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Drug Treatment Center 9/12/91 [OA 6036] [1]
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17
3
1
Document No.
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
91 SEP 10 P4: 17
DATE:
9/10/91
ACTON/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
SUBJECT: ADDRESS TO PHILADELPHIA DRUG TREATMENT CENTER
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
PETERSMEYER
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
ROGICH
BRADY
SMITH
BROMLEY
UNTERMEYER
CARD
MARTINEZ
DEMAREST
SNOW
FITZWATER
GRAY
HOLIDAY
REMARKS:
The attached has been forwarded to the President.
RESPONSE:
PHILLIP D. BRADY
Assistant to the President
and Staff Secretary
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
91 SEP 10 : 42
September 10, 1991
MEMORANDUM TO THE PRESIDENT
THROUGH:
DAVID DEMAREST
TONY SNOW B
FROM:
BETH HINCHLIFFE BH
SUBJECT:
ADDRESS TO PHILADELPHIA DRUG TREATMENT CENTER
On Thursday, September 12, you will be addressing an
audience of approximately 250 at the V.A./Penn Addiction
Treatment Center in Philadelphia. Secretary Derwinksi and
Director Martinez are expected to attend. The audience will
consist primarily of health professionals involved in drug
research and treatment at this center.
Your remarks (10 minutes, cards) begin with a reflection on
the Administration's progress since the National Drug Strategy
was released. They then focus on the ways to deal with drug
abuse -- treatment at centers like this for the already-addicted;
and prevention through the development of a national moral
conscience.
(Hinchliffe/Blymire)
September 10, 1991 11 a.m.
DRUGS.TS3 Draft Four
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: DRUG TREATMENT CENTER VISIT
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
September 12, 1991
[Introductory acknowledgments]
In September 1989 we introduced this nation's first National
Drug Control Strategy. At the time the drug epidemic had incited
fear, despair, even rage among Americans. The strategy set forth
clear goals, and it called upon Americans to fight back.
We look back now on two years of intense work. We can
survey with pride the accomplishments we have made -- and look
forward to the victories ahead. Recent National Institute of
Drug Abuse figures show that in the most recent 18-month
reporting period, overall drug use in the United States fell an
estimated 11 percent. Cocaine use fell even more dramatically:
occasional use dropped 29 percent; the number of cocaine-related
casualties in emergency rooms fell 23 percent.
But much of our most difficult work still lies ahead. We
continue to disrupt the drug flow through interdiction efforts,
but we can never fully control our long borders. We have
discouraged drug use by imposing tough penalties on those who use
and distribute drugs. But in the end, we can win the drug war
only by winning the wars that rage within the hearts of those who
abuse drugs.
We can't move too soon: Drug abuse threatens everyone. It
robs us of the feeling of safety; it dissolves our moral
2
strength; it destroys people and families from within -- and thus
destroys the very fabric of our society.
No one can tally the costs that hard-core drug users impose
upon us all -- the violent crime; the shattered families; the
accidents; the disease, the disability and death; the energy
drained from our society; the joy destroyed; the wretched fate of
the approximately 100,000 drug-addicted babies born each year.
While we urge those who do not use drugs not to start, drug.:
treatment programs can help save those who have been overcome by
their addiction. It can reduce the toll that drugs exact. Day
in and day out, you fight this war for human life and dignity.
You win the battles -- one soul at a time.
Here in this center, you show us that drug treatment can
work. Drug use falls by more than 70 percent among those treated.
here. Your patients are three times more likely to be employed
than are drug abusers who receive no treatment; and only one-
fourth as likely to commit crimes. The human stories tell even
more. They tell of the long, arduous, agonizing journey back to
a whole life -- a journey that not everyone completes. These
stories show that only those who take responsibility for their
actions and lives can enjoy real dignity.
Nothing here comes easy -- to you or your patients. But you
ought to be proud. You combine the best in treatment -- medical,
social and psychological -- with innovative research. You have
created precisely the kind of treatment center we talk about in
3
our Drug Control Strategy -- stressing personal responsibility,
determining "what works," and building a record of success.
This clinic began working years before this nation had such
a strategy -- before people considered drugs a major problem.
For 20 years you have developed new information about the nature
and treatment of addiction, and hundreds of thousands of patients
across this country have benefitted as a result. For the last
three years, the federal government has been able to give you
additional research funds -- all from the budget for the ware
against drugs. We support you because your programs work but
we support you also because of what you stand for -- giving
people the opportunity to work to rebuild themselves.
Grants constitute only a part of our efforts to build new
treatment programs and improve those already in operation. Welve-
worked to expand the number of treatment openings and the range
of treatment methods available. I'm proud that, based on the
FY'92 budget I sent to Congress -- since 1989, federal funding
for drug treatment has increased by $778 million -- 89 percent.
Programs funded with the help of the federal government treat 2.2
million people each year -- up from 1.5 million. In those same
three years our total annual spending against drugs has nearly
doubled -- from $6.4 billion to $11.7 billion.
But we still have a long way to go as a country -- because
we must measure our success not in dollars spent, but in lives
reclaimed. America must realize that success at staying off
drugs depends on the environment from which addicts come and to
4
which they return. We can't lay responsibility for a cure at the
feet of health professionals. We cannot win this gruelling fight
without effective local law enforcement; strong families; caring
neighborhoods; good schools; and active places of worship. Treat-
ment cannot succeed in a vacuum. It certainly cannot succeed in
a society that feels weak -- or no longer cares.
People think the problem in our world is crack, or suicide,
or babies having babies. Those are symptoms. The disease is
moral emptiness.
We cannot continue producing generations born numbly into
despair, finding solace in a needle or a vial. If as President I
had the power to give just one thing to this country -- it would
be the return of an inner moral compass, nurtured by the family
and valued by society. A strong conscience is more irresistible.
than a crack pipe. And a national conscience would haunt us in
the knowledge that every life lost to drugs or despair kills a
part of each of us.
Here we see hope. We see a beginning. Your patients came
here in desperation after their descent into the moral
degradation of drug abuse. They learn that the road out of the
abyss begins by taking personal responsibility for overcoming
addiction.
We can also learn from your model of working together,
sharing skills, creating hope. Too many people view this country
as a vast sea in which they want to be an isolated island --
self-contained, seeking individual pleasure. No one can function
5
alone -- physically, emotionally, or spiritually. We cannot live
full lives without the support of families, friends,
neighborhoods, places of worship. This center recognizes the
importance of belonging to a society -- of building a community
of people who care; people who reach out, and those who reach
back.
God bless you in the work you do here as guardians of the
Phoenix -- that mythological bird that rose to glory from the
dust of its own ashes. You give us inspiration, hope, and a
glimpse of how to strengthen the American dream. Thank you.
#####
(Hinchliffe/Blymire)
91 SEP II P12: 34
September 10, 1991 11 a.m.
DRUGS.TS3 Draft Four
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: DRUG TREATMENT CENTER VISIT
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
September 12, 1991
[Introductory acknowledgments]
In September 1989 we introduced this nation's first National
Drug Control Strategy. At the time the drug epidemic had incited
fear, despair, even rage among Americans. The strategy set forth
clear goals, and it called upon Americans to fight back.
We look back now on two years of intense work. We can
survey with pride the accomplishments we have made -- and look
forward to the victories ahead. Recent National Institute of (Hits)
Drug Abuse figures show that in the most recent 18-month
reporting period, overall drug use in the United States fell an
estimated 11 percent. Cocaine use fell even more dramatically:
occasional use dropped 29 percent; the number of cocaine-related
casualties in emergency rooms fell 23 percent.
But much of our most difficult work still lies ahead. We
continue to disrupt the drug flow through interdiction efforts,
but we can never fully control our long borders. We have
discouraged drug use by imposing tough penalties on those who use
and distribute drugs. But in the end, we can win the drug war
only by winning the wars that rage within the hearts of those who
abuse drugs.
We can't move too soon: Drug abuse threatens everyone. It
robs us of the feeling of safety; it dissolves our moral
2
strength; it destroys people and families from within -- and thus
destroys the very fabric of our society.
No one can tally the costs that hard-core drug users impose
upon us all -- the violent crime; the shattered families; the
accidents; the disease, the disability and death; the energy
drained from our society; the joy destroyed; the wretched fate of
exposed (HHS)
the approximately 100,000 drug-addicted babies born each year.
While we urge those who do not use drugs not to start, drug
treatment programs can help save those who have been overcome by
their addiction. It can reduce the toll that drugs exact. Day
in and day out, you fight this war for human life and dignity.
I
You win the battles -- one soul at a time.
Here in this center, you show us that drug treatment can
work. Drug use falls by more than 70 percent among those treated
here. Your patients are three times more likely to be employed
than are drug abusers who receive no treatment; and only one-
fourth as likely to commit crimes. The human stories tell even
more. They tell of the long, arduous, agonizing journey back to
a whole life -- a journey that not everyone completes. These
stories show that only those who take responsibility for their
actions and lives can enjoy real dignity.
Nothing here comes easy -- to you or your patients. But you.
ought to be proud. You combine the best in treatment -- medical,
social and psychological -- with innovative research. You have
created precisely the kind of treatment center we talk about in
3
our Drug Control Strategy -- stressing personal responsibility,
determining "what works, II and building a record of success.
This clinic began working years before this nation had such
a strategy -- before people considered drugs a major problem.
For 20 years you have developed new information about the nature:
and treatment of addiction, and hundreds of thousands of patients
across this country have benefitted as a result. For the last=
three years, the federal government has been able to give you
additional research funds -- all from the budget for the war
against drugs. We support you because your programs work but
we support you also because of what you stand for -- giving
people the opportunity to work to rebuild themselves.
Grants constitute only a part of our efforts to build new
treatment programs and improve those already in operation. We've
worked to expand the number of treatment openings and the range
of treatment methods available. I'm proud that, based on the
FY'92 budget I sent to Congress -- since 1989, federal funding
for drug treatment has increased by $778 million -- 89 percent.
Programs funded with the help of the federal government treat 2.2
million people each year -- up from 1.5 million. In those same
three years our total annual spending against drugs has nearly
doubled -- from $6.4 billion to $11.7 billion.
But we still have a long way to go as a country -- because
we must measure our success not in dollars spent, but in lives
reclaimed. America must realize that success at staying off
drugs depends on the environment from which addicts come and to
4
which they return. We can't lay responsibility for a cure at the
feet of health professionals. We cannot win this gruelling fight
without effective local law enforcement; strong families; caring
neighborhoods; good schools; and active places of worship. Treat-
ment cannot succeed in a vacuum. It certainly cannot succeed in
a society that feels weak -- or no longer cares.
People think the problem in our world is crack, or suicide,
or babies having babies. Those are symptoms. The disease is
moral emptiness.
We cannot continue producing generations born numbly into
despair, finding solace in a needle or a vial. If as President I
had the power to give just one thing to this country -- it would
be the return of an inner moral compass, nurtured by the family
and valued by society. A strong conscience is more irresistible
than a crack pipe. And a national conscience would haunt us in
the knowledge that every life lost to drugs or despair kills a
part of each of us.
Here we see hope. We see a beginning. Your patients came
here in desperation after their descent into the moral
degradation of drug abuse. They learn that the road out of the
abyss begins by taking personal responsibility for overcoming
addiction.
We can also learn from your model of working together,
sharing skills, creating hope. Too many people view this country
as a vast sea in which they want to be an isolated island --
self-contained, seeking individual pleasure. No one can function
5
alone -- physically, emotionally, or spiritually. We cannot live
full lives without the support of families, friends,
neighborhoods, places of worship. This center recognizes the
importance of belonging to a society -- of building a community
of people who care; people who reach out, and those who reach
back.
God bless you in the work you do here as guardians of the
Phoenix -- that mythological bird that rose to glory from the
dust of its own ashes. You give us inspiration, hope, and a
glimpse of how to strengthen the American dream. Thank you.
#####
268189SS
Document No.
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING 91 MEMORANDUM
SEP I P3: 19
DATE:
9/6/91
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
3:00PM, MONDAY, SEPT 9
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS:
DRUG TREATMENT CENTER VISIT
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
SUBJECT:
SEPTEMBER 12, 1991
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
PETERSMEYER
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
ROGICH
BRADY
SMITH
BROMLEY
UNTERMEYER
CARD
SNOW
DEMAREST
MARTINEZ
FITZWATER
GRAY
HOLIDAY
REMARKS:
Please provide comments/edits on the attached directly
to Tony Snow, Rm. 122, x2930, with a copy to this office
NO LATER THAN 3:00PM, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9. Thank you.
MASTER
RESPONSE:
Comments from Cabinet Affairs are attached. Please note suggested
changes to the text of the speech as well as general comments
attached. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to call
at x6630.
Sig ¿Barrie IS it possible to highlight some Thanks,
PHILLIP D. BRADY
a
Assistant to the President
people in the audience who had thair
Elizabeth Luttig
and Staff Secretary
lives changed?
Ext. 2702
(Hinchliffe/Blymire)
September 5, 1991 7 p.m.
DRUGS.TS Draft Two
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: at JDRUS SEP TREATMENT 29 CENTER VISIT
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
September 12, 1991
In September 1989 we introduced this nation's first National
Drug Control Strategy. At the time the drug epidemic had incited
fear, despair, even rage among Americans. The strategy set forth
clear goals, and it called upon Americans to fight back.
We look back now on two years of intense work. We can
accomplishments (PORTER) made (OPD) Look forward to (OPD)
survey with pride the distance we have como -- andAthe victories
Lie over the horizon. OPD
that seem within sight.R The most recent National Institute of
in the past (OPD)
Drug Abuse figures show that, ever 18 months, overall drug use in
the United States has fallen 11 percent. Cocaine use has fallen
occasion cbel dropped 2990. (HHS)
even more dramatically: 29 percent of occasional users stopped
using the drug entirely, and 23 percent of frequent users gave it
up.A and there has been a 23 percent drop in cocaine-related casualties coming to our Nations
energing rooms. (ONDCP)
But much (OPD) of our most difficult work still lies ahead. We
continue trying to disrupt the drug flow through interdiction
efforts, but no such effort can ever control borders as vast as
fully (Gardner x2702)
ours. We have discouraged drug use by imposing tough penalties
on those who use and distribute drugs. But in the end, we can
However, the keyto winning
the drug waris
vin the drug war only by winning the wars that rage within the
hearts of the men and women who have fallen prey to this plague.
made the wrogdecision to use drig ONDER
urge and encourage
repulsive
While we try to persuade those who do not use drugs to to (OPD)
not start
labitual drug
was should
remain clean, drug treatment programs can help save those who
Not be purround have fallen victim to the plague of drug abuse. raddicsion (CA)
as "Vicrims"
CA) (ONDCP)
been overcomely their (ONDCD)
2
those who are dependnes upon (ONDCO)
But there's POPD) really nothing 1 Can tell you about treating the
victims of drugs. Day in and day out, you Alve this war for
fight (D2) battle(OPD)
buttles(D2)
human life and dignity. You win the fights one soul at a
help (ONDCP)
time. Your hands give sustenance your words give strength --
your presence gives hope.
Today I come to thank you and tell you that no matter how
grim or anonymous your work may seem, people notice: Your country
addiction (CA)
will never forget what you are doing. Drug/abuse threatens
everyone. It robs us of the feeling of safety; it dissolves our
and their families (ONDCP)
moral strength; it destroys people Afrom within -- and thus
destroys the very fabric of our society.
No one can tally the costs that hard-core drug users impose
upon us all -- the violent crime; the shattered families; the
accidents; the disease, the disability and death; the energy
drained from our society; the joy destroyed; the wretched fate of
approximately 100,000 (HAS)
the 300,000 drug-addicted babies born each year.
thousands of -ONDCP) VA Medical (VA)
good(onocp) )
Here in this center, you show us that drug treatment can
work. Drug use falls by more than 70 percent among those treated
here. Your patients are three times more likely to be employed
than drug abusers who receive no treatment -- and one-fourth as
likely to commit crimes.
The numbers tell us far less than the smiles, hugs, tears of
joy as loved ones lost to drugs begin to emerge again as whole
human beings. You restore in people a feeling of responsibility
-- and a sense of dignity.
Successful treatment should mean
that former addias are responsible
Not just that may feel responsible. (CA)
3
Nothing here comes easy -- to you or your patients. But you
ought to be proud. You combine the best in treatment -[medical,
(OPD)
social and psychological] with innovative research. As
matter of fact, T chose to come here today because you have
created precisely the kind of treatment center we talk about in
our Drug Control Strategy. Needs elaboration (see covernents altached )(CA)
VA (VA)
But of course, you began working years before this nation
had such a strategy --- or before people considered drugs a major
problem. For 20 years you have developed new information about
the nature and treatment of addiction -- and millions of patients
across this country have benefitted as a result. For the last
three years the federal government has been able to give you
additional research funds -- all from the budget for the war
(OPD)
are successful,
against drugs. workto We support you because your programs work,
treat
because youAdevelop new programs likely to work and because it
(OPD)
represents a wise and profitable use of taxpayer money, that benefits
all of society.
No one who comes here will ever complain of waste, fraud or
mismanagement. (ONDCP)
Grants constitute only a part of our efforts to build new
treatment programs and improve those already in operation. We've
openings (OPD)
worked to expand the number of treatment lots and the range of
treatment methods available. I'm proud that, based on the FY 92
budget I sent to Congress federal funding for drug treatment has
778 (HAS) ONDCD)
89 (HAS)(DNDCP)
increased by/855 million dollars 185 percent -- during the
three years of our Administration. Programs funded with by the help of the (HHS/ ONDCP
(HHS) CONDCD)
federal government treat 2.2 million people each year -- up from
4
1.5 million. In those same 3 years, our total annual spending
6.4 billion AHS CONDCD)
against drugs has nearly doubled -- from adollars to 11.7
billion dollars.
But don't think for a minute that we intend to measure our
success by the number of taxpayer dollars we spend. Only one
measure counts, and that's the number of lives we reclaim. And
in the final analysis, the most important treatment takes place
after patients leave centers like this one and return to their
homes.
America must realize that success at staying off drugs
depends on the environment from which addicts come and to which
they return. We can't lay responsibility for a cure at the feet
of selfless health professionals; everyone plays a role. We
cannot win this gruelling fight without effective local law
enforcement; strong families; caring neighborhoods; good schools;
and active places of worship. Treatment cannot succeed in a
vacuum. It certainly cannot succeed in a society that feels weak
-- or worse, no longer cares.
People think the problem in our world is crack, or suicide,
or babies having babies. Those are symptoms. The disease is
moral emptiness.
We cannot continue producing generations born numbly into
despair, finding solace in a needle or a vial. If as President I
had the power to give just one thing to this country -- it would
be the return of an inner moral compass, nurtured by the family
and valued by society. A strong conscience can prove more
5
irresistible than a crack pipe; more uplifting than any fleeting
high. And a national conscience would haunt us in the knowledge
that each drug death kills a small and vital part of each of us. (ONDCP)
We need to ask ourselves why modern society -- which has the
tools to be the most enlightened society of human history -- has
can(D2) (02)
instead become one deveted to personal gratification. why do we sometimes
some of (D²)
give children everything -- everything except conscience?? to adhere
valuesand the resolve ONOCP (D?
to them?
Our country may not want to face these questions -- but we
must. You face them every day and you can help us begin
struggling to answer them
(P²)
just
As you know, the solution begins not with you -- but with
little
those you serve. When your patients begin assuming
(mcluye) inclear
responsibility for their lives, they begin to tell the world: We
believe in ourselves; we know we can win this fight.
But we can all help in restoring people's belief in
themselves. Your model -- working together, sharing skills,
can con work (ONDCP) work (ONDCP)
creating hope -- it works
View(ONDCP)
country (ONDCO)
Too many people/treat treat this land as a vast sea in which they
want to be an isolated island -- self-contained, self-indulgent.
But what a lonely fantasy!
No one can function alone -- physically, emotionally, or
beings COMB)
spiritually. Humans are social animals; We cannot survive
without the nurture of families, friends, and fellows. You give
us a model for more than just drug treatment you give us a
model for our lives. (stronge reference - that Families should be like
dry treatment centers) ONDEP
6
Now, let all of us reach out, and give those in need the
blessings of love, of caring, and of faith in their own dignity
and power.
God bless you in the work you do here. You give us
inspiration, hope, and a glimpse of how to restore the American
dream. (ONDCP) Thank you.
#####
Comments on Drug Treatment Speech for September 12 from Cabines affairs.
There are a few important points in the current draft that could
use some amplification:
1)
Accountability and Results. At the top of page 3, the draft
mentions that Philadelphia VA hospital treatment center is
something of a model. It should be added that it is a model
because it does what too many treatment centers do not: it
insists on individual accountability, it follows the long-
term success of its patients, and it tries to determine
"what works." Getting addicts off drugs is only the first
step of treatment; making sure they stay off is the real
test.
2)
The President's Drug Strategy. More emphasis could be place
on the idea on page 4 that treatment cannot succeed without
law enforcement, and that law enforcement alone cannot
defeat addiction. The audience at the hospital may know
little about the President's drug strategy, and some
indication should be given of how comprehensive it is; that
is, that it looks to both supply side and demand side
strategies to defeat drugs.
3)
The Nature of Treatment and Addiction. At times, the draft
paints too rosy a picture of recovery from drug addiction.
It is misleading to describe drug addicts as "victims." As
every drug treatment professional knows, a drug addict is a
totally selfish, destructive personality -- often a career
criminal who seeks treatment only when his other choices
are prison or death. On this point, it might be worth
adding an additional argument: "treatment on demand" -- a
favorite Democratic rallying cry -- doesn't reflect the real
world of the addict. Few addicts "demand" treatment; in
most cases family or legal pressure forces an addict to seek
help. The draft should also make clear that successful drug
treatment is a long, arduous, often unsuccessful process.
The 70 percent success rate at the Philadelphia hospital is
at least twice as high as that found at most treatment
clinics. (Success, if it comes, often means that a once
high-rate criminal and addict, reduces his crime and drug
use.)
4)
Casual Users VS. Addicts. The success of the President's
Drug Strategy so far has been largely a dramatic reduction
among casual and regular cocaine users and new, younger
users. The speech at the drug treatment center might
emphasize that the hard work ahead must focus on addicts and
career criminals, who are responsible for the bulk of the
damage done by drugs and drug dealing. That's why treatment
is so important.
5)
Money Alone Doesn't Improve Treatment. One point that you
may wish to make to back up this point is that private
treatment centers that cost as much as $12,000 a month are
no more successful than those charging half that amount.
-RCV-BY:The White House
; 9- 9-91 12:18PM ;
ONDCP-EOP->
CABINET AFFAIRS:# 2
GENERAL COMMENTS from ONDCP
The last pages need some work. It begins well by discussing the
moral degradation of drug use, but then veers in the general
direction of condemning all of American society and all parents for
failing to give their children a conscience. It also ends on a
confusing note by stressing that all our lives should be dedicated
to service like those employed in drug treatment centers. Drug
treatment is not, in large measure, a philanthropic enterprise.
The end presents treatment centers as providing almost religious
inspiration for our lives -- this is a stretch.
I would end on a more optimistic, more upbeat note. I would stress
how people can fall into the moral degradation of drug addiction
and treatment provides a way back from the abyss. The
Administration has funded more of these programs because they can
give people the opportunity to work to rebuild themselves. I also
would give more a sense in the end that addicts bear some
responsibility -- and need to do hard work -- in order to get their
lives back on track. Addicts do not really need to be "served" -
- they need to build the habits and disciplines of a normal life.
268189SS
Document No.
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
91 SEP 9 All: 19
DATE:
9/6/91
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: 3:00PM, MONDAY,
SEPT 9
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: DRUG TREATMENT CENTER VISIT
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
SUBJECT:
SEPTEMBER 12, 1991
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
PETERSMEYER
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
ROGICH
BRADY
SMITH
BROMLEY
UNTERMEYER
CARD
SNOW
DEMAREST
MARTINEZ
FITZWATER
GRAY
HOLIDAY
REMARKS:
Please provide comments/edits on the attached directly
to Tony Snow, Rm. 122, x2930, with a copy to this office
NO LATER THAN 3:00PM, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9. Thank you.
Supq4.5 - No other comment -great Speech!
RESPONSE:
See comments pgs, 4,5.
PHILLIP D. BRADY
Assistant to the President
and Staff Secretary
Ext. 2702
(Hinchliffe/Blymire)
September 5, 1991 7 p.m.
DRUGS.TS Draft Two
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: 91SEP TREATMENT 6 CENTER VISIT
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
September 12, 1991
In September 1989 we introduced this nation's first National
Drug Control Strategy. At the time the drug epidemic had incited
fear, despair, even rage among Americans. The strategy set forth
clear goals, and it called upon Americans to fight back.
We look back now on two years of intense work. We can
survey with pride the distance we have come -- and the victories
that seem within sight. The most recent National Institute of
Drug Abuse figures show that, over 18 months, overall drug use in
the United States has fallen 11 percent. Cocaine use has fallen
even more dramatically: 29 percent of occasional users stopped
using the drug entirely, and 23 percent of frequent users gave it
up.
But much of our most difficult work still lies ahead. We
continue trying to disrupt the drug flow through interdiction
efforts, but no such effort can ever control borders as vast as
ours. We have discouraged drug use by imposing tough penalties
on those who use and distribute drugs. But in the end, we can
win the drug war only by winning the wars that rage within the
hearts of the men and women who have fallen prey to this plague.
While we try to persuade those who do not use drugs to
remain clean, drug treatment programs can help save those who
have fallen victim to the plague of drug abuse.
2
But there's really nothing I can tell you about treating the
victims of drugs. Day in and day out, you live this war for
human life and dignity. You win the fights -- one soul at a
time. Your hands give sustenance -- your words give strength --
your presence gives hope.
Today I come to thank you and tell you that no matter how
grim or anonymous your work may seem, people notice: Your country
will never forget what you are doing. Drug abuse threatens
everyone. It robs us of the feeling of safety; it dissolves our
moral strength; it destroys people from within -- and thus
destroys the very fabric of our society.
No one can tally the costs that hard-core drug users impose
upon us all -- the violent crime; the shattered families; the
accidents; the disease, the disability and death; the energy
drained from our society; the joy destroyed; the wretched fate of
the 300,000 drug-addicted babies born each year.
Here in this center, you show us that drug treatment can
work. Drug use falls by more than 70 percent among those treated
here. Your patients are three times more likely to be employed
than drug abusers who receive no treatment -- and one-fourth as
likely to commit crimes.
The numbers tell us far less than the smiles, hugs, tears of
joy as loved ones lost to drugs begin to emerge again as whole
human beings. You restore in people a feeling of responsibility
-- and a sense of dignity.
3
Nothing here comes easy -- to you or your patients. But you
ought to be proud. You combine the best in treatment -- medical,
social and psychological -- with innovative research. As a
matter of fact, I chose to come here today because you have
created precisely the kind of treatment center we talk about in
our Drug Control Strategy.
But of course, you began working years before this nation
had such a strategy -- or before people considered drugs a major
problem. For 20 years you have developed new information about
the nature and treatment of addiction -- and millions of patients
across this country have benefitted as a result. For the last
three years the federal government has been able to give you
additional research funds -- all from the budget for the war
against drugs. We support you because your programs work,
because you develop new programs likely to work -- and because it
represents a wise and profitable use of taxpayer money.
No one who comes here will ever complain of waste, fraud or
mismanagement.
Grants constitute only a part of our efforts to build new
treatment programs and improve those already in operation. We've
worked to expand the number of treatment slots and the range of
treatment methods available. I'm proud that, based on the FY 92
budget I sent to Congress, federal funding for drug treatment has
increased by 855 million dollars -- 85 percent -- during the
three years of our Administration. Programs funded by the
federal government treat 2.25 million people each year -- up from
4
1.5 million. In those same 3 years, our total annual spending
Billion
against drugs has nearly doubled -- from 6 dollars to 11.7
billion dollars.
But don't think for a minute that we intend to measure our
success by the number of taxpayer dollars we spend. Only one
measure counts, and that's the number of lives we reclaim. And
in the final analysis, the most important treatment takes place
after patients leave centers like this one and return to their
homes.
America must realize that success at staying off drugs
depends on the environment from which addicts come and to which
they return. We can't lay responsibility for a cure at the feet
of selfless health professionals; everyone plays a role. We
cannot win this gruelling fight without effective local law
enforcement; strong families; caring neighborhoods; good schools;
and active places of worship. Treatment cannot succeed in a
vacuum. It certainly cannot succeed in a society that feels weak
-- or worse, no longer cares.
People think the problem in our world is crack, or suicide,
or babies having babies. Those are symptoms. The disease is
moral emptiness.
We cannot continue producing generations born numbly into
despair, finding solace in a needle or a vial. If as President I
had the power to give just one thing to this country -- it would
be the return of an inner moral compass, nurtured by the family
and valued by society. A strong conscience can prove more
5
irresistible than a crack pipe; more uplifting than any fleeting
high. And a national conscience would haunt us in the knowledge
that each drug death kills a small and vital part of each of us.
We need to ask ourselves why modern society -- which has the
tools to be the most enlightened society of human history -- has
instead become one devoted to personal gratification. Why do we
give our children everything -- everything except conscience?
Our country may not want to face these questions -- but we
must. You face them every day and you can help us begin
struggling to answer them
How?
As you know, the solution begins not with you -- but with
those you serve. When your patients begin assuming
responsibility for their lives, they begin to tell the world: We
believe in ourselves; we know we can win this fight.
Like undear
But we can all help in restoring people's belief in
themselves. Your model -- working together, sharing skills,
creating hope -- it works.
Too many people treat this land as a vast sea in which they
want to be an isolated island -- self-contained, self-indulgent.
But what a lonely fantasy!
No one can function alone -- physically, emotionally, or
spiritually. Humans are social animals; We cannot survive
without the nurture of families, friends, and fellows. You give
us a model for more than just drug treatment -- you give us a
model for our lives.
6
Now, let all of us reach out, and give those in need the
blessings of love, of caring, and of faith in their own dignity
and power.
God bless you in the work you do here. You give us
inspiration, hope, and a glimpse of how to restore the American
dream. Thank you.
#####
268189SS
Document No.
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
DATE:
9/6/91
91 SEP 6 All: 33
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
3:00PM, MONDAY, SEPT 9
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: DRUG TREATMENT CENTER VISIT
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
SUBJECT:
SEPTEMBER 12, 1991
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
PETERSMEYER
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
ROGICH
BRADY
SMITH
BROMLEY
UNTERMEYER
CARD
SNOW
DEMAREST
MARTINEZ
FITZWATER
GRAY
HOLIDAY
REMARKS:
Please provide comments/edits on the attached directly
to Tony Snow, Rm. 122, x2930, with a copy to this office
NO LATER THAN 3:00PM, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9. Thank you.
RESPONSE: Tay / Bath- d think the 'moral suptiness point ingreat!
just one word commenton p.l.
Thanks Jr.
PHILLIP D. BRADY
Assistant to the President
and Staff Secretary
Ext. 2702
(Hinchliffe/Blymire)
September 5, 1991 7 p.m.
DRUGS.TS Draft Two
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: 91SEP TREATNENT 29 CENTER VISIT
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
September 12, 1991
In September 1989 we introduced this nation's first National
Drug Control Strategy. At the time the drug epidemic had incited
fear, despair, even rage among Americans. The strategy set forth
clear goals, and it called upon Americans to fight back.
We look back now on two years of intense work. We can
survey with pride the distance we have come -- and the victories
that seem within sight. The most recent National Institute of
Drug Abuse figures show that, over 18 months, overall drug use in
the United States has fallen 11 percent. Cocaine use has fallen
even more dramatically: 29 percent of occasional users stopped
using the drug entirely, and 23 percent of frequent users gave it
up.
But much of our most difficult work still lies ahead. We
continue trying to disrupt the drug flow through interdiction
efforts, but no such effort can ever fully control borders as vast as
1
ours. We have discouraged drug use by imposing tough penalties
on those who use and distribute drugs. But in the end, we can
win the drug war only by winning the wars that rage within the
hearts of the men and women who have fallen prey to this plague.
While we try to persuade those who do not use drugs to
remain clean, drug treatment programs can help save those who
have fallen victim to the plague of drug abuse.
2
But there's really nothing I can tell you about treating the
victims of drugs. Day in and day out, you live this war for
human life and dignity. You win the fights -- one soul at a
time. Your hands give sustenance -- your words give strength --
your presence gives hope.
Today I come to thank you and tell you that no matter how
grim or anonymous your work may seem, people notice: Your country
will never forget what you are doing. Drug abuse threatens
everyone. It robs us of the feeling of safety; it dissolves our
moral strength; it destroys people from within -- and thus
destroys the very fabric of our society.
No one can tally the costs that hard-core drug users impose
upon us all -- the violent crime; the shattered families; the
accidents; the disease, the disability and death; the energy
drained from our society; the joy destroyed; the wretched fate of
the 300,000 drug-addicted babies born each year.
Here in this center, you show us that drug treatment can
work. Drug use falls by more than 70 percent among those treated
here. Your patients are three times more likely to be employed
than drug abusers who receive no treatment -- and one-fourth as
likely to commit crimes.
The numbers tell us far less than the smiles, hugs, tears of
joy as loved ones lost to drugs begin to emerge again as whole
human beings. You restore in people a feeling of responsibility
-- and a sense of dignity.
3
Nothing here comes easy -- to you or your patients. But you
ought to be proud. You combine the best in treatment -- medical,
social and psychological -- with innovative research. As a
matter of fact, I chose to come here today because you have
created precisely the kind of treatment center we talk about in
our Drug Control Strategy.
But of course, you began working years before this nation
had such a strategy -- or before people considered drugs a major
problem. For 20 years you have developed new information about
the nature and treatment of addiction -- and millions of patients
across this country have benefitted as a result. For the last
three years the federal government has been able to give you
additional research funds -- all from the budget for the war
against drugs. We support you because your programs work,
because you develop new programs likely to work -- and because it
represents a wise and profitable use of taxpayer money.
No one who comes here will ever complain of waste, fraud or
mismanagement.
Grants constitute only a part of our efforts to build new
treatment programs and improve those already in operation. We've
worked to expand the number of treatment slots and the range of
treatment methods available. I'm proud that, based on the FY 92
budget I sent to Congress, federal funding for drug treatment has
increased by 855 million dollars -- 85 percent -- during the
three years of our Administration. Programs funded by the
federal government treat 2.25 million people each year -- up from
4
1.5 million. In those same 3 years, our total annual spending
against drugs has nearly doubled -- from 6 dollars to 11.7
billion dollars.
But don't think for a minute that we intend to measure our
success by the number of taxpayer dollars we spend. Only one
measure counts, and that's the number of lives we reclaim. And
in the final analysis, the most important treatment takes place
after patients leave centers like this one and return to their
homes.
America must realize that success at staying off drugs
depends on the environment from which addicts come and to which
they return. We can't lay responsibility for a cure at the feet
of selfless health professionals; everyone plays a role. We
cannot win this gruelling fight without effective local law
enforcement; strong families; caring neighborhoods; good schools;
and active places of worship. Treatment cannot succeed in a
vacuum. It certainly cannot succeed in a society that feels weak
-- or worse, no longer cares.
People think the problem in our world is crack, or suicide,
or babies having babies. Those are symptoms. The disease is
moral emptiness.
We cannot continue producing generations born numbly into
despair, finding solace in a needle or a vial. If as President I
had the power to give just one thing to this country -- it would
be the return of an inner moral compass, nurtured by the family
and valued by society. A strong conscience can prove more
5
irresistible than a crack pipe; more uplifting than any fleeting
high. And a national conscience would haunt us in the knowledge
that each drug death kills a small and vital part of each of us.
We need to ask ourselves why modern society -- which has the
tools to be the most enlightened society of human history -- has
instead become one devoted to personal gratification. Why do we
give our children everything -- everything except conscience?
Our country may not want to face these questions -- but we
must. You face them every day -- and you can help us begin
struggling to answer them.
As you know, the solution begins not with you -- but with
those you serve. When your patients begin assuming
responsibility for their lives, they begin to tell the world: We
believe in ourselves; we know we can win this fight.
But we can all help in restoring people's belief in
themselves. Your model -- working together, sharing skills,
creating hope -- it works.
Too many people treat this land as a vast sea in which they
want to be an isolated island -- self-contained, self-indulgent.
But what a lonely fantasy!
No one can function alone -- physically, emotionally, or
spiritually. Humans are social animals; We cannot survive
without the nurture of families, friends, and fellows. You give
us a model for more than just drug treatment -- you give us a
model for our lives.
6
Now, let all of us reach out, and give those in need the
blessings of love, of caring, and of faith in their own dignity
and power.
God bless you in the work you do here. You give us
inspiration, hope, and a glimpse of how to restore the American
dream. Thank you.
#####
268189SS
Document No.
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
DATE:
9/6/91
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENTOUE BY:
91 SEP 6 All : 24
3:00PM, MONDAY, SEPT 9
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: DRUG TREATMENT CENTER VISIT
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
SUBJECT:
SEPTEMBER 12, 1991
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
PETERSMEYER
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
N
ROGICH
BRADY
SMITH
NIL
BROMLEY
UNTERMEYER
CARD
SNOW
DEMAREST
MARTINEZ
FITZWATER
GRAY
N/C
HOLIDAY
REMARKS:
Please provide comments/edits on the attached directly
to Tony Snow, Rm. 122, x2930, with a copy to this office
NO LATER THAN 3:00PM, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9. Thank you.
RESPONSE:
PHILLIP D. BRADY
Assistant to the President
and Staff Secretary
Ext. 2702
(Hinchliffe/Blymire)
September 5, 1991 7 p.m.
DRUGS.TS Draft Two
01 SEP 29
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS:
JDRUS TREATMENT CENTER VISIT
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
September 12, 1991
In September 1989 we introduced this nation's first National
Drug Control Strategy. At the time the drug epidemic had incited
fear, despair, even rage among Americans. The strategy set forth
clear goals, and it called upon Americans to fight back.
We look back now on two years of intense work. We can
survey with pride the distance we have come -- and the victories
that seem within sight. The most recent National Institute of
Drug Abuse figures show that, over 18 months, overall drug use in
the United States has fallen 11 percent. Cocaine use has fallen
even more dramatically: 29 percent of occasional users stopped
using the drug entirely, and 23 percent of frequent users gave it
up.
But much of our most difficult work still lies ahead. We
continue trying to disrupt the drug flow through interdiction
efforts, but no such effort can ever control borders as vast as
ours. We have discouraged drug use by imposing tough penalties
on those who use and distribute drugs. But in the end, we can
win the drug war only by winning the wars that rage within the
hearts of the men and women who have fallen prey to this plague.
While we try to persuade those who do not use drugs to
remain clean, drug treatment programs can help save those who
have fallen victim to the plague of drug abuse.
2
But there's really nothing I can tell you about treating the
victims of drugs. Day in and day out, you live this war for
human life and dignity. You win the fights -- one soul at a
time. Your hands give sustenance -- your words give strength --
your presence gives hope.
Today I come to thank you and tell you that no matter how
grim or anonymous your work may seem, people notice: Your country
will never forget what you are doing. Drug abuse threatens
everyone. It robs us of the feeling of safety; it dissolves our
moral strength; it destroys people from within -- and thus
destroys the very fabric of our society.
No one can tally the costs that hard-core drug users impose
upon us all -- the violent crime; the shattered families; the
accidents; the disease, the disability and death; the energy
drained from our society; the joy destroyed; the wretched fate of
the 300,000 drug-addicted babies born each year.
Here in this center, you show us that drug treatment can
work. Drug use falls by more than 70 percent among those treated
here. Your patients are three times more likely to be employed
than drug abusers who receive no treatment -- and one-fourth as
likely to commit crimes.
The numbers tell us far less than the smiles, hugs, tears of
joy as loved ones lost to drugs begin to emerge again as whole
human beings. You restore in people a feeling of responsibility
-- and a sense of dignity.
3
Nothing here comes easy -- to you or your patients. But you
ought to be proud. You combine the best in treatment -- medical,
social and psychological -- with innovative research. As a
matter of fact, I chose to come here today because you have
created precisely the kind of treatment center we talk about in
our Drug Control Strategy.
But of course, you began working years before this nation
had such a strategy -- or before people considered drugs a major
problem. For 20 years you have developed new information about
the nature and treatment of addiction -- and millions of patients
across this country have benefitted as a result. For the last
three years the federal government has been able to give you
additional research funds -- all from the budget for the war
against drugs. We support you because your programs work,
because you develop new programs likely to work -- and because it
represents a wise and profitable use of taxpayer money.
No one who comes here will ever complain of waste, fraud or
mismanagement.
Grants constitute only a part of our efforts to build new
treatment programs and improve those already in operation. We've
worked to expand the number of treatment slots and the range of
treatment methods available. I'm proud that, based on the FY 92
budget I sent to Congress, federal funding for drug treatment has
increased by 855 million dollars -- 85 percent during the
three years of our Administration. Programs funded by the
federal government treat 2.25 million people each year -- up from
4
1.5 million. In those same 3 years, our total annual spending
against drugs has nearly doubled -- from 6 dollars to 11.7
billion dollars.
But don't think for a minute that we intend to measure our
success by the number of taxpayer dollars we spend. Only one
measure counts, and that's the number of lives we reclaim. And
in the final analysis, the most important treatment takes place
after patients leave centers like this one and return to their
homes.
America must realize that success at staying off drugs
depends on the environment from which addicts come and to which
they return. We can't lay responsibility for a cure at the feet
of selfless health professionals; everyone plays a role. We
cannot win this gruelling fight without effective local law
enforcement; strong families; caring neighborhoods; good schools;
and active places of worship. Treatment cannot succeed in a
vacuum. It certainly cannot succeed in a society that feels weak
-- or worse, no longer cares.
People think the problem in our world is crack, or suicide,
or babies having babies. Those are symptoms. The disease is
moral emptiness.
We cannot continue producing generations born numbly into
despair, finding solace in a needle or a vial. If as President I
had the power to give just one thing to this country -- it would
be the return of an inner moral compass, nurtured by the family
and valued by society. A strong conscience can prove more
5
irresistible than a crack pipe; more uplifting than any fleeting
high. And a national conscience would haunt us in the knowledge
that each drug death kills a small and vital part of each of us.
We need to ask ourselves why modern society -- which has the
tools to be the most enlightened society of human history -- has
instead become one devoted to personal gratification. Why do we
give our children everything -- everything except conscience?
Our country may not want to face these questions -- but we
must. You face them every day -- and you can help us begin
struggling to answer them.
As you know, the solution begins not with you -- but with
those you serve. When your patients begin assuming
responsibility for their lives, they begin to tell the world: We
believe in ourselves; we know we can win this fight.
But we can all help in restoring people's belief in
themselves. Your model -- working together, sharing skills,
creating hope -- it works.
Too many people treat this land as a vast sea in which they
want to be an isolated island -- self-contained, self-indulgent.
But what a lonely fantasy!
No one can function alone -- physically, emotionally, or
spiritually. Humans are social animals; We cannot survive
without the nurture of families, friends, and fellows. You give
us a model for more than just drug treatment -- you give us a
model for our lives.
6
Now, let all of us reach out, and give those in need the
blessings of love, of caring, and of faith in their own dignity
and power.
God bless you in the work you do here. You give us
inspiration, hope, and a glimpse of how to restore the American
dream. Thank you.
#####