[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 46 (Friday, March 29, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3241-S3242]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    RELEASE OF THE REPORT BY THE TASK FORCE ON NATIONAL DRUG POLICY

 Mr. D'AMATO. Mr. President, this bicameral task force was 
established for one reason: To closely examine the current state of 
affairs of our national drug policy. Along with my Senate and House 
colleagues, I am distressed that the problem has escalated to this 
present level.
  The one startling and depressing fact revealed by the report released 
yesterday is that drug use among teenagers is actually on the rise, 
after years of decline.
  There is no disputing the rise in illicit drug use by adolescents. 
Studies have shown that 2.9 million teenagers used marijuana in 1994, 
an increase of 1.3 million just from 1992. This alarming trend shows 
that one in three high school seniors smoke marijuana. Since 1992, drug 
use by 10th graders has risen nearly two-thirds. Drug use by eighth 
graders has nearly doubled since 1991. Of a class of 30 students in a 
New York City high school or junior high, approximately 5 use marijuana 
or other illicit drugs heavily.
  The rise in marijuana use has serious implications. The Center on 
Addiction and Substance Abuse indicates that teenagers who use 
marijuana are 85 times more likely to use other dangerous drugs in the 
future, such as cocaine. Obviously, the use of drugs cannot be pushed 
aside but must be placed on the national agenda and confronted. Real 
efforts must be made to reverse this trend.
  Ignoring these numbers is destructive to our children. A report by 
the Senate Judiciary Committee notes that, ``If such increases are 
allowed to continue for just 2 more years, America will be at risk of 
returning to the epidemic drug use of the 1970's.''
  The impact on our Nation's cities will be just as detrimental. The 
Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University in New 
York released a report showing the costs related to substance abuse 
were $20 billion in the city of New York. These costs take into account 
all types of substance abuses and reflect the amount spent in terms of 
crime, violence, health care, emergency services, abuse, social 
programs, and business costs. If drug use is rising among teenagers, 
the cost to New York City will skyrocket as they get older.
  Even more frightening is the fact that the authors of the study state 
that ``Among 15- to 24-year-olds, substance abuse, in the form of AIDS, 
homicides, and drug and alcohol overdoses, accounts for 64 percent of 
deaths.'' Those deaths could have been prevented.
  Our law enforcement agencies are feeling the rise in drug use. The 
March issue of Police Chief, which is dedicated to the war on drugs, 
describes the growing presence of illegal drugs and the ever-increasing 
rise in violence that accompanies it. The result is a scared populous 
and an overextended law enforcement, including local law enforcement. 
An article coauthored by Chief Bob Warshaw of the Rochester Police 
Department in New York and DEA Assistant Administrator Paul Daly 
describes the feeling across the Nation: ``The distribution and abuse 
of powder and crack cocaine have resulted in an unprecedented wave of 
violence across our country, the debiliating effect of which has been 
seen in cities and towns, large and small, throughout the United 
States.''
  It is our obligation, and the responsibility of the administration, 
to find the reason for the increase in teenage drug use and to tackle 
it forcefully. We must start taking an aggressive action against this 
drug epidemic.
  The Clinton administration, however, has become complacent and that 
is reflected in their lack of attention to the illicit drug trade. The 
number of Federal prosecutions dropped by 12 percent within 2 years. 
Overall, transit zone seizures, or disruptions, decreased more than 50 
percent, from 1993 to mid-1995. Budget priorities were shifted in the 
Customs Service, the Department of Defense, and the U.S. Coast Guard 
away from counternarcotics.
  With drug use on rise with teenagers, the administration has to start 
allocating adequate resources in order to reduce the presence of 
narcotics in the United States. But instead, when President Clinton 
took office, he cut the Office of National Drug Control Policy from 147 
to 25, an indication of the President's priorities. When faced with 
criticism of a failed drug strategy, President Clinton has found the 
need to restaff the drug czar's office.
  While the administration prefers to ignore the statistics, the task 
force has taken matters into its own hands and compiled a list of 
recommendations that will help to reverse the disturbing trend of 
teenage drug use.
  By using state-of-the-art technology at U.S. ports of entry, 
narcotics can be intercepted at the border, before it ever reaches 
children. This also means a shift in focus for agencies at our borders 
and airports that are primarily responsible for drug interdiction.
  In addition, the United States must do all it can to convince foreign 
countries to cooperate on the counternarcotics effort. Certification 
must be strictly applied, and sanctions imposed. When a country fails 
to cooperate with the United States to combat drug trafficking, the 
President who has the obligation to accurately report on the 
certification status of a targeted country, must apply those sanctions 
accordingly. Unfortunately, this certification process has not been 
taken seriously.
  Despite the administration's awareness that 60 to 70 percent of the 
illegal drugs flowed from Mexico into the United States, and that 75 
percent of the cocaine in the United States comes from our neighbor to 
the South, the administration certified Mexico as fully

[[Page S3242]]

cooperating in the counternarcotics efforts. Sanctions must be applied, 
we can no longer pay lipservice to the certification process.
  And efforts must be stringent in the United States. Drug traffickers 
and drug-related violent criminals must serve their full sentence. Drug 
awareness programs must be accountable. Throwing money at the problem 
does not solve it.
  All aspects of drug control strategy must be defined: ``public 
disapproval, information, law enforcement, interdiction, and 
treatment.'' While treatment is merely one component of the effort to 
combat the drug epidemic, it cannot be the sole solution. Alone, it 
will not work. One clear indication of the failure of treatment alone 
is the emergency room rate for cocaine and heroin-related cases, as 
studied by the Drug Abuse Warning Network. Heroin episodes in emergency 
rooms rose 66 percent in 1993. Evaluations should be conducted so that 
only effective programs will be maintained.
  Ninety percent of the American public sees the drug problem as a top 
priority. It is time the administration does the same. This is our 
clear, undeniable message: If the administration refuses to be a leader 
on this issue, then we will. This report was our first step to put a 
tough drug strategy on the national agenda.

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