[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 103 (Monday, July 21, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7745-S7746]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                             ACCESSING KIDS

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, last year, many of my colleagues in the 
Senate had a great deal to say about the drug use problem in this 
country. This year, half way through the first term of the 105th 
Congress, not much has been said. I will not dwell on the reasons. But 
we need to recall that the reasons for being concerned about drug use 
in this country have not changed. In fact, all the indicators continue 
to point to a growing problem.
  Just recently, the administration released drug use data in the Pulse 
Check, a twice-yearly publication on drug use trends and markets.
  The information contained in the report is alarming. It confirms the 
continuing trend we noted last year of growing drug use particularly 
among young people. I want to share with my colleagues some of the 
information the Pulse Check shows.
  Heroin use in most markets is up or stable, and availability is high.
  There appears to be a trend of increased use among younger users, 
primarily in inner cities.
  Cocaine use is stable, but availability remains high.
  Marijuana use is growing rapidly and the onset of use is occurring at 
earlier ages.
  Polydrug use, the use of more than one drug in combination, is on the 
rise. Methamphetamine use is growing and the quality is improving.

  Anyone familiar with this country's last drug epidemic, a problem 
that we are still coping with, should be alarmed at what this 
information tells us. When you put these facts together with 
information from other surveys on use, hospital admissions, and trends, 
the picture is grim. Let me summarize briefly what we are seeing.
  More kids at younger ages are starting to use drugs. In our last drug 
epidemic, use began typically with 16-year-olds. Today's trend is for 
drug use onset to begin with 12- and 13-year olds. Along with this, 
more and more kids are seeing less danger in using drugs. This fact, of 
course, leads to more experimentation.
  Parents are not talking to their kids about drugs. Many believe that 
their kids do not listen to them. Many believe that TV and peers have 
more influence. Further, many of today's parents used drugs when they 
were young. They now feel ambivalent about talking to their kids about 
drugs. These parents don't want their kids using drugs, mind you, they 
just don't know how to talk to their kids. We know, however, that the 
most important source for kids on how to behave, to judge right and 
wrong, comes from parents. Not from TV, not from their peers, but from 
parents. But parents are not speaking up.
  Public messages and national leadership on drug use have declined in 
the past 5 years. As we noted last year, the bully pulpit is empty. In 
addition, discussion of legalization in one form or another is on the 
rise. What this means is that kids no longer hear a no-use message. 
Instead, they hear mixed messages from government leaders and others. 
They see efforts to legalize marijuana under a thinly disguised claim 
of medical need. They see increasing normalization of drug use in 
movies, music, and on TV.
  Is it little wonder, then, that we are seeing growing use of drugs 
among kids? This increase comes after almost a decade of decline. The 
decline of use among kids in the late 1980's and early 1990's was not 
an accident.
  It came as a result of commitment by this country--by parents, 
schools, community leaders, politicians, and others--to protect our 
young people and their future from drugs. In those years, we undertook 
efforts to discourage drug use. To make it harder to get drugs. To roll 
back the notion that drug use was simply a lifestyle choice that caused 
no harm, except maybe occasionally to a user. It worked. But we are now 
in the process of squandering those gains.
  We need to remember something about how we got into our last drug 
fix. The 1960's and 1970's was a period of collective forgetfulness 
about the harm that drug use does. It was not our first drug epidemic, 
it was our worst. It also did not happen by accident.
  Neglect of our public responsibility played a part. Glorification of 
drug use by the popular culture contributed. A collective public 
amnesia about our experiences of earlier epidemics added to the mix. It 
was a period of exploring the limits of personal freedom. 
Unfortunately, it was also a period that

[[Page S7746]]

abandoned notions of personal responsibility. Combined with an active 
lobby that pushed for drug legalization, those years laid the 
foundations for an explosion of drug use. Most of the burden of that 
use fell upon young people. Most of our addicts today, who burden our 
welfare and health systems, are the casualties of that period. They are 
paying the personal price but the rest of us are footing the bill. It 
is also no coincidence that our major crime wave began during the same 
years and is linked directly to growing drug use.
  It was the double whammy of kids on drugs and crime on our streets 
that led to public demands for a speedy and effective response. It led 
to ``Just Say No'' and a concerted effort to reverse the trend and save 
a generation of young people. It worked. But now we are in danger of 
forgetting once again what we once knew: That drug use is not a 
victimless crime. That it is not harmless. That it is simply a matter 
of personal choice with no social consequences.
  In the last several years, we have seen teenage drug use increase at 
an alarming rate. We have seen drug use messages re-emerge in the 
popular culture. We have seen major public figures and leading members 
of government equivocate on drugs or openly advocate legalization.
  We have seen major financial figures pour money into pushing drugs-
are-good-for-you themes. We have also seen the birth of MTV and the 
Internet. These media, aimed at kids, purvey in the most direct way 
drug use themes to kids of all ages. Today, access to kids by people 
who want to exploit them is unprecedented. Whether we are talking drugs 
or pornography, there is an open highway into almost every home in the 
country. Any household that is home to a tv or computer access to the 
worldwide web is accessible. You cannot lock your doors.
  Currently, drug information sources on the Internet are dominated by 
drug legalizers. Their websites are easily accessed. They specialize in 
trendy formats and cartoon helpers. We hear a lot about Joe Camel.
  Well, take a look at what those who specialize in drug legalization 
use. As a recent piece in the New York Times shows, drug messages aimed 
at kids are up to date, stylish, and accessible. High Times, which is 
one of the major drug legalization publications in the country, 
operates a site on the net. Their web page is available with only a few 
clicks from the main page. It is filled with lots of helpful tips. You 
can learn, for example, how to grow marijuana at home. It offers advice 
on how to evade or distort drug tests. You can find details on where to 
find the best drugs. Of course, to access these helpful hints, you have 
to certify that you are not a minor. But there is no way to check on 
this, so the certification is meaningless. There are many more, similar 
sites.
  When you link this access to reemerging drug themes in the music most 
listened to by young people, it is not hard to understand that more 
kids are using. It is not hard to see why more kids believe that drugs 
are not dangerous.
  These messages come at a time of another wave of ambivalence about 
drugs. They come at a time when leadership is lacking. They come at a 
time when many parents do not seem to know how to talk to their kids.
  Close to 25 percent of the population of this country is under the 
age of 18. Forty-five million are under the age of 12. It is this 
population that is most susceptible to drug use messages. It is this 
audience that is most targeted with those messages.
  We have all the ingredients for another drug epidemic. This one, 
however, will come when we are still coping with the walking wounded 
for our last fling with drugs. We are also seeing much younger kids 
starting to use. If we fail to respond, seriously and soberly, then our 
new drug epidemic will be worse than our last. It will also be the 
result of a colossal act of irresponsibility.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.

                          ____________________