[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 10 (Monday, March 8, 2004)]
[Pages 309-310]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

February 28, 2004

    Good morning. For many years, illegal drug use has been a serious 
problem facing our country. Drugs cost people their savings and their 
health and rob children of their promise. My administration has taken 
action to confront this danger. We have pursued an ambitious, focused 
strategy to cut demand for drugs at home, interdict supplies of drugs 
abroad, and treat more addicts who seek help.
    In 2002, I set a goal to reduce illegal drug use by 10 percent over 
2 years and by 25 percent over 5 years. This Monday we will release the 
annual National Drug Control Strategy, which shows the impressive 
progress we have made. Youth drug use declined 11 percent between 2001 
and 2003, meaning 400,000 fewer young people used drugs. These results 
exceeded our goal and proved that our hard work is paying off.
    This year, we will expand our strategy so that we can make even 
greater progress in the fight against drugs. The best way to cut drug 
use is to cut demand for drugs at the ground level. So my budget 
includes a $10-million increase for drug-free communities, a commonsense 
prevention program that supports local coalitions working to stop young 
people from using drugs.
    Research shows that teenagers who abstain from drugs are unlikely to 
start using them later in life. So I have asked Congress to provide an 
additional $23 million for high schools who want to develop and carry 
out drug testing programs. Random drug testing gives students a strong 
answer to the social pressure to try drugs. It helps schools identify 
those using drugs so they can intervene with counseling and treatment 
before experiments turn into addictions.
    We've seen the positive results of drug testing across the country. 
Just 2 years after Hunterdon Central Regional High School in New Jersey 
began its testing program, drug use had declined significantly 
throughout the school. Hunterdon's principal described the program's 
effect this way: ``We have never seen a prevention curriculum that 
affected the numbers this substantially. We finally had a tool that was 
making a large difference.''
    As we reduce demand for drugs, we're also preventing drug supplies 
from entering our country. Our military and law enforcement personnel 
are targeting the world's most dangerous drug trafficking networks. We 
are dismantling these organizations and putting their leaders in jail. 
And by working with governments across our hemisphere, we are drying up 
the world's supply of illegal drugs at its source.
    Finally, we are taking steps to help those who have fallen into the 
destructive cycle of addiction. Drug dependence undermines productivity 
as well as moral conviction and devastates millions of families each 
year. Some addicts recognize their problem and want to change but cannot 
afford access to professional care. To help men and women like these, I 
launched an initiative called Access to Recovery. This program will help 
thousands of Americans get the treatment they need. And because I know a 
good way to change a person's behavior is to change their heart, faith-
based treatment programs will always be an option. Congress has provided 
$100 million for this lifesaving program, and this year, I have asked it 
to double that amount.
    The progress reported in this year's Drug Control Strategy is 
encouraging. Our goals are ambitious, and we have seen they can be 
achieved. Now we will build on the improvement of the past 2 years, and 
we will continue working toward a society in which all citizens can lead 
a life of independence and purpose, free from the devastating influence 
of drugs.
    Thank you for listening.

[[Page 310]]

Note: The address was recorded at 10:30 a.m. on February 27 in the 
Cabinet Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on February 
28. The transcript was made available by the Office of the Press 
Secretary on February 27 but was embargoed for release until the 
broadcast. In his remarks, the President referred to Lisa Brady, 
principal, Hunterdon Central Regional High School, Flemington, NJ. The 
Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language 
transcript of this address.