[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 41 (Wednesday, April 9, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E605-E606]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 DRUGS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. LEE H. HAMILTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 9, 1997

  Mr. HAMILTON. Mr. Speaker, I would like to insert my Washington 
Report for Wednesday, April 2, 1997, into the Congressional Record.

                    Drugs in America--A Report Card

       A few weeks ago, the White House unveiled the 1997 National 
     Drug Control Strategy. The 1997 strategy is noteworthy 
     because for the first time the federal government 
     specifically identifies education and prevention as the most 
     effective approaches to reducing illicit drug use. I agree 
     with this emphasis, especially with the need to educate young 
     Americans about the dangers posed by illegal substance abuse. 
     I recently began meetings with community leaders in southern 
     Indiana to discuss how we can work together toward a drug-
     free Indiana.


                   dangers of overlooking the problem

       Opinion polls show that most Americans, including Hoosiers, 
     rank problems such as the budget deficit, the future of 
     social security, even bad roads, ahead of worries about 
     drugs. These are all serious issues, but we downplay the drug 
     problem at our peril.
       You may remember the ``just say no'' campaign of a few 
     years ago. Anti-drug messages were prominent in our 
     government, media, and schools, and usage dropped. But 
     starting about 1990 we stopped paying enough attention to the 
     problem. In some ways, the drug problem is getting worse 
     today.


                               good news

       Fewer Americans are using illegal drugs today than a decade 
     ago. In 1985, there were some 23 million regular drug users. 
     Today, we've almost halved that number to about 13 million. 
     The overall number of cocaine users has dropped to about 1.4 
     million, down from 5.7 million in 1985. Drug-related murders 
     fell 25 percent during the same period.


                          reversal of progress

       Since 1991, though, drug use has increased again. I am 
     especially worried that this increase is concentrated among 
     young people.

[[Page E606]]

     Currently, more than 1 in 10 young people in America are 
     regular users of illicit drugs--that's double the rate of 
     just five years ago. Marijuana use is especially widespread. 
     In the average class of 25 eighth graders, 5 have tried it.
       The bad news is not just about marijuana. We have seen a 
     dramatic rise in regular use of all sorts of so-called 
     ``hard'' drugs, including stimulants such as cocaine and 
     inhalants such as glue, paint, and lighter fluid. Use of LSD 
     is at its highest recorded level. There are now about 2.7 
     million ``hardcore'' drug users in America, more than triple 
     the number in 1991. These ``hardcore'' addicts are the ones 
     most likely to commit crimes to obtain drugs.


                         damage caused by drugs

       Some people say that a little experimenting with drugs 
     can't cause any harm. They are wrong.
       For example, today's marijuana is 2 to 5 times more 
     powerful than a generation ago. Every reputable scientific 
     study concludes that marijuana use impairs judgment and 
     learning and hurts the heart, lungs, and other organs. 
     Perhaps most damaging, evidence shows that marijuana can be a 
     ``gateway'' to stronger drugs. A teenager who smokes 
     marijuana is 79 times more likely to have an addictive 
     problem later in life.
       Over 25,000 people die every year in America from causes 
     related to illegal drugs. Drugs are involved in over half of 
     the murder and violent crime in this country. Children who 
     use drugs are much more likely to drop out of school. One-
     quarter of America's trillion-dollar health bill each year is 
     drug-related. Abuse of illegal drugs costs businesses an 
     estimated $60 billion each year in lost productivity due to 
     absenteeism, accidents, and medical claims.


                          erosion of attitudes

       Why are more people using drugs? The simple answer is: 
     attitudes. In recent years, there has been a significant 
     erosion of our negative attitude towards drugs.

                           1. Social approval

       When a society sends the message that drug abuse is wrong--
     as we did a decade ago--drug use declines. When it fails to 
     send this message, drug abuse rises--as it has since 1990. 
     Leaders in Washington and throughout the country stopped 
     speaking out enough on the dangers of drugs. The recent 
     efforts in Arizona and California to legalize marijuana for 
     ``medicinal'' purposes--which I oppose--send exactly the 
     wrong message to our young people.

                         2. Perception of risk

       There is another, related factor: perception of risk. Kids 
     will not stop using drugs unless they understand the real 
     physical dangers drug cause. Last year in Boston, 
     Massachusetts 50,000 people attended a so-called rally 
     supporting the legalization of marijuana. On the same day, a 
     few blocks away, an anti-drug rally drew only 500. We are 
     clearly failing in our duty to educate the younger generation 
     about the dangers of drugs, and to express our disapproval of 
     them.


                           supply vs. demand

       Some argue that we focus on education and prevention at the 
     expense of cracking down on drug suppliers. We do need to 
     fight the drug supply, and I have supported steps to penalize 
     both domestic and foreign drug producers and dealers. But we 
     should recognize that as long as Americans are willing to 
     spend billions of dollars a year on illicit drugs, the 
     traffickers and pushers will find ways to meet that demand.


              conclusion--resources should match rhetoric

       I am pleased that our 1997 National Strategy emphasizes 
     education and prevention. The old adage says ``an ounce of 
     prevention is worth a pound of cure.'' When it comes to 
     drugs, for each dollar we spend on prevention, we save seven 
     dollars in crime, health, and welfare costs. And the moral 
     benefit of saving our young people from the scourge of drugs 
     is incalculable.
       Nevertheless, while we have increased the federal anti-drug 
     budget to more than $15 billion for 1997, over two-thirds of 
     this is going to international and domestic efforts to stop 
     supply. We should allocate more resources to our top priority 
     of demand reduction.
       The real irony of the drug problem, then, is that we know 
     what to do about it--but we're not doing it, or not doing 
     enough of it. It is encouraging that education and prevention 
     are the top priorities of our national strategy. We should 
     make them our top priorities in southern Indiana, too.

                          ____________________