[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 10 (Monday, March 10, 1997)]
[Pages 271-272]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

March 1, 1997

    Good morning. Today I want to talk about what we must do to 
strengthen our effort to keep drugs away from our neighborhoods and out 
of our children's lives. First, we must fight drugs before they reach 
our borders and keep them out of America. This is a battle we must fight 
together with other nations.
    Every year the President is legally required to certify whether 
other nations are doing their part. Yesterday, I accepted Secretary of 
State Madeleine Albright's recommendation to certify Mexico, to certify 
that Mexico is cooperating with us in this fight.
    Mexican President Zedillo is fighting a tough, uphill battle against 
the drug cartels which corrupt Mexico's law enforcement agencies. But 
President Zedillo has taken brave action, firing more than 1,200 tainted 
officials, extraditing criminals for the first time, passing tough laws, 
arresting his own drug czar for corruption. In the past year, their 
seizures of marijuana, cocaine, and heroin are up, drug-related arrests 
have increased, and eradication efforts have reached record levels.
    Make no mistake about it, Mexico has a serious drug problem. But 
Mexico's leaders recognize that problem, and they have the will to fight 
it. We must do whatever we can to give them the means to succeed. 
Stamping out the drug trade is a long-term battle. It won't be won 
overnight. We will continue to press our Mexican partners to take tough 
action that will protect all our people from drugs.
    Stopping drugs at their source is a critical part of the antidrug 
strategy I announced earlier this week. My balanced budget pays for the 
largest antidrug effort ever. Under the leadership of our national drug 
czar, General Barry McCaffrey, who's here with me at the radio address 
this morning, this plan will crack down on drug dealers and help parents 
teach their children just how dangerous drugs are. We must give our 
children the straight facts. They need to hear a constant drumbeat from 
all of us: Drugs are wrong; drugs are illegal; drugs can kill you. The 
more children know about how dangerous drugs are, the less likely they 
are to use them.
    Our drug strategy includes an unprecedented national advertising 
campaign to get out the facts and shape the attitudes of young people 
about drugs. And we must do more to sever the dangerous connection 
between illegal drugs and violent crime.
    Illegal drugs are involved with the vast majority of violent crimes 
in America--drug dealers carrying guns, violent criminals on drugs and 
out of control, gang wars over drug-trafficking turf. One million 
Americans are arrested every year for breaking the drug laws. Two-thirds 
of all the men in State prisons have abused drugs regularly.
    Unfortunately, most of the people who enter jail as drug addicts 
leave jail still addicted or about to become addicts again. When 
criminals on parole or ex-convicts out of jail go back on drugs, the 
chances are enormously high they will commit new crimes. According to 
some experts, 60 percent of all the heroin and cocaine sold in America 
is sold to people on bail, parole, or probation. Two-thirds of prisoners 
with a history of heroin or cocaine use who are released without 
treatment are back on drugs within just 3 months. We must break this 
cycle of crime and drugs once and for all.
    Last fall, Congress passed my proposal to require drug testing and 
treatment for prison inmates and convicts on parole. Our prisons must 
not be illegal drug markets, and anyone given a chance to go straight 
and live a better life must be absolutely drug-free. The bill I signed 
said to the States, we want to continue helping you build prisons, but 
if you want the money to do that, you must start drug testing prisoners 
and parolees.

[[Page 272]]

    In December, I announced Justice Department guidelines to help 
States meet this requirement. The guidelines are straightforward. By 
March 1, 1998, one year from today, every State must submit to the 
Attorney General a clearly defined, comprehensive plan to test prisoners 
and parolees, to treat those who need it and punish those who go back on 
drugs.

    Today I'm announcing that I am sending all 50 Governors a letter to 
make it clear that General McCaffrey and Attorney General Reno are 
prepared to help every State get this job done. We'll provide guidance 
and resources, experts, technical assistance, access to new technology. 
We'll give that to every State that needs help in developing its plans. 
At the same time, this, too, should be perfectly clear: Any State 
without a prisoner and parolee drug testing plan one year from today 
will lose Federal prison assistance until a plan is submitted. We want 
to help States build the prison space they need, but we will not help to 
build prisons that tolerate drugs by turning a blind eye.

    The Federal Government and State governments must work together as 
partners to get this done. It's time to say to inmates, if you stay on 
drugs, you'll stay in jail; if you want out of jail, you have to get off 
drugs. It's time to say to parolees, if you go back on drugs, you'll go 
back to jail; if you want to stay out of jail, stay off drugs.

    We must fight drugs on every front, on our streets and in our 
schools, at our borders and in our homes. Every American must accept 
this responsibility. There is no more insidious threat to a good future 
than illegal drugs. I'm counting on all of you to help us win the fight 
against them.
    Thanks for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 4:28 p.m. on February 28 in the 
Roosevelt Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on March 
1.