    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
    [February 25, 1997]
    [Pages 203-204]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Message to the Congress Transmitting the 1997 National Drug Control
    Strategy
    February 25, 1997

    To the Congress of the United States:
        I am pleased to transmit the 1997 National Drug Control Strategy to
    the Congress. This strategy renews our bipartisan commitment to reducing
    drug abuse and its destructive consequences. It reflects the combined
    and coordinated Federal effort that is directed by National Drug Control
    Policy Director Barry McCaffrey and includes every department and over
    50 agencies. It enlists all State and local leaders from across the
    country who must share in the responsibility to protect our children and
    all citizens from the scourge of illegal drugs.
        In the 1996 National Drug Control Strategy, we set forth the basis
    of a coherent, rational, long-term national effort to reduce illicit
    drug use and its consequences. Building upon that framework, the 1997
    National Drug Control Strategy adopts a 10-year national drug-control
    strategy that includes quantifiable measures of effectiveness. The use
    of a long-term strategy, with annual reports to the Congress and
    consistent outreach to the American people on our progress, will allow
    us to execute a dynamic, comprehensive plan for the Nation and will help
    us to achieve our goals.
        We know from the past decade of Federal drug control efforts that
    progress in achieving our goals will not occur overnight. But our
    success in reducing casual drug use over the last decade demonstrates
    that drug abuse is not an incurable social ill. Thanks to the bipartisan
    efforts of the Congress and the past three administrations, combined
    with broad-based efforts of citizens and communities throughout the
    United States, we have made tremendous progress since the 1970's in
    reducing drug use.
        Nonetheless, we are deeply concerned about the rising trend of drug
    use by young Americans. While overall use of drugs in the United States
    has fallen dramatically--by half in 15 years--adolescent drug abuse
    continues to rise. That is why the number one goal of our strategy is to
    motivate America's youth to reject illegal drugs and substance abuse.
        Our strategy contains programs that will help youth to recognize the
    terrible risks associated with the use of illegal substances. The
    cornerstone of this effort will be our national media campaign that will
    target our youth with a consistent anti-drug message. But government
    cannot do this job alone. We challenge the national media and
    entertainment industry to join us--by renouncing the glamorization of
    drug abuse and realistically portraying its consequences.
        All Americans must accept responsibility to teach young people that
    drugs are wrong, drugs are illegal, and drugs are deadly. We must renew
    our commitment to the drug prevention strategies that deter first-time
    drug use and halt the progression from alcohol and tobacco use to
    illicit drugs.
        While we continue to teach our children the dangers of drugs, we
    must also increase the safety of our citizens by substantially reducing
    drug-related crime and violence. At the beginning of my Administration,
    we set out to change this country's approach to crime by putting more
    police officers on our streets, taking guns out of the hands of
    criminals and juveniles, and breaking the back of violent street gangs.
    We are making a difference. For the fifth year in a row serious crime in
    this country has declined. This is the longest period of decline in over
    25 years. But our work is far from done and we must continue to move in
    the right direction.
        More than half of all individuals brought into the Nation's criminal
    justice systems have substance abuse problems. Unless we also break the
    cycle of drugs and violence, criminal addicts will end up back on the
    street, committing more crimes, and back in the criminal justice system,

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    still hooked on drugs. The criminal justice system should reduce drug
    demand--not prolong or tolerate it. Our strategy implements testing and
    sanctions through coerced abstinence as a way to reduce the level of
    drug use in the population of offenders under criminal justice
    supervision, and thereby reduce the level of other criminal behavior.
        Our strategy supports the expansion of drug-free workplaces, which
    have proven so successful and we will continue to seek more effective,
    efficient, and accessible drug treatment to ensure that we are
    responsive to emerging drug-abuse trends.
        We must continue to shield America's air, land, and sea frontiers
    from the drug threat. By devoting more resources to protecting the
    Southwest border than ever before, we are increasing drug seizures,
    stopping drug smugglers, and disrupting major drug trafficking
    operations. We must continue our interdiction efforts, which have
    greatly disrupted the trafficking patterns of cocaine smugglers and have
    blocked the free flow of cocaine through the western Caribbean into
    Florida and the Southeast.
        Our comprehensive effort to reduce the drug flow cannot be limited
    to seizing drugs as they enter the United States. We must persist in our
    efforts to break foreign and domestic sources of supply. We know that by
    working with source and transit nations, we can greatly reduce foreign
    supply. International criminal narcotics organizations are a threat to
    our national security. But if we target these networks, we can dismantle
    them--as we did the Cali Cartel.
        We will continue to oppose all calls for the legalization of illicit
    drugs. Our vigilance is needed now more than ever. We will continue to
    ensure that all Americans have access to safe and effective medicine.
    However, the current drug legalization movement sends the wrong message
    to our children. It undermines the concerted efforts of parents,
    educators, businesses, elected leaders, community groups, and others to
    achieve a healthy, drug-free society.
        I am confident that the national challenge of drug abuse can be met
    by extending our strategic vision into the future, educating citizens,
    treating addiction, and seizing the initiative in dealing with criminals
    who traffic not only in illegal drugs but in human misery and lost
    lives.
        Every year drug abuse kills 14,000 Americans and costs taxpayers
    nearly $70 billion. Drug abuse fuels spouse and child abuse, property
    and violent crime, the incarceration of young men and women, the spread
    of AIDS, workplace and motor vehicle accidents, and absenteeism in the
    work force.
        For our children's sake and the sake of this Nation, this menace
    must be confronted through a rational, coherent, cooperative, and long-
    range strategy. I ask the Congress to join me in a partnership to carry
    out this national strategy to reduce illegal drug use and its
    devastating impact on America.

                                                          William J. Clinton

    The White House,

    February 25, 1997.