    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book II)]
    [January 15, 2009]
    [Page 1575]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Message to the Congress Transmitting the 2009 National Drug Control
    Strategy
    January 15, 2009

    To the Congress of the United States:
        I am pleased to transmit the 2009 National Drug Control Strategy,
    consistent with the provisions of section 201 of the Office of National
    Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 2006.
        My Administration released its first National Drug Control Strategy
    in 2002 with the commitment to turn the tide against a problem that
    truly threatens everything that is good about our country. As we prepare
    to pass this noble charge to a new team of leaders, we can look back
    with satisfaction on what we have achieved together as a Nation. From
    community coalitions to our international partnerships, we pursued a
    balanced strategy that emphasized stopping initiation, reducing drug
    abuse and addiction, and disrupting drug markets.
        The results of our efforts are clear. Together we have helped reduce
    teenage drug use by 25 percent since 2001. This means 900,000 fewer
    American teens are using drugs. The Access to Recovery program alone has
    extended treatment services to more than 260,000 Americans. Through law
    enforcement cooperation and international partnerships, the United
    States has caused serious disruptions in the availability of drugs such
    as cocaine and methamphetamine, reducing the threat such drugs pose to
    the American people, while also denying profits to drug traffickers and
    terrorists.
        Our work is by no means complete--we must build on these efforts
    both to further reduce drug use and to rise to new challenges. I thank
    the Congress for its support and ask that it continue to support this
    critical endeavor.

                                                              George W. Bush

     The White House,

     January 15, 2009.