassley, Mr. Specter, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Domenici, Mr. Roberts, Mr. 
    Salazar, Mr. Casey, and Mr. Lautenberg) submitted the following 
    resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Designating the week of February 10-16, 2008, as ``National Drug 
                    Prevention and Education Week''.

Whereas recent survey data suggests that illegal drug use among youth has 
        declined by 24 percent since 2001;
Whereas, despite the reduction in drug use among youth, the number of 8th, 10th, 
        and 12th graders who use drugs remains too high and the rates of 
        prescription and over-the-counter drug abuse are alarming;
Whereas the overall rate of current illegal drug use among persons aged 12 or 
        older is 8.3 percent, which has remained stable since 2002;
Whereas ecstasy (methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA) use among high school 
        age youth has been rising since 2004;
Whereas, while methamphetamine use is down among 8th, 10th, and 12th graders, 
        many counties across the country still report that methamphetamine is a 
        serious drug problem;
Whereas 25 percent of youth in the 10th grade reported the use of marijuana 
        during the past year;
Whereas youth who first smoke marijuana under the age of 14 are more than 5 
        times as likely to abuse drugs in adulthood;
Whereas nearly 6 percent of 12th graders have used over-the-counter cough and 
        cold medications in the past year for the purpose of getting high;
Whereas Vicodin remains one of the most commonly abused drugs among 12th 
        graders, with 1 in 10 reporting nonmedical use within the past year;
Whereas teenagers' and parents' lack of understanding of the potential harms of 
        these powerful medicines makes it even more critical to raise public 
        awareness about the dangers associated with their non-medical use;
Whereas the rates of use for any illegal drug are directly related to the 
        perception of harm and social disapproval;
Whereas more than 20 years of research has demonstrated that prevention 
        interventions, designed and tested to reduce risk and enhance protective 
        factors, can help children at every step along their developmental path, 
        from early childhood into young adulthood;
Whereas prevention efforts should be flexible enough to address and prevent 
        local problems before they become national trends;
Whereas research has demonstrated that there are 4 major targets of prevention: 
        youth, parents, schools (including colleges and universities), and 
        communities and social environments that must be reinforced by each 
        other to have the greatest effect in deterring the consequences of drug 
        use;
Whereas a comprehensive blend of individually and environmentally focused 
        efforts must be adopted and a variety of strategies must be implemented 
        across multiple sectors of a community to reduce drug use;
Whereas community anti-drug coalitions are an essential component of any drug 
        prevention and education campaign because they are data driven, know 
        their community epidemiology, and are capable of understanding and 
        implementing the multi-sector interventions required to reduce the 
        availability and use of drugs;
Whereas community anti-drug coalitions help to change community norms, laws, 
        policies, regulations, and procedures to create an environment that 
        discourages the use of drugs;
Whereas school-based prevention programs should be part of a comprehensive 
        community wide approach to deal with drug use;
Whereas the more successful we are at general prevention of drug use in younger 
        adolescents, the less we will have to deal with the concomitant economic 
        and societal consequences of their use;
Whereas the total economic cost of drug, alcohol, and tobacco abuse in the 
        United States is more than $500,000,000,000;
Whereas the savings per dollar spent on substance abuse prevention rather than 
        on substance abuse treatment are substantial, and can range from $2.00 
        to $20.00;
Whereas there will always be new and emerging drug trends that require 
        additional prevention and education efforts;
Whereas preventing drug use before it begins and educating the public about the 
        dangers of drug use is a critical component of what must be a consistent 
        and comprehensive effort to stunt and decrease drug use rates throughout 
        the country; and
Whereas thousands of community anti-drug coalition leaders and community based 
        substance abuse prevention, treatment, and education specialists come to 
        Washington, DC to receive state-of-the-art technical assistance, 
        training, and education on drug prevention at the Community Anti-Drug 
        Coalition of America's Annual National Leadership Forum in February: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) designates the week of February 10-16, 2008, as 
        ``National Drug Prevention and Education Week''; and
            (2) urges communities, schools, parents, and youth to 
        engage in, and carry out, appropriate prevention and education 
        activities and programs to reduce and stop drug use before it 
        starts.
                                 <all>