[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 24, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S348]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

                                 ______


                              WAR ON DRUGS

 Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, last night, President Clinton 
announced his intention to reenlist in the war against drugs. It is an 
announcement that is long overdue.
  For 3 years, the Clinton administration has failed to provide any 
leadership in this battle. And one of the results has been a dramatic 
increase in drug use among America's youth.
  One of the most eloquent and effective soldiers in the war against 
drugs is former First Lady Nancy Reagan. Throughout the 1980's Mrs. 
Reagan devoted her tremendous energy to leading the ``Just Say No'' 
campaign--a campaign that is credited with dramatically lowering this 
Nation's tolerance and use of illegal drugs.
  Like countless other concerned citizens, Mrs. Reagan is concerned 
with the recent increase in drug use. And a column she wrote in 
yesterday's Wall Street Journal should be required reading for all 
Americans.
  I salute Mrs. Reagan for her commitment to this most important issue, 
and I ask that her column be printed in the Record.
  The column follows:

                           Just Say ``Whoa''

                           (By Nancy Reagan)

       Statistics released last fall from the annual Household 
     Survey of Drug Use and, more recently, from the 21st annual 
     Monitoring the Future Survey show that marijuana use among 
     teenagers was up again last year. Where is the public outrage 
     over this finding? When will this country realize that as 
     long as we don't wake up and adopt a zero tolerance for drug 
     use, we are heading down a path of no return? Most we lose 
     another generation of children to the horrors of crack 
     addiction? Must the statistics soar to all-time highs before 
     we bother to take notice?
       Last March I was invited to testify before a congressional 
     committee, at which time I said: ``I am not here to criticize 
     or place blame, but after the great strides that we made just 
     a few years back, I'm worried that this nation is forgetting 
     how endangered our children are by drugs. I'm worried that 
     for the first time in many years, tolerance for drugs and 
     the mistaken perception that `everyone is doing it' is 
     creeping back into our national mentality. And I am 
     worried that the psychological momentum we had against 
     drug use has been lost.
       ``[Y]et it's more than worry,'' I pleaded. ``This weakening 
     vigilance against the drug threat can have a tragic effect on 
     this country for many years to come. . . . How could we have 
     forgotten so quickly? Why is it we no longer hear the 
     drumbeat of condemnation against drugs coming from our 
     leaders and our culture? Is it any wonder drug use has 
     started climbing again, and dramatically so?''
       Regarding the drug use survey, NBC News reported: `` `Just 
     Say No' was an effective message in the '80s . . . in the 
     '90s much more will be needed.'' Denver drug counselor Bob 
     Cota emphasized, ``Kids have to be shown why they need to 
     learn it early, in the third and fourth grades--and it has to 
     be repeated often.''
       Repeated often--like in the '80s when the national 
     leadership was vigilant and visible. And yes, we do need even 
     more now. In response to the 1994 Monitoring the Future 
     Survey, Joseph Califano Jr., chairman and president of the 
     Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia 
     University (CASA), warned: ``If historical trends continue, 
     the jump in marijuana use among America's children (age 12-
     18) from 1992 to 1994 signals that 820,000 more of these 
     children will try cocaine in their lifetime. Of that number, 
     about 58,000 will become regular cocaine users and addicts.'' 
     In a 1995 survey by CASA, adolescents said that drugs were 
     their ``number one'' problem. Our children are crying out for 
     help.
       While drug use is on the rise, the perceived risk of drug 
     use is on decline. The two go hand in hand. Only a few short 
     years ago, the constant message to young people--in the 
     media, in their classrooms, and in their homes--was that 
     drugs lead to destruction. But where are those messages 
     today? Those messages, those lessons, are what change 
     perceptions, change attitudes, change lives. Each of us has a 
     responsibility to bring back those messages--loud and clear.
       Before the drug-use increases of the past three years, we 
     really had seen marked progress. As I told the members of the 
     committee: ``A decade of effort was beginning to pay off. 
     Attitudes were being changed. I don't mean to sit here and 
     say that we had won the battle against drugs. I think it's 
     plain we had not.'' However, between 1985 and 1992, monthly 
     cocaine use declined 78%, or to an annual rate of 3.1% from 
     its peak of 13.1% in 1985. It's the same story with other 
     numbers: Annual use of any illicit drug by high school 
     seniors dropped to 27.1% in 1992 from 54.2% in 1979. ``The 
     battle was going forward one child at a time,'' I said in 
     March. ``There was momentum, unity, intolerance of the 
     exaggeration and glorification of drug use by the media--we 
     were building peer support for saying `no,' Children were 
     being taught resistance skills--in short, there was 
     progress.''
       Now there is silence--and not without consequence. In 1994, 
     twice the number of eighth-graders were experimenting with 
     marijuana as did in 1991, and daily use of marijuana by high 
     school seniors in 1994 was up by half from 1993. The 1995 
     Monitoring the Future Survey shows that daily use has made 
     another jump.
       We should all, as citizens of this great nation, be 
     frightened by the latest drug statistics. We should all 
     question what they mean to our futures and those of our 
     children. We should all resolve not to be silent any longer. 
     By the latest drug statistics and the renewed calls for 
     legalization of marijuana, it is painfully obvious that our 
     ``letting up'' is going to let down the young people of this 
     country. It's time to just say ``Whoa!''

                          ____________________