[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 167 (Thursday, October 26, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H10851-H10852]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            RED RIBBON WEEK

  (Mr. PORTMAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. Speaker, as important as budget reconciliation is, 
and it is very important, this morning I would like to address 
something else. This is National Red Ribbon Week; my colleagues may 
have seen people wearing these red ribbons on the floor of this House 
and around the country. It is a week to call on our Nation's citizens, 
particularly our young people, to stay healthy and drug-free.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a critical and timely message because 
unfortunately in one generation it appears that normalized attitudes 
toward drug abuse has led to an epidemic increase in the number of drug 
users. The frightening fact is that although we seem to be 

[[Page H10852]]

winning the war on drugs in the 1980's those trends have been 
dramatically reversed.
  According to the most recent National household survey on drug abuse, 
marijuana use among teenagers nearly doubled between 1990 and 1994, 
after 13 straight years of decline. Cocaine use is also up, and today 
more and more teenagers and young adults are resorting to drugs from 
the past like heroin and LSD.
  In my own congressional district, drug use is back up to its highest 
levels ever. In Hamilton County, OH there has been a documented and 
dramatic increase in the past 12 months in the use of marijuana and 
harder drugs. And most frightening is that drug abuse is occurring 
among children at younger and younger ages.
  Mr. Speaker, we must take bold and aggressive action. All Americans 
must be involved. The fight against drug abuse has to be handled 
community by community, and everyone needs to be involved.

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