[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 22 (Friday, February 3, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E267-E268]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                  THE WAR ON DRUGS: RENEWING THE BATTLE

                                 ______


                        HON. GERALD B.H. SOLOMON

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, February 3, 1995
  Mr. SOLOMON. Mr. Speaker, during the 1980's, the message to Americans 
was ``Just Say No to Drugs and Alcohol.'' Children were admonished by 
their sports and entertainment heros to stay away from marijuana and 
cocaine. Statistics show that the message was working, at least as far 
as adolescent drug use was concerned. But during the Clinton 
administration, the war on drugs has been downsized and their 
supporters in the drug culture are claiming it can't be won. As the 
following article emphasizes, teenagers are showing a renewed interest 
in illegal drugs. Without the constant reminders to avoid these mind-
numbing and brain killing substances, kids have begun testing the 
waters. The only way to safeguard the future of America is to stop this 
experimentation before the sharks take over again.
  The article follows:

             [From the Wall Street Journal, Jan. 18, 1995]

                          (By Gerald F. Seib)

              Drug Comeback: One Sad Trend Lost in Shuffle

       The new Congress isn't exactly short of things to do, but 
     here's one task crying out for attention: putting a stop to 
     the backsliding underway in the national war against drugs.
       Subtly, almost imperceptibly, drug use is creeping back up 
     among America's youth. Worse yet, all the warning signs of 
     bigger problems ahead are flashing. Use of marijuana, often a 
     precursor of cocaine use, is up sharply among teens. 
     Simultaneously, young people's perception that drugs are 
     risky is declining, an attitude change that usually forecasts 
     an actual upturn in drug use.
       At least one powerful voice is trying to persuade the new, 
     Republican-controlled Congress to fix its eyes on this 
     troubling picture. The voice belongs to William Bennett, the 
     former drug czar, who has been pressing new GOP members to 
     get drugs onto at least their second 100 days' agenda. His 
     message, Mr. Bennett says, is simply this: ``You cannot 
     ignore it.''
       In truth, though, ignoring the problem is what a lot of 
     people, in Congress and out, have been doing. Consequently, 
     the country is in a position roughly akin to that of a drug 
     abuser who may appear to be recovering but who actually is in 
     grave danger of a relapse.
       Over the last few years, it was possible to conclude that, 
     outside of the inner cities, 
     [[Page E268]] broader American society had finally turned the 
     tide in its long battle against illegal drugs. Studies by the 
     University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, for 
     instance, showed that drug use among high school seniors 
     declined gradually but steadily through the second half of 
     the 1980s and into the 1990s. Not coincidentally, perceptions 
     that regular drug use was risky rose through the same period.
       Now, those comforting trendlines have turned. The 
     University of Michigan research shows that illicit drug use 
     has been rising, slowly but clearly, among eighth and 10th 
     graders and high school seniors in each of the last two 
     years. Particularly alarming was the rise found in the use of 
     marijuana. Over the past two to three years, the share of 
     students reporting use of marijuana at least once in the past 
     year has doubled among eighth graders, grown by two-thirds 
     among 10th graders, and jumped by 40% among high school 
     seniors.
       The rise in marijuana use is particularly troubling, 
     because historical trends show that marijuana is a 
     ``gateway'' drug often leading to other drugs. Recent studies 
     by Columbia University's Center on Addiction and Substance 
     Abuse, or CASA, document a link between marijuana, as well as 
     alcohol and tobacco, and later cocaine use. To put a grim 
     human face on the latest statistics, CASA estimates that the 
     jump in youthful marijuana use means 820,000 more young 
     Americans will try cocaine in their lifetime, and that 58,000 
     of them will become regular cocaine users as adults.
       Why is this happening? The best guess is the broadest one. 
     The country is letting down its collective guard.
       For starters, society generally has stopped pounding home 
     the theme that drugs are dangerous, meaning that a whole new 
     set of young Americans isn't getting the same kind of clear 
     signal their older brothers and sisters did. ``The message is 
     getting mixed,'' frets Joseph Califano, the former health, 
     education and welfare secretary and CASA's chairman. ``It's 
     everything from the fact that we're starting to see pot come 
     back to the movies and the music business, which are 
     incredibly important to young people, to the fact that 
     Joycelyn Elders is sending out an ambiguous message.''
       Surgeon General Elders has just departed, of course, so now 
     it's up to President Clinton and his administration to undo 
     any damage her casual remarks about possible drug 
     legalization may have done. But the problem is hardly 
     confined to the Clinton administration. Congress is equally 
     complicit in toning down the anti-drug message.
       In the budget he presented for the current fiscal year, Mr. 
     Clinton proposed spending $659.2 million on a program to help 
     ensure safe and drug-free schools. Congress last year chopped 
     that request down by 27%, to $482 million.
       Now comes the new Republican Congress, which will be torn 
     between its budget-cutting impulses and the painful fact that 
     programs to interdict drugs and prevent their use cost money. 
     This is one area where anti-crime bromides alone won't 
     suffice. Some in the drug-fighting community are particularly 
     worried that, as spending on federal social programs gets 
     packed into block grants and shipped out to the states, drug-
     fighting will get pushed to the back of the line of competing 
     claims.
       For his part, Mr. Bennett suggests that existing federal 
     and state law-enforcement money could be used for a 
     ``targeted, intense effort at closing down drug markets in 
     the cities.'' The first battle, though, isn't against drug 
     dealers. It's against creeping national complacency.
       For starters, society generally has stopped pounding home 
     the theme that drugs are dangerous, meaning that a whole new 
     set of young Americans isn't getting the same kind of clear 
     signal their older brothers and sisters did. ``The message is 
     getting mixed, ``frets Joseph Califano, the former health, 
     education and welfare secretary and CASA's chairman. ``It's 
     everything from the fact that we're starting to see pot come 
     back to the movies and the music business, which are 
     incredibly important to young people, to the fact that 
     Jocelyn Elders is sending out an ambiguous message.''
       Surgeon General Elders has just departed, of course, so now 
     it's up to President Clinton and his administration to undo 
     any damage her casual remarks about possible drug 
     legalization may have done. But the problem is hardly 
     confined to the Clinton administration. Congress is equally 
     complicit in toning down the anti-drug message.
       In the budget he presented for the current fiscal year, Mr. 
     Clinton proposed spending $659.2 million on a program to help 
     ensure safe and drug-free schools. Congress last year chopped 
     that request down by 27%, to $482 million.
       Now comes the new Republican Congress, which will be torn 
     between its budget-cutting impulses and the painful fact that 
     programs to interdict drugs and prevent their use cost money. 
     This is one area where anti-crime bromides alone won't 
     suffice. Some in the drug-fighting community are particularly 
     worried that, as spending on federal social programs gets 
     packed into block grants and shipped out to the states, drug-
     fighting will get pushed to the back of the line of competing 
     claims.
       For his part, Mr. Bennett suggests that existing federal 
     and state law-enforcement money could be used for a 
     ``targeted, intense effort at closing down drug markets in 
     the cities.'' The first battle, though, isn't against drug 
     dealers. It's against creeping national complacency.
     

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