[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 16]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 23743]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



             PROTECTING OUR CHILDREN FROM DRUGS ACT OF 2000

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                    HON. JUANITA MILLENDER-McDONALD

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 17, 2000

  Ms. MILLENDER-McDONALD. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the 
Protecting Our Children From Drugs Act. This bill increases the 
mandatory minimum sentences for using minors to distribute illicit 
drugs, distributing illicit drugs to minors and drug trafficking in or 
near a school. In addition, this bill increases the mandatory minimum 
sentence for individuals convicted of using minors to distribute 
illicit drugs. Perhaps, more importantly, this bill cracks down on 
those who distribute illicit drugs near schools.
  Our children cannot learn in an environment that is infested with 
drug use. To use children to sell drugs is not only disturbing and 
outrageous, but cruel. Such illicit distribution in our schools 
deprives our youth of the safe, healthy, and growth-inducing 
environment they need to learn and become valuable and productive 
members of our national labor force. Worst of all, this activity strips 
our children of their innocence and hope.
  Among eighth graders alone, the rate of marijuana use tripled in 
1996, and the marijuana of today is 15 times more potent than the 
marijuana used in the 1970s. But even more lethal, cocaine, heroin and 
methamphetamines are the drugs that are tearing apart families and 
ruining communities throughout the country and in my state.
  California has the worst methamphetamine problem in the country. Over 
the past few years, there has been a significant increase in 
methamphetamine use, especially in Los Angeles. From 1990 to 1994, the 
admissions of Los Angeles residents to addiction treatment centers 
jumped from 700 to 2,250. That is more than a 30% increase, and this 
number only includes those who have received treatment. At any given 
time during the month, some 13,100 Californians who have sought 
treatment cannot get it because they are placed on waiting lists, which 
can last from three to sixty days.
  The Protecting Our Children From Drugs Act can help change these 
numbers by enacting tougher laws to stop drug traffickers from reaching 
our children. Ensuring that law enforcement resources, parents, 
teachers, and churches come together to prevent the distribution of 
drugs to youth is critical to lowering the rate of drug use in the 
entire community. The possibility of a child who reaches adulthood 
without using drugs, who then tries drugs as an adult is statistically 
zero. That is why cracking down on drug criminals reaching out to 
children is vital to winning the war on drugs. In our effort to 
maintain and improve the social fabric of all of our communities 
throughout the country, I encourage my colleagues to join me in voting 
for the Protecting Our Children From Drugs Act.

                          ____________________