For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
February 12, 2002
President Bush Announces Drug Control Strategy
Remarks by the President on the 2002 National Drug Control Strategy
The East Room
Fact Sheet
1:40 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much,
John. This nation has got some big challenges ahead of
her. One big challenge, of course, is to defend freedom, is
to remain united as we fight for the very values that we hold so dear.
And another big challenge is to battle drug use. Drugs
undermine the health of our citizens; they destroy the souls of our
children. And the drug trade supports terrorist
networks. When people purchase drugs, they put money in the
hands of those who want to hurt America, hurt our allies. Drugs attack
everything that is the best about this country, and I intend to do
something about them.
Today, I'm proud to announce a national drug control
strategy. It is a plan that will lay out a comprehensive
strategy for our nation. We're putting the fight against
drugs in the center of our national agenda. And I'm grateful
for all of you who are here.
I want to thank John and those who work with him for taking on this
enormous task. I also want to thank members of the United
States Congress who are here: Senators Graham and Hatch,
thank you both for coming today. I appreciate Elijah Cummings and
Ernest Istook from Oklahoma; and Sander Levin from Michigan; John Mica,
Florida; Rob Portman of Ohio; and Chairman Sensenbrenner from
Wisconsin; Mark Souder from Indiana. Thank you all for
coming. Your presence here shows our mutual commitment to
put policy in place that will make a huge difference in the lives of
many, many of our citizens.
I'm also so grateful for Admiral Loy for being here, of the United
States Coast Guard. I had the honor of traveling to Maine
recently to announce a significant initiative for the Coast Guard, a
strong commitment by our administration to boost spending to make sure
the Coast Guard is modern and capable of not only defending our
borders, but actively being engaged in the fight to interdict drugs
that could be coming into our country overseas. Admiral Loy,
I'm proud to have you here and I'm proud of your team.
I also want to thank many ambassadors who are here, ambassadors
from our neighbors to the south, the ambassador to
Russia. I'm so grateful that you all are here and willing to
lend your nations' support in this great cause.
I also want to thank the citizens who are here. We've
got a fabulous group of citizens from around the nation representing
groups that are -- have made the decision to do something about drug
use. We've got community groups and prevention groups and
law enforcement groups and I want to thank you for
coming. And I hope you go back and when you go home, thank
the folks that are working with you on behalf of a grateful nation.
We've got a problem in this country. Too many people use
drugs, and this is an individual tragedy. And, as a result,
it's a social crisis. There is no question that drug use wreaks havoc
on the very fabric that provides stability for our
society. Drug use wreaks havoc on our families. Drug use
destroys people's ambitions and hopes.
More than 50 percent of our high school seniors have said that
they've experimented with illegal drugs at least once prior to
graduation. There's some new, "hip" drugs, like ecstacy and
GHB. They're kind of fads. But they're dangerous
and lethal, and they're taking too many lives.
And we know the results. We know what can
happen. The important bond between parents and children are
fractured and broken, sometimes forever. Schools can turn into places
of violence and chaos, as opposed to places of learning and
hope. Productive citizens can become so dependent, so
addicted, that they live a life of hopelessness. We've got
to do something about it here in America.
Drugs constitute a huge challenge to the very health of our
nation. Illegal drugs cost our health care system almost $15 billion a
year. And illegal drugs are directly implicated in the
deaths of almost 20,000 Americans a year. Drug use causes
people to commit crime, making neighborhoods less safe and less secure
for our families. Drugs help supply the deadly work of
terrorists. That's so important for people in our country to
understand.
You know, I'm asked all the time, how can I help fight against
terror? What can I do, what can I as a citizen do to defend
America? Well, one thing you can do is not purchase illegal
drugs. Make no mistake about it, if you're buying illegal
drugs in America, it is likely that money is going to end up in the
hands of terrorist organizations. Just think about the
Taliban in Afghanistan -- 70 percent of the world's opium trade came
from Afghanistan, resulting in significant income to the Taliban,
significant amount of money to the people that were harboring and
feeding and hiding those who attacked and killed thousands of innocent
Americans on September the 11th. When we fight drugs, we
fight the war on terror.
Today, I'm pleased to announce a new strategy to combat drugs in
America. We're determined to limit drug supply, to reduce
demand and to provide addicts with effective and compassionate drug
treatment. Each of these steps is essential, and they're
inseparable. And these steps must be funded, which is why
the budget I submitted to Congress calls for $19 billion to fight drug
use.
We'll fight drug supply to reduce drug use, and punish those who
deal in death. More than 280 metric tons of cocaine and 13
metric tons of heroin enter our country each year. To stop
drugs from reaching our borders, the budget I've submitted includes
nearly $2.3 billion dollars for drug interdiction -- an increase of
over 10 percent from last year's budget. With the Coast
Guard's help, and with out partners in other nations, with the
collaborative efforts with the leaders of all the nations in our
neighborhood, we're going to fight drug traffickers, whether they try
to bring the drugs in this country by sea, by land or by air.
I also want to target the supply of illegal drugs that are the
source, particularly those in the Andean nations. That's why
I've requested $731 million for the Andean Counter-Drug initiative, the
countries of Bolivia and Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru and
Venezuela. And I look forward to making sure the program is
effective, that crop substitution works and crop destruction goes
forward.
I look forward to working with your Presidents and telling them,
point-blank, how anxious I am to make sure that our efforts to
interdict supply is effective and meaningful and measurable and real.
I've also asked our Homeland Security Director, Tom Ridge, to
examine ways we can improve our national border management system, to
make sure we achieve what we want on our borders, which is commerce to
move, but to stop the illegal flow of drugs. A more effective
management of our border for homeland security will lead to better drug
interdiction in our southern and northern borders.
However, it is important for Americans and American families to
understand this: that the best way to affect supply is to
reduce demand for drugs; that we can work as hard as we possibly want
on interdiction, but so long as there is the demand for drug in this
country, some crook is going to figure out how to get them
here. And so a central focus of this strategy is to reduce
demand; is to convince our children that the use of drugs is
destructive in their lives. And that starts with good
parenting. It is essential that our parents understand that they're
the child's most important teacher, and that the message of our parents
must be unequivocable: don't use drugs.
And so one of the things we're going to work hard to do is to fire
up the Parents Drug Corps, is to fund an initiative that will convince
and rally parents to do their job. I say that if we want to
usher in a period of personal responsibility, if we want a new culture
that changes from if-it-feels-good-do-it, to one that says we're
responsible for our decisions, it begins with moms and dads being
responsible parents, by telling their children they love them on a
daily basis. And if you love somebody, you'll also tell them
not to use drugs.
We know that community involvement can help defeat demand.
Congressman Portman and Congressman Levin know that
firsthand. They have been involved in their communities to
rally interests and concerned citizens to come with a local grass-roots
effort, all aimed at educating kids, and all aimed at pulling community
resources together to make a clear statement, a clear responsible
statement, that drugs will destroy -- don't use them.
And so we support the drug free community support program, by $10
million, to encourage these grass-roots efforts, kind of the bottom-up
effort to reduce demand in America. The money will help
coalitions -- the formation of coalitions, effective coalitions of
business leaders and teachers and families and law
enforcement. And, oh, the faith community, we must never
forget the faith community in America. Our government must
not fear the involvement of faith-based programs. As a
matter of fact, we've got to welcome faith-based programs.
This initiative is coupled with a faith-based initiative, will help
rally the armies of compassion, those citizens who love their neighbor
like they'd like to be loved themselves, to help send a clear message
that we love you, we love you so much we're going to convince you not
to use drugs in the future.
We also know that early drug education defeats demand, and so in my
budget there are $644 million on the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and
Communities Program. That is a significant
commitment. We also want to make sure that it is effective,
that the message that gets into the schools is one that sends this
clear message: don't use drugs, no ands, ifs or
buts. Don't use them. And we know the media can
have a powerful effect. And so we've got a $180 million on the
national youth anti-drug media campaign, a series of messages which lay
out the hazards of drug use. And so ours is a concerted
effort to reduce demand. It's central to making sure we've
got an effective strategy.
As demand goes down, so will supply. As we reduce demand
in America, it will take the pressure off of our friends in the
south. It will make it easier for our friends in Mexico to
deal with the drug problem. It will make it easier for
Colombia to be able to deal with the growers and the mobsters who tend
to wreak havoc in your country. The two are linked, but the
reduction in demand is central to an effective strategy.
And, finally, treatment. We must aggressively promote
drug treatment. Because a nation that is tough on drugs must also be
compassionate to those addicted to drugs. Today, there are
3.9 million drug users in America who need, but who did not receive,
help. And we've got to do something about
that. We've got to help.
We're, therefore, proposing $3.8 billion for drug treatment and
research. This is an increase in our budget of over 6
percent. We'll work with state governments to provide
treatment where it is needed most, and the federal dollars will be
distributed to states to support efforts that work -- not efforts that
might sound good, but efforts that actually accomplish the objective of
saving people's lives. This includes $100-million increase
in treatment spending as part of a plan to spend $1.6 billion over the
next five years.
Now, one of the things in our strategy that I hope you find
interesting and is important is that we're actually going to start
targeting treatment spending for those who are most vulnerable --
people like pregnant moms, the homeless, people with HIV/AIDS, and
teenagers. So while we've asked for an increase in
treatment, there will be some targeted people we're trying to help, to
make sure that those get special attention and special help in our
treatment programs.
I believe by moving aggressively, without hesitation or apology, in
all three of these areas we can make an enormous difference in
America. And progress must be measured. I told John when he
signed on, I'm the kind of fellow that likes to say, what are the
results? I like to know, actually, are we making a
difference? And so here's our goal, here's the goal by which
we'll be measured -- here's the goal which I'll be measured first, and
then John will definitely be measured if I'm measured. (Laughter.)
I want to see a 10 percent reduction in teenage and adult drug use
over the next two years, and a 25 percent reduction in drug use,
nationally, over the next five years. Those are our goals.
We understand we can't do it alone here in
Washington. And that's why our approach is a community-based
approach. That's why we recognize the true strength of the
country is our people. And we know there's thousands of
parents, thousands of educators, thousands of community activists, law
enforcement officials, all anxious to come together to achieve this
national strategy.
I know they're ambitious goals, but when we meet them, our nation
is going to be safer and more hopeful. You see, there is a
moral reason for this fight. There is a moral reason to
achieve this grand national objective, and it's this: drugs
rob men and women and children of their dignity and their
character. Illegal drugs are the enemies of ambition and
hope.
Thank you for joining the fight. May God bless you
all. (Applause.)
END 1:58
P.M. EST
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