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Presidential Address on Drugs 9/5/89 [OA 6267] [3]
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Presidential Address on Drugs 9/5/89 [OA 6267] [3]
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administrative marker by the George Bush Presidential
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Record Group/Collection:
George H.W. Bush Presidential Records
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Speech File Backup Files
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OA/ID Number:
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Folder Title:
Presidential Address on Drugs 9/5/89 [OA 6267] [3]
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3
1
Christina
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS ON DRUGS: ALL NETWORKS
TUESDAY, SEPT. 5/9 P.M.
((GOOD EVENING.))
12
THIS IS THE FIRST TIME SINCE TAKING THE OATH OF
P.20
OFFICE THAT I FELT AN ISSUE WAS so IMPORTANT, so
p.zz
THREATENING, THAT IT WARRANTED TALKING DIRECTLY WITH
YOU, THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. ALL OF US AGREE THAT THE
GRAVEST DOMESTIC THREAT FACING OUR NATION TODAY IS
DRUGS.
DRUGS HAVE STRAINED OUR FAITH IN OUR SYSTEM OF
JUSTICE. OUR COURTS, OUR PRISONS, OUR LEGAL SYSTEM ARE
STRETCHED TO THE BREAKING POINT. THE SOCIAL COSTS OF
DRUGS ARE MOUNTING. IN SHORT, DRUGS ARE SAPPING OUR
STRENGTH AS A NATION.
TURN ON THE EVENING NEWS, OR PICK UP THE MORNING
PAPER AND YOU'LL SEE WHAT SOME AMERICANS KNOW JUST BY
STEPPING OUT THEIR FRONT DOOR: OUR MOST SERIOUS PROBLEM
TODAY IS COCAINE, AND IN PARTICULAR, CRACK.
- 2 -
WHO'S RESPONSIBLE? -- LET ME TELL YOU STRAIGHT
OUT.
EVERYONE WHO USES DRUGS.
EVERYONE WHO SELLS DRUGS.
AND EVERYONE 11 WHO LOOKS THE OTHER WAY.
TONIGHT, I WILL TELL YOU HOW MANY AMERICANS ARE
USING ILLEGAL DRUGS. I WILL PRESENT TO YOU OUR
NATIONAL STRATEGY TO DEAL WITH EVERY ASPECT OF THIS
THREAT. AND I WILL ASK YOU TO GET INVOLVED IN WHAT
PROMISES TO BE A VERY DIFFICULT FIGHT.
((PICK UP DRUGS)) THIS IS CRACK COCAINE SEIZED A
FEW DAYS AGO BY DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION AGENTS
IN A PARK JUST ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE WHITE HOUSE.
IT COULD EASILY HAVE BEEN HEROIN OR PCP. IT'S AS
INNOCENT LOOKING AS CANDY, BUT IT IS TURNING OUR CITIES
INTO BATTLE ZONES, AND IT IS MURDERING OUR CHILDREN.
LET THERE BE NO MISTAKE, THIS STUFF IS POISON. ((SET
DRUGS DOWN. ))
- 3 -
SOME USED TO CALL DRUGS HARMLESS RECREATION. 11
THEY'RE NOT. DRUGS ARE A REAL AND TERRIBLY DANGEROUS
THREAT TO OUR NEIGHBORHOODS, OUR FRIENDS, AND OUR
FAMILIES.
NO ONE AMONG US IS OUT OF HARM'S WAY. WHEN FOUR-
YEAR-OLDS PLAY IN PLAYGROUNDS STREWN WITH DISCARDED
HYPODERMIC NEEDLES AND CRACK VIALS -- IT BREAKS MY
HEART. WHEN COCAINE -- ONE OF THE MOST DEADLY AND
ADDICTIVE ILLEGAL DRUGS -- IS AVAILABLE TO SCHOOL KIDS
-- SCHOOL KIDS -- IT'S AN OUTRAGE. AND WHEN HUNDREDS
OF THOUSANDS OF BABIES ARE BORN EACH YEAR TO MOTHERS
WHO USE DRUGS - -- PREMATURE BABIES BORN DESPERATELY SICK
-- THEN EVEN THE MOST DEFENSELESS AMONG US ARE AT RISK.
- 4 -
/\/\
THESE ARE THE TRAGEDIES BEHIND THE STATISTICS.
BUT THE NUMBERS ALSO HAVE QUITE A STORY TO TELL. LET
ME SHARE WITH YOU THE RESULTS OF THE RECENTLY COMPLETED
HOUSEHOLD SURVEY OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG
ABUSE. IT COMPARES RECENT DRUG USE TO THREE YEARS AGO.
IT TELLS US SOME GOOD NEWS III AND, SOME VERY BAD
NEWS. FIRST, THE GOOD. ( (CAMERA CUTS TO SLIDE ONE. ))
((PAUSE))
AS YOU CAN SEE IN THE CHART, IN 1985, THE
GOVERNMENT ESTIMATED THAT 23 MILLION AMERICANS WERE
USING DRUGS ON A "CURRENT" BASIS -- THAT IS, AT LEAST
ONCE IN THE PRECEDING MONTH. LAST YEAR, THAT NUMBER
FELL BY MORE THAN A THIRD. THAT MEANS ALMOST NINE
MILLION FEWER AMERICANS ARE CASUAL DRUG USERS. 11 GOOD
NEWS. ((CAMERA BACK TO PRESIDENT. ))
11 BACK TO PREZ))
Close gap!
- 5 -
BECAUSE WE CHANGED OUR NATIONAL ATTITUDE TOWARD
Weprompter spaces on
DRUGS, CASUAL DRUG USE HAS DECLINED. WE HAVE MANY TO
THANK: OUR BRAVE LAW-ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS, RELIGIOUS
LEADERS, TEACHERS, COMMUNITY ACTIVISTS, AND LEADERS OF
BUSINESS AND LABOR. 11 WE SHOULD ALSO THANK THE MEDIA
FOR THEIR EXHAUSTIVE NEWS AND EDITORIAL COVERAGE; AND
ADVERTISERS FOR RUNNING ANTI-DRUG MESSAGES. 11
FINALLY, I WANT TO THANK PRESIDENT AND MRS. REAGAN FOR
THEIR LEADERSHIP. \ ALL OF THESE GOOD PEOPLE TOLD THE
TRUTH -- THAT DRUG USE IS WRONG AND DANGEROUS.
BUT, AS MUCH COMFORT AS WE CAN DRAW FROM THESE
DRAMATIC REDUCTIONS, THERE IS ALSO BAD NEWS -- VERY BAD
NEWS. III ROUGHLY EIGHT MILLION PEOPLE HAVE USED
COCAINE IN THE PAST YEAR, ALMOST ONE MILLION OF THEM
USED IT FREQUENTLY 11 ONCE A WEEK OR MORE.
close gap!
- 6 -
((CAMERA TO SLIDE TWO))
WHAT THIS MEANS IS THAT, IN SPITE OF THE FACT THAT
OVERALL COCAINE USE IS DOWN, FREQUENT USE HAS ALMOST
DOUBLED IN THE LAST FEW YEARS. AND THAT'S WHY HABITUAL
COCAINE USERS -- ESPECIALLY CRACK USERS ARE THE MOST
PRESSING, IMMEDIATE DRUG PROBLEM. ((PAUSE)) ((RETURN
TO PRESIDENT.))
\/\/
ont on ther
WHAT, THEN, IS OUR PLAN? 11 TO BEGIN WITH, I
TRUST THE LESSON OF EXPERIENCE: NO SINGLE POLICY WILL
CUT IT, NO MATTER HOW GLAMOROUS OR MAGICAL IT MAY
SOUND. TO WIN THE WAR AGAINST ADDICTIVE DRUGS LIKE
CRACK WILL TAKE MORE THAN JUST A FEDERAL STRATEGY. IT
WILL TAKE A NATIONAL STRATEGY, ONE THAT REACHES INTO
EVERY SCHOOL, EVERY WORKPLACE, INVOLVING EVERY FAMILY.
- 7 -
EARLIER TODAY, I SENT THIS DOCUMENT, ((HOLD UP RED
BOOK)) OUR FIRST SUCH NATIONAL STRATEGY TO THE
CONGRESS. IT WAS DEVELOPED WITH THE HARD WORK OF OUR
NATION'S FIRST DRUG POLICY DIRECTOR, BILL BENNETT.
((PUT BOOK DOWN) ) /\/\ IN PREPARING THIS PLAN, WE
TALKED WITH STATE, LOCAL AND COMMUNITY LEADERS, LAW
ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS AND EXPERTS IN EDUCATION, DRUG
PREVENTION, AND REHABILITATION. WE TALKED WITH PARENTS
AND KIDS. WE TOOK A LONG HARD LOOK AT ALL THAT THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS DONE ABOUT DRUGS IN THE PAST:
WHAT'S WORKED, AND -- LET'S BE HONEST -- WHAT HASN'T.
TOO OFTEN, PEOPLE IN GOVERNMENT ACTED AS IF THEIR PART
OF THE PROBLEM -- WHETHER FIGHTING DRUG PRODUCTION, OR
Glso Eleprompte on
DRUG SMUGGLING, OR DRUG DEMAND WAS THE ONLY PROBLEM.
BUT TURF BATTLES WON'T WIN THIS WAR. III TEAMWORK
WILL.
TONIGHT, I'M ANNOUNCING A STRATEGY THAT REFLECTS
THE COORDINATED, COOPERATIVE COMMITMENT OF ALL FEDERAL
AGENCIES. 11 IN SHORT, THIS PLAN IS AS COMPREHENSIVE
AS THE PROBLEM. WITH THIS STRATEGY, WE NOW FINALLY
HAVE A PLAN THAT COORDINATES OUR RESOURCES, OUR
PROGRAMS AND THE PEOPLE WHO RUN THEM.
- 8 -
OUR WEAPONS IN THIS STRATEGY ARE: THE LAW AND
CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM; OUR FOREIGN POLICY; OUR
TREATMENT SYSTEMS, AND OUR SCHOOLS AND DRUG PREVENTION
PROGRAMS. SO THE BASIC WEAPONS WE NEED ARE THE ONES WE
ALREADY HAVE. WHAT HAS BEEN LACKING IS A STRATEGY TO
EFFECTIVELY USE THEM. 1111
LET ME ADDRESS FOUR OF THE MAJOR ELEMENTS OF OUR
STRATEGY.
begining
rext indent linet
*** FIRST, WE ARE DETERMINED TO ENFORCE THE LAW,
TO MAKE OUR STREETS AND NEIGHBORHOODS SAFE. #so SO TO
START, I'M PROPOSING THAT WE MORE THAN DOUBLE FEDERAL
ASSISTANCE TO STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT.
AMERICANS HAVE A RIGHT TO SAFETY IN AND AROUND THEIR
HOMES.
- 9 -
AND WE WON'T HAVE SAFE NEIGHBORHOODS UNLESS WE ARE
TOUGH ON DRUG CRIMINALS - -- MUCH TOUGHER THAN WE ARE
NOW. SOMETIMES THAT MEANS TOUGHER PENALTIES. BUT MORE
OFTEN IT JUST MEANS PUNISHMENT THAT IS SWIFT AND
CERTAIN. WE'VE ALL HEARD STORIES ABOUT DRUG DEALERS
WHO ARE CAUGHT AND ARRESTED -- AGAIN AND AGAIN -- BUT
M
NEVER PUNISHED. III WELL, HERE THE RULES HAVE
CHANGED: IF YOU SELL DRUGS, YOU WILL BE CAUGHT. AND
WHEN YOU'RE CAUGHT, YOU WILL BE PROSECUTED. AND ONCE
YOU'RE CONVICTED, YOU WILL DO TIME. CAUGHT.
PROSECUTED. PUNISHED. 1111
/\/\
I AM ALSO PROPOSING THAT WE ENLARGE OUR CRIMINAL
JUSTICE SYSTEM ACROSS THE BOARD -- AT THE LOCAL, STATE
AND FEDERAL LEVELS ALIKE. WE NEED MORE PRISONS MORE
spaces
JAILS MORE COURTS, MORE PROSECUTORS. SO TONIGHT, I'M
REQUESTING -- ALTOGETHER -- AN ALMOST BILLION-AND-A-
HALF DOLLAR INCREASE IN DRUG-RELATED FEDERAL SPENDING
ON LAW ENFORCEMENT.
- 10 -
AND WHILE ILLEGAL DRUG USE IS FOUND IN EVERY
COMMUNITY, NOWHERE IS IT WORSE THAN IN OUR PUBLIC
HOUSING PROJECTS. YOU KNOW, THE POOR HAVE NEVER HAD IT
EASY IN THIS WORLD. BUT IN THE PAST, THEY WEREN'T
MUGGED ON THE WAY HOME FROM WORK BY CRACK GANGS. AND
THEIR CHILDREN DIDN'T HAVE TO DODGE BULLETS ON THE WAY
TO SCHOOL. THAT IS WHY I'M TARGETING FIFTY-MILLION
DOLLARS TO FIGHT CRIME IN PUBLIC HOUSING PROJECTS -- TO
HELP RESTORE ORDER, AND TO KICK OUT THE DEALERS FOR
GOOD.
- 11 -
*** THE SECOND ELEMENT OF OUR STRATEGY LOOKS
BEYOND OUR BORDERS, WHERE THE COCAINE AND CRACK, BOUGHT
ON AMERICA'S STREETS, IS GROWN AND PROCESSED. IN
COLOMBIA ALONE, COCAINE KILLERS HAVE GUNNED DOWN A
LEADING STATESMAN, MURDERED ALMOST TWO HUNDRED JUDGES
AND SEVEN MEMBERS OF THEIR SUPREME COURT. THE BESIEGED
GOVERNMENTS OF THE DRUG-PRODUCING COUNTRIES ARE
FIGHTING BACK, FIGHTING TO BREAK THE INTERNATIONAL DRUG
RINGS. BUT YOU AND I AGREE WITH THE COURAGEOUS
PRESIDENT OF COLOMBIA, VIRGILIO ((VEER-HEEL-LEO))
BARCO, WHO SAID THAT IF AMERICANS USE COCAINE, THEN
AMERICANS ARE PAYING 11 FOR MURDER. 11 AMERICAN
COCAINE USERS NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT OUR NATION HAS
ZERO TOLERANCE FOR CASUAL DRUG USE. WE HAVE A
RESPONSIBILITY NOT TO LEAVE OUR BRAVE FRIENDS IN
COLOMBIA TO FIGHT ALONE.
THE SIXTY-FIVE-MILLION DOLLAR EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE
ANNOUNCED TWO WEEKS AGO WAS JUST OUR FIRST STEP IN
ASSISTING THE ANDEAN NATIONS IN THEIR FIGHT AGAINST THE
COCAINE CARTELS. COLOMBIA HAS ALREADY ARRESTED
SUPPLIERS, SEIZED TONS OF COCAINE AND CONFISCATED
PALATIAL HOMES OF DRUG LORDS. BUT COLOMBIA FACES A
LONG, UPHILL BATTLE, so WE MUST BE READY TO DO MORE.
- 12 -
OUR STRATEGY ALLOCATES MORE THAN A QUARTER OF A
BILLION DOLLARS FOR NEXT YEAR IN MILITARY AND LAW
ENFORCEMENT ASSISTANCE FOR THE THREE ANDEAN NATIONS OF
COLOMBIA, BOLIVIA AND PERU. THIS WILL BE THE FIRST
PART OF A FIVE-YEAR, TWO-BILLION DOLLAR PROGRAM TO
COUNTER THE PRODUCERS, THE TRAFFICKERS AND THE
SMUGGLERS.
I SPOKE WITH PRESIDENT BARCO LAST WEEK, AND WE
HOPE TO MEET WITH THE LEADERS OF AFFECTED COUNTRIES IN
AN UNPRECEDENTED DRUG SUMMIT, ALL TO COORDINATE AN
INTER-AMERICAN STRATEGY AGAINST THE CARTELS. WE WILL
WORK WITH OUR ALLIES AND FRIENDS -- ESPECIALLY OUR
ECONOMIC SUMMIT PARTNERS -- TO DO MORE IN THE FIGHT
AGAINST DRUGS. I'M ALSO ASKING THE SENATE TO RATIFY
THE U.N. ANTI-DRUG CONVENTION CONCLUDED LAST DECEMBER.
***
after
compttering
TO STOP THOSE DRUGS ON THE WAY TO AMERICA, I
PROPOSE THAT WE SPEND MORE THAN A BILLION-AND-A-HALF
&
DOLLARS ON INTERDICTION. 11 GREATER INTERAGENCY
COOPERATION, COMBINED WITH DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
SOPHISTICATED INTELLIGENCE -GATHEANCY
TECHNOLOGY CAN HELP STOP DRUGS AT OUR BORDERS.
- 13 -
OUR MESSAGE TO THE DRUG CARTELS IS THIS: 11 THE
RULES HAVE CHANGED. 11 WE WILL HELP ANY GOVERNMENT
THAT WANTS OUR HELP. WHEN REQUESTED, WE WILL FOR THE
FIRST TIME MAKE AVAILABLE THE APPROPRIATE RESOURCES OF
AMERICA'S ARMED FORCES. WE WILL INTENSIFY OUR EFFORTS
AGAINST DRUG SMUGGLERS ON THE HIGH SEAS, IN
INTERNATIONAL AIRSPACE AND AT OUR BORDERS. WE WILL
STOP THE FLOW OF CHEMICALS FROM THE UNITED STATES USED
TO PROCESS DRUGS. WE WILL PURSUE AND ENFORCE
INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS TO TRACK DRUG MONEY TO THE
FRONT MEN AND FINANCIERS. AND THEN WE WILL HANDCUFF
THESE MONEY LAUNDERERS, AND JAIL THEM -- JUST LIKE ANY
STREET DEALER. AND FOR DRUG KINGPINS, THE DEATH
PENALTY. 1111
*** THE THIRD PART OF OUR STRATEGY CONCERNS DRUG
TREATMENT. EXPERTS BELIEVE THAT THERE ARE TWO MILLION
AMERICAN DRUG USERS WHO MAY BE ABLE TO GET OFF DRUGS
WITH PROPER TREATMENT. BUT RIGHT NOW, ONLY 40 PERCENT
OF THEM ARE ACTUALLY GETTING HELP. THIS IS SIMPLY NOT
GOOD ENOUGH.
- 14 -
slowlstop
MANY PEOPLE WHO NEED TREATMENT WON'T SEEK IT ON
OWN. AND SOME WHO DO SEEK IT ARE PUT ON A
Troyns
WAITING LIST. MOST PROGRAMS WERE SET UP TO DEAL WITH
HEROIN
ADDICTS
11 BUT TODAY, THE MAJOR PROBLEM IS
pauses. Needs
COCAINE USERS.
IT'S TIME WE EXPAND OUR TREATMENT
practice.
SYSTEMS AND DO A BETTER JOB OF PROVIDING SERVICES TO
THOSE WHO NEED THEM.
so TONIGHT, I'M PROPOSING AN INCREASE OF THREE
HUNDRED AND TWENTY-ONE MILLION DOLLARS IN FEDERAL
SPENDING ON DRUG TREATMENT. is underlined imprompter
WITH THIS STRATEGY, WE WILL DO MORE. WE WILL WORK
WITH THE STATES. WE WILL ENCOURAGE EMPLOYERS TO
ESTABLISH EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS TO COPE WITH
DRUG USE. AND, BECAUSE ADDICTION IS SUCH A CRUEL
INHERITANCE, WE WILL INTENSIFY OUR SEARCH FOR WAYS TO
HELP EXPECTANT MOTHERS WHO USE DRUGS.
A in pace
Date
slown 15 -
A VB
*** FOURTH, WE MUST STOP ILLEGAL DRUG USE BEFORE
IT STARTS. UNFORTUNATELY, IT BEGINS EARLY -- FOR MANY
KIDS, BEFORE THEIR TEENS. BUT IT DOESN'T START THE WAY
YOU MIGHT THINK, FROM A DEALER OR AN ADDICT HANGING
AROUND A SCHOOL PLAYGROUND. MORE OFTEN, OUR KIDS FIRST
GET THEIR DRUGS FREE, FROM FRIENDS, OR EVEN FROM OLDER
BROTHERS OR SISTERS. PEER PRESSURE SPREADS DRUG USE.
PEER PRESSURE CAN HELP STOP IT.
I AM PROPOSING A QUARTER-OF-A-BILLION-DOLLAR
INCREASE IN FEDERAL FUNDS FOR SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY
PREVENTION PROGRAMS THAT HELP YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULTS
REJECT ENTICEMENTS TO TRY DRUGS. 11 AND I'M PROPOSING
SOMETHING ELSE. 11 EVERY SCHOOL, COLLEGE AND
UNIVERSITY -- AND EVERY WORKPLACE -- MUST ADOPT TOUGH
BUT FAIR POLICIES ABOUT DRUG USE BY STUDENTS AND
EMPLOYEES. 11 THOSE THAT WILL NOT ADOPT SUCH POLICIES
WILL NOT GET FEDERAL FUNDS. PERIOD.
- 16 -
THE PRIVATE SECTOR ALSO HAS A ROLE TO PLAY. I
SPOKE WITH A BUSINESSMAN NAMED JIM BURKE WHO SAID HE
WAS HAUNTED BY THE THOUGHT -- A NIGHTMARE REALLY --
THAT SOMEWHERE IN AMERICA, AT ANY GIVEN MOMENT, THERE
IS A TEEN-AGE GIRL WHO SHOULD BE IN SCHOOL, INSTEAD OF
GIVING BIRTH TO A CHILD ADDICTED TO COCAINE. SO JIM
DID SOMETHING. HE LED AN ANTI-DRUG PARTNERSHIP,
FINANCED BY PRIVATE FUNDS, TO WORK WITH ADVERTISERS AND
MEDIA FIRMS. THEIR PARTNERSHIP IS NOW DETERMINED TO
WORK WITH OUR STRATEGY BY GENERATING A MILLION DOLLARS
WORTH OF AIRTIME EVERY DAY FOR THE NEXT THREE YEARS --
A BILLION DOLLARS TOTAL. THINK OF IT, A BILLION
DOLLARS OF TELEVISION TIME, ALL TO PROMOTE THE ANTI-
DRUG MESSAGE. IIII
AS PRESIDENT, ONE OF MY FIRST MISSIONS IS TO KEEP
THE NATIONAL FOCUS ON OUR OFFENSIVE AGAINST DRUGS. SO
NEXT WEEK I WILL TAKE THE ANTI-DRUG MESSAGE TO THE
CLASSROOMS OF AMERICA IN A SPECIAL TELEVISION ADDRESS,
ONE THAT I HOPE WILL REACH EVERY SCHOOL, EVERY YOUNG
AMERICAN. BUT DRUG EDUCATION DOESN'T BEGIN IN CLASS OR
ON T.V. IT MUST BEGIN AT HOME AND IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
PARENTS AND FAMILIES MUST SET THE FIRST EXAMPLE OF A
DRUG-FREE LIFE. AND WHEN FAMILIES ARE BROKEN, CARING
FRIENDS, AND NEIGHBORS MUST STEP IN. 1111
- 17 -
THESE ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENTS IN OUR
STRATEGY TO FIGHT DRUGS. THEY ARE ALL DESIGNED TO
REINFORCE ONE ANOTHER, TO MESH INTO A POWERFUL WHOLE.
TO MOUNT AN AGGRESSIVE ATTACK ON THE PROBLEM FROM EVERY
ANGLE. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME IN THE HISTORY OF OUR
COUNTRY, THAT WE TRULY HAVE A COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY.
AS YOU CAN TELL, SUCH AN APPROACH WILL NOT COME
CHEAPLY. LAST FEBRUARY, I ASKED FOR A SEVEN-HUNDRED-
MILLION DOLLAR INCREASE IN THE DRUG BUDGET FOR THE
COMING YEAR. OVER THE PAST SIX MONTHS OF CAREFUL
STUDY, WE HAVE FOUND AN IMMEDIATE NEED FOR ANOTHER
BILLION-AND-A-HALF DOLLARS. WITH THIS ADDED 2.2
BILLION, OUR 1990 DRUG BUDGET TOTALS ALMOST EIGHT
BILLION DOLLARS -- THE LARGEST INCREASE IN HISTORY.
- 18 -
WE NEED THIS PROGRAM FULLY IMPLEMENTED -- RIGHT
AWAY. 11 THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR BEGINS JUST 26 DAYS FROM
NOW. so TONIGHT I'M ASKING THE CONGRESS -- WHICH HAS
HELPED US FORMULATE THIS STRATEGY -- TO HELP US MOVE IT
FORWARD IMMEDIATELY.
WE CAN PAY FOR THIS FIGHT AGAINST DRUGS WITHOUT
RAISING TAXES OR ADDING TO THE BUDGET DEFICIT. WE HAVE
SUBMITTED OUR PLAN TO CONGRESS THAT SHOWS JUST HOW TO
FUND IT WITHIN THE LIMITS OF OUR BIPARTISAN BUDGET
AGREEMENT.
I KNOW SOME WILL STILL SAY THAT WE ARE NOT
SPENDING ENOUGH MONEY. BUT THOSE WHO JUDGE OUR
STRATEGY ONLY BY ITS PRICE TAG, SIMPLY DON'T UNDERSTAND
THE PROBLEM. LET'S FACE IT, WE'VE ALL SEEN IN THE PAST
THAT MONEY ALONE WON'T SOLVE OUR TOUGHEST PROBLEMS.
TO BE STRONG AND EFFICIENT, OUR STRATEGY NEEDS
THESE FUNDS. BUT THERE IS NO MATCH FOR A UNITED
AMERICA, A DETERMINED AMERICA, AN ANGRY AMERICA. OUR
OUTRAGE AGAINST DRUGS UNITES US, BRINGS US TOGETHER
BEHIND THIS ONE PLAN OF ACTION, 11 AN ASSAULT ON EVERY
FRONT.
- 19 -
THIS IS THE TOUGHEST DOMESTIC CHALLENGE WE'VE
FACED IN DECADES. AND IT IS A CHALLENGE WE MUST
FACE -- NOT AS DEMOCRATS OR REPUBLICANS, LIBERALS OR
CONSERVATIVES -- BUT AS AMERICANS. THE KEY IS A
COORDINATED, UNITED EFFORT. WE HAVE RESPONDED
FAITHFULLY TO THE REQUEST OF THE CONGRESS TO PRODUCE
OUR NATION'S FIRST NATIONAL DRUG STRATEGY. I'LL BE
LOOKING TO THE DEMOCRATIC MAJORITY AND OUR REPUBLICANS
IN CONGRESS FOR LEADERSHIP AND BIPARTISAN SUPPORT. AND
OUR CITIZENS DESERVE COOPERATION, NOT COMPETITION; A
NATIONAL EFFORT, NOT A PARTISAN BIDDING WAR.
TO START, CONGRESS NEEDS NOT ONLY TO ACT ON THIS
NATIONAL DRUG STRATEGY, BUT ALSO TO ACT ON OUR CRIME
PACKAGE ANNOUNCED LAST MAY; A PACKAGE TO TOUGHEN
SENTENCES, BEEF UP LAW ENFORCEMENT AND BUILD NEW
PRISION SPACE FOR 24,000 INMATES.
11 YOU AND I BOTH KNOW THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
CAN'T DO IT ALONE. THE STATES NEED TO MATCH TOUGHER
FEDERAL LAWS WITH TOUGHER LAWS OF THEIR OWN -- STIFFER
BAIL, PROBATION, PAROLE AND SENTENCING.
- 20 -
AND WE NEED YOUR HELP. IF PEOPLE YOU KNOW ARE
AA
USERS, HELP THEM KIDD GET OFF DRUGS. IF YOU ARE A PARENT,
TALK TO YOUR CHILDREN ABOUT DRUGS -- TONIGHT.
CALL YOUR LOCAL DRUG PREVENTION PROGRAM. BE A BIG
BROTHER OR SISTER TO A CHILD IN NEED. PITCH IN WITH
YOUR LOCAL NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH PROGRAM. WHETHER YOU
GIVE YOUR TIME OR TALENT, EVERYONE COUNTS.
\/\/
EVERY EMPLOYER WHO BANS DRUGS FROM THE WORKPLACE.
EVERY SCHOOL THAT'S TOUGH ON DRUG USE.
EVERY NEIGHBORHOOD IN WHICH DRUGS ARE NOT WELCOME.
\/\/
AND MOST IMPORTANT, EVERY ONE OF YOU WHO REFUSES
TO LOOK THE OTHER WAY. EVERY ONE OF YOU COUNTS.
OF COURSE, VICTORY WILL TAKE HARD WORK AND TIME.
BUT TOGETHER WE WILL WIN - -- TOO MANY YOUNG LIVES ARE AT
STAKE. 1111
- 21 -
/\/\
NOT LONG AGO, I READ A NEWSPAPER STORY ABOUT A
LITTLE BOY NAMED DOONEY, WHO, UNTIL RECENTLY, LIVED IN
A CRACK HOUSE IN A SUBURB OF WASHINGTON, D.C. IN
DOONEY'S NEIGHBORHOOD, CHILDREN DON'T FLINCH AT THE
SOUND OF GUNFIRE. AND WHEN THEY PLAY, THEY PRETEND TO
SELL TO EACH OTHER SMALL WHITE ROCKS THEY CALL CRACK.
LIFE AT HOME WAS SO CRUEL THAT DOONEY BEGGED HIS
TEACHERS TO LET HIM SLEEP ON THE FLOOR AT SCHOOL. AND,
WHEN ASKED ABOUT HIS FUTURE, 6-YEAR-OLD DOONEY ANSWERS:
"I DON'T WANT TO SELL DRUGS, BUT I WILL PROBABLY HAVE
TO." ((PAUSE)) 1111
11
WELL, DOONEY DOES NOT HAVE TO SELL DRUGS. NO
CHILD IN AMERICA SHOULD HAVE TO LIVE LIKE THIS.
TOGETHER, AS A PEOPLE, WE CAN SAVE THESE KIDS. WE
HAVE ALREADY TRANSFORMED A NATIONAL ATTITUDE OF
TOLERANCE INTO ONE OF CONDEMNATION. BUT THE WAR ON
DRUGS WILL BE HARD-WON, NEIGHBORHOOD BY NEIGHBORHOOD,
BLOCK BY BLOCK, CHILD BY CHILD. 11
- 22 -
IF WE FIGHT THIS WAR AS A DIVIDED NATION, THEN THE
WAR IS LOST. ((PICK UP DRUGS, HOLD IT IN FRONT OF
YOU)) BUT, IF WE FACE THIS EVIL AS A NATION UNITED,
THIS WILL BE NOTHING BUT A HANDFUL OF USELESS
CHEMICALS. ((SET VIAL DOWN, OFF CAMERA))
VICTORY ... ((PAUSE)) VICTORY OVER DRUGS IS
OUR CAUSE, A JUST CAUSE, AND WITH YOUR HELP, WE ARE
GOING TO WIN.
THANK YOU, GOD BLESS YOU AND GOOD NIGHT.
###
MEMORANDUM
OF CALL
Previous editions usable
TO:
C
YOU WERE CALLED BY-
YOU WERE VISITED BY-
Jim Burke
OF (Organization)
PLEASE PHONE
FTS
AUTOVON
516/537-3456 IS WAITING TO SEE YOU
WILL CALL AGAIN
RETURNED YOUR CALL
WISHES AN APPOINTMENT
MESSAGE
RECEIVED BY
DATE
TIME
9/c
3:00
63-110 NSN 7540-00-634-4018 STANDARD FORM 63 (Rev. 8-81)
* U.S. GPO: 1988 - 201-759
Prescribed by GSA
FPMR (41 CFR) 101-11.6
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS ON DRUGS: ALL NETWORKS
TUESDAY, SEPT. 5/9 P.M.
((GOOD EVENING.) )
THIS IS THE FIRST TIME SINCE TAKING THE OATH OF
OFFICE THAT I FELT AN ISSUE WAS so IMPORTANT, SO
THREATENING, THAT IT WARRANTED TALKING DIRECTLY WITH
YOU, THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. ALL OF US AGREE THAT THE
GRAVEST DOMESTIC THREAT FACING OUR NATION TODAY IS
DRUGS.
DRUGS HAVE STRAINED OUR FAITH IN OUR SYSTEM OF
JUSTICE. OUR COURTS, OUR PRISONS, OUR LEGAL SYSTEM ARE
STRETCHED TO THE BREAKING POINT. THE SOCIAL COSTS OF
DRUGS ARE MOUNTING. IN SHORT, DRUGS ARE SAPPING OUR
STRENGTH AS A NATION.
TURN ON THE EVENING NEWS, OR PICK UP THE MORNING
PAPER AND YOU'LL SEE WHAT SOME AMERICANS KNOW JUST BY
STEPPING OUT THEIR FRONT DOOR: OUR MOST SERIOUS PROBLEM
TODAY IS COCAINE, AND IN PARTICULAR, CRACK.
- 2 -
WHO'S RESPONSIBLE? -- LET ME TELL YOU STRAIGHT
OUT.
EVERYONE WHO USES DRUGS.
EVERYONE WHO SELLS DRUGS.
AND EVERYONE 11 WHO LOOKS THE OTHER WAY.
TONIGHT, I WILL TELL YOU HOW MANY AMERICANS ARE
USING ILLEGAL DRUGS. I WILL PRESENT TO YOU OUR
NATIONAL STRATEGY TO DEAL WITH EVERY ASPECT OF THIS
THREAT. AND I WILL ASK YOU TO GET INVOLVED IN WHAT
PROMISES TO BE A VERY DIFFICULT FIGHT.
(PICK UP DRUGS)) THIS IS CRACK COCAINE SEIZED A
FEW DAYS AGO BY DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION AGENTS
IN A PARK JUST ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE WHITE HOUSE.
IT COULD EASILY HAVE BEEN HEROIN OR PCP. IT'S AS
INNOCENT LOOKING AS CANDY, BUT IT IS TURNING OUR CITIES
INTO BATTLE ZONES, AND IT IS MURDERING OUR CHILDREN.
LET THERE BE NO MISTAKE, THIS STUFF IS POISON. ((SET
DRUGS DOWN.)) TOWEL
- 3 -
SOME USED TO CALL DRUGS HARMLESS RECREATION. 11
THEY'RE NOT. DRUGS ARE A REAL AND TERRIBLY DANGEROUS
THREAT TO OUR NEIGHBORHOODS, OUR FRIENDS AND OUR
FAMILIES.
NO ONE AMONG US IS OUT OF HARM'S WAY. WHEN FOUR-
YEAR-OLDS PLAY IN PLAYGROUNDS STREWN WITH DISCARDED
HYPODERMIC NEEDLES AND CRACK VIALS -- IT BREAKS MY
HEART. WHEN COCAINE -- ONE OF THE MOST DEADLY AND
ADDICTIVE ILLEGAL DRUGS -- IS AVAILABLE TO SCHOOL KIDS
-- SCHOOL KIDS -- IT'S AN OUTRAGE. AND WHEN HUNDREDS
OF THOUSANDS OF BABIES ARE BORN EACH YEAR TO MOTHERS
WHO USE DRUGS -- PREMATURE BABIES BORN DESPERATELY SICK
-- THEN EVEN THE MOST DEFENSELESS AMONG US ARE AT RISK.
- 4 -
/\/\
THESE ARE THE TRAGEDIES BEHIND THE STATISTICS.
BUT THE NUMBERS ALSO HAVE QUITE A STORY TO TELL. LET
ME SHARE WITH YOU THE RESULTS OF THE RECENTLY COMPLETED
HOUSEHOLD SURVEY OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG
ABUSE. IT COMPARES RECENT DRUG USE TO THREE YEARS AGO.
IT TELLS US SOME GOOD NEWS III AND, SOME VERY BAD
NEWS. FIRST, THE GOOD. (CAMERA CUTS TO SLIDE ONE.))
((PAUSE))
AS YOU CAN SEE IN THE CHART, IN 1985, THE
GOVERNMENT ESTIMATED THAT 23 MILLION AMERICANS WERE
USING DRUGS ON A "CURRENT" BASIS -- THAT IS, AT LEAST
ONCE IN THE PRECEDING MONTH. LAST YEAR, THAT NUMBER
FELL BY MORE THAN A THIRD. THAT MEANS ALMOST NINE
MILLION FEWER AMERICANS ARE CASUAL DRUG USERS. 11 GOOD
NEWS. ((CAMERA BACK TO PRESIDENT.) )
- 5 -
BECAUSE WE CHANGED OUR NATIONAL ATTITUDE TOWARD
DRUGS, CASUAL DRUG USE HAS DECLINED. WE HAVE MANY TO
THANK: OUR BRAVE LAW-ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS, RELIGIOUS
LEADERS, TEACHERS, COMMUNITY ACTIVISTS, AND LEADERS OF
BUSINESS AND LABOR. 11 WE SHOULD ALSO THANK THE MEDIA
THEIR AYIME AND SPACE FOR
FOR THEIR EXHAUSTIVE NEWS AND EDITORIAL COVERAGEX AND, FOR
ADVERTISERS FOR RUNNING ANTI-DRUG MESSAGES. 11
FINALLY, I WANT TO THANK PRESIDENT AND MRS. REAGAN FOR
THEIR LEADERSHIP. \ ALL OF THESE GOOD PEOPLE TOLD THE
TRUTH -- THAT DRUG USE IS WRONG AND DANGEROUS.
BUT, AS MUCH COMFORT AS WE CAN DRAW FROM THESE
DRAMATIC REDUCTIONS, THERE IS ALSO BAD NEWS -- VERY BAD
NEWS. III ROUGHLY EIGHT MILLION PEOPLE HAVE USED
COCAINE IN THE PAST YEAR ALMOST ONE MILLION OF THEM
USED IT FREQUENTLY 11 ONCE A WEEK OR MORE.
- 6 -
(CAMERA TO SLIDE TWO))
WHAT THIS MEANS IS THAT, IN SPITE OF THE FACT THAT
OVERALL COCAINE USE IS DOWN, FREQUENT USE HAS ALMOST
DOUBLED IN THE LAST FEW YEARS. AND THAT'S WHY HABITUAL
COCAINE USERS -- ESPECIALLY CRACK USERS ARE THE MOST
PRESSING, IMMEDIATE DRUG PROBLEM. ((PAUSE)) ((RETURN
TO PRESIDENT.)
\/\/
WHAT, THEN, IS OUR PLAN? 11 TO BEGIN WITH, I
TRUST THE LESSON OF EXPERIENCE: NO SINGLE POLICY WILL
CUT IT, NO MATTER HOW GLAMOROUS OR MAGICAL IT MAY
SOUND. TO WIN THE WAR AGAINST ADDICTIVE DRUGS LIKE
CRACK WILL TAKE MORE THAN JUST A FEDERAL STRATEGY. IT
WILL TAKE A NATIONAL STRATEGY, ONE THAT REACHES INTO
EVERY SCHOOL, EVERY WORKPLACE, INVOLVING EVERY FAMILY.
- 7 -
EARLIER TODAY, I SENT THIS DOCUMENT, ((HOLD UP RED
BOOK)) OUR FIRST SUCH NATIONAL STRATEGY TO THE
CONGRESS. IT WAS DEVELOPED WITH THE HARD WORK OF OUR
NATION'S FIRST DRUG POLICY DIRECTOR, BILL BENNETT.
((PUT BOOK DOWN) ) /\/\ IN PREPARING THIS PLAN, WE
TALKED WITH STATE, LOCAL AND COMMUNITY LEADERS, LAW
ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS AND EXPERTS IN EDUCATION, DRUG
PREVENTION, AND REHABILITATION. WE TALKED WITH PARENTS
AND KIDS. WE TOOK A LONG HARD LOOK AT ALL THAT THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS DONE ABOUT DRUGS IN THE PAST:
WHAT'S WORKED, AND -- LET'S BE HONEST -- WHAT HASN'T.
TOO OFTEN, PEOPLE IN GOVERNMENT ACTED AS IF THEIR PART
OF THE PROBLEM -- WHETHER FIGHTING DRUG PRODUCTION, OR
DRUG SMUGGLING, OR DRUG DEMAND --WAS THE ONLY PROBLEM.
BUT TURF BATTLES WON'T WIN THIS WAR. III TEAMWORK
WILL.
TONIGHT, I'M ANNOUNCING A STRATEGY THAT REFLECTS
THE COORDINATED, COOPERATIVE COMMITMENT OF ALL FEDERAL
AGENCIES. 11 IN SHORT, THIS PLAN IS AS COMPREHENSIVE
AS THE PROBLEM. WITH THIS STRATEGY, WE NOW FINALLY
HAVE A PLAN THAT COORDINATES OUR RESOURCES, OUR
PROGRAMS AND THE PEOPLE WHO RUN THEM.
- 8 -
OUR WEAPONS IN THIS STRATEGY ARE: THE LAW AND
CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM; OUR FOREIGN POLICY; OUR
TREATMENT SYSTEMS, AND OUR SCHOOLS AND DRUG PREVENTION
PROGRAMS. so THE BASIC WEAPONS WE NEED ARE THE ONES WE
ALREADY HAVE. WHAT HAS BEEN LACKING IS A STRATEGY TO
EFFECTIVELY USE THEM. 1111
LET ME ADDRESS FOUR OF THE MAJOR ELEMENTS OF OUR
STRATEGY.
*** FIRST, WE ARE DETERMINED TO ENFORCE THE LAW,
TO MAKE OUR STREETS AND NEIGHBORHOODS SAFE. so TO
START, I'M PROPOSING THAT WE MORE THAN DOUBLE FEDERAL
ASSISTANCE TO STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT.
AMERICANS HAVE A RIGHT TO SAFETY IN AND AROUND THEIR
HOMES.
At form bash
Invales - slow
- 9 -
AND WE WON'T HAVE SAFE NEIGHBORHOODS UNLESS WE ARE
TOUGH ON DRUG CRIMINALS -- MUCH TOUGHER THAN WE ARE
NOW. SOMETIMES THAT MEANS TOUGHER PENALTIES. BUT MORE
OFTEN IT JUST MEANS PUNISHMENT THAT IS SWIFT AND
CERTAIN. WE'VE ALL HEARD STORIES ABOUT DRUG DEALERS
WHO ARE CAUGHT AND ARRESTED -- AGAIN AND AGAIN -- BUT
NEVER PUNISHED. 111 WELL, HERE THE RULES HAVE
CHANGED: IF YOU SELL DRUGS, YOU WILL BE CAUGHT. AND
WHEN YOU'RE CAUGHT, YOU WILL BE PROSECUTED. AND ONCE
YOU'RE CONVICTED, YOU WILL DO TIME. CAUGHT.
PROSECUTED. PUNISHED. 1111
/\/\
I AM ALSO PROPOSING THAT WE ENLARGE OUR CRIMINAL
JUSTICE SYSTEM ACROSS THE BOARD -- AT THE LOCAL, STATE
AND FEDERAL LEVELS ALIKE. WE NEED MORE PRISONS, MORE
JAILS, MORE COURTS, MORE PROSECUTORS. so TONIGHT, I'M
REQUESTING -- ALTOGETHER -- AN ALMOST BILLION-AND-A-
HALF DOLLAR INCREASE IN DRUG-RELATED FEDERAL SPENDING
ON LAW ENFORCEMENT.
- 10 -
AND WHILE ILLEGAL DRUG USE IS FOUND IN EVERY
COMMUNITY, NOWHERE IS IT WORSE THAN IN OUR PUBLIC
HOUSING PROJECTS. YOU KNOW, THE POOR HAVE NEVER HAD IT
EASY IN THIS WORLD. BUT IN THE PAST, THEY WEREN'T
MUGGED ON THE WAY HOME FROM WORK BY CRACK GANGS. AND
THEIR CHILDREN DIDN'T HAVE TO DODGE BULLETS ON THE WAY
TO SCHOOL. THAT IS WHY I'M TARGETING FIFTY-MILLION
DOLLARS TO FIGHT CRIME IN PUBLIC HOUSING PROJECTS -- TO
HELP RESTORE ORDER, AND TO KICK OUT THE DEALERS FOR
GOOD.
- 11 -
*** THE SECOND ELEMENT OF OUR STRATEGY LOOKS
BEYOND OUR BORDERS, WHERE THE COCAINE AND CRACK, BOUGHT
ON AMERICA'S STREETS, IS GROWN AND PROCESSED. IN
COLOMBIA ALONE, COCAINE KILLERS HAVE GUNNED DOWN A
LEADING STATESMAN, MURDERED ALMOST TWO HUNDRED JUDGES
AND SEVEN MEMBERS OF THEIR SUPREME COURT. THE BESIEGED
GOVERNMENTS OF THE DRUG-PRODUCING COUNTRIES ARE
FIGHTING BACK, FIGHTING TO BREAK THE INTERNATIONAL DRUG
RINGS. BUT YOU AND I AGREE WITH THE COURAGEOUS
PRESIDENT OF COLOMBIA, VIRGILIO ((VEER-HEEL-LEO))
BARCO, WHO SAID THAT IF AMERICANS USE COCAINE, THEN
AMERICANS ARE PAYING 11 FOR MURDER. 11 AMERICAN
COCAINE USERS NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT OUR NATION HAS
ZERO TOLERANCE FOR CASUAL DRUG USE. WE HAVE A
RESPONSIBILITY NOT TO LEAVE OUR BRAVE FRIENDS IN
COLOMBIA TO FIGHT ALONE.
THE SIXTY-FIVE-MILLION DOLLAR EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE
ANNOUNCED TWO WEEKS AGO WAS JUST OUR FIRST STEP IN
ASSISTING THE ANDEAN NATIONS IN THEIR FIGHT AGAINST THE
COCAINE CARTELS. COLOMBIA HAS ALREADY ARRESTED
SUPPLIERS, SEIZED TONS OF COCAINE AND CONFISCATED
PALATIAL HOMES OF DRUG LORDS. BUT COLOMBIA FACES A
LONG, UPHILL BATTLE, SO WE MUST BE READY TO DO MORE.
- 12 -
OUR STRATEGY ALLOCATES MORE THAN A QUARTER OF A
BILLION DOLLARS FOR NEXT YEAR IN MILITARY AND LAW
ENFORCEMENT ASSISTANCE FOR THE THREE ANDEAN NATIONS OF
COLOMBIA, BOLIVIA AND PERU. THIS WILL BE THE FIRST
PART OF A FIVE-YEAR, TWO-BILLION DOLLAR PROGRAM TO
COUNTER THE PRODUCERS, THE TRAFFICKERS AND THE
SMUGGLERS.
I SPOKE WITH PRESIDENT BARCO LAST WEEK, AND WE
HOPE TO MEET WITH THE LEADERS OF AFFECTED COUNTRIES IN
AN UNPRECEDENTED DRUG SUMMIT, ALL TO COORDINATE AN
INTER-AMERICAN STRATEGY AGAINST THE CARTELS. WE WILL
WORK WITH OUR ALLIES AND FRIENDS -- ESPECIALLY OUR
ECONOMIC SUMMIT PARTNERS -- TO DO MORE IN THE FIGHT
AGAINST DRUGS. I'M ALSO ASKING THE SENATE TO RATIFY
THE U.N. ANTI-DRUG CONVENTION CONCLUDED LAST DECEMBER.
TO STOP THOSE DRUGS ON THE WAY TO AMERICA, I
PROPOSE THAT WE SPEND MORE THAN A BILLION-AND-A-HALF
DOLLARS ON INTERDICTION. 11 GREATER INTERAGENCY
SOPHISTICATED SOPHISTICATTED-INTTERLIGENKE- GATHERIMGE, INTELLIGENCE -
COOPERATION, COMBINED WITH DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
TECHNOLOGY CAN HELP STOP DRUGS AT OUR BORDERS.
- 13 -
OUR MESSAGE TO THE DRUG CARTELS IS THIS: 11 THE
RULES HAVE CHANGED. 11 WE WILL HELP ANY GOVERNMENT
THAT WANTS OUR HELP. WHEN REQUESTED, WE WILL FOR THE
FIRST TIME MAKE AVAILABLE THE APPROPRIATE RESOURCES OF
AMERICA'S ARMED FORCES. WE WILL INTENSIFY OUR EFFORTS
AGAINST DRUG SMUGGLERS ON THE HIGH SEAS, IN
INTERNATIONAL AIRSPACE AND AT OUR BORDERS. WE WILL
STOP THE FLOW OF CHEMICALS FROM THE UNITED STATES USED
TO PROCESS DRUGS. WE WILL PURSUE AND ENFORCE
INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS TO TRACK DRUG MONEY TO THE
FRONT MEN AND FINANCIERS. AND THEN WE WILL HANDCUFF
THESE MONEY LAUNDERERS, AND JAIL THEM -- JUST LIKE ANY
STREET DEALER. AND FOR DRUG KINGPINS, THE DEATH
PENALTY.
*** THE THIRD PART OF OUR STRATEGY CONCERNS DRUG
TREATMENT. EXPERTS BELIEVE THAT THERE ARE TWO MILLION
AMERICAN DRUG USERS WHO MAY BE ABLE TO GET OFF DRUGS
WITH PROPER TREATMENT. BUT RIGHT NOW, ONLY 40 PERCENT
OF THEM ARE ACTUALLY GETTING HELP. THIS IS SIMPLY NOT
GOOD ENOUGH.
- 14 -
MANY PEOPLE WHO NEED TREATMENT WON'T SEEK IT ON
THEIR OWN. AND SOME WHO DO SEEK IT ARE PUT ON A
WAITING LIST. MOST PROGRAMS WERE SET UP TO DEAL WITH
HEROIN ADDICTS, 11 BUT TODAY, THE MAJOR PROBLEM IS
COCAINE USERS. IT'S TIME WE EXPAND OUR TREATMENT
SYSTEMS AND DO A BETTER JOB OF PROVIDING SERVICES TO
THOSE WHO NEED THEM.
so TONIGHT, I'M PROPOSING AN INCREASE OF THREE
HUNDRED AND TWENTY-ONE MILLION DOLLARS IN FEDERAL
SPENDING ON DRUG TREATMENT.
WITH THIS STRATEGY, WE WILL DO MORE. WE WILL WORK
WITH THE STATES. WE WILL ENCOURAGE EMPLOYERS TO
ESTABLISH EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS TO COPE WITH
DRUG USE. AND, BECAUSE ADDICTION IS SUCH A CRUEL
INHERITANCE, WE WILL INTENSIFY OUR SEARCH FOR WAYS TO
HELP EXPECTANT MOTHERS WHO USE DRUGS.
- 15 -
ISR
*** FOURTH, WE MUST STOP ILLEGAL DRUG USE BEFORE
IT STARTS. UNFORTUNATELY, IT BEGINS EARLY -- FOR MANY
KIDS, BEFORE THEIR TEENS. BUT IT DOESN'T START THE WAY
YOU MIGHT THINK, FROM A DEALER OR AN ADDICT HANGING
AROUND A SCHOOL PLAYGROUND. MORE OFTEN, OUR KIDS FIRST
GET THEIR DRUGS FREE, FROM FRIENDS, OR EVEN FROM OLDER
BROTHERS OR SISTERS. PEER PRESSURE SPREADS DRUG USE.
PEER PRESSURE CAN HELP STOP IT.
I AM PROPOSING A QUARTER-OF-A-BILLION-DOLLAR
INCREASE IN FEDERAL FUNDS FOR SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY
PREVENTION PROGRAMS THAT HELP YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULTS
REJECT ENTICEMENTS TO TRY DRUGS. 11 AND I'M PROPOSING
SOMETHING ELSE. 11 EVERY SCHOOL, COLLEGE AND
UNIVERSITY -- AND EVERY WORKPLACE -- MUST ADOPT TOUGH
BUT FAIR POLICIES ABOUT DRUG USE BY STUDENTS AND
EMPLOYEES. 11 THOSE THAT WILL NOT ADOPT SUCH POLICIES
WILL NOT GET FEDERAL FUNDS. PERIOD.
- 16 -
THE PRIVATE SECTOR ALSO HAS A ROLE TO PLAY. I
SPOKE WITH A BUSINESSMAN NAMED JIM BURKE WHO SAID HE
WAS HAUNTED BY THE THOUGHT -- A NIGHTMARE REALLY --
THAT SOMEWHERE IN AMERICA, AT ANY GIVEN MOMENT, THERE
IS A TEEN-AGE GIRL WHO SHOULD BE IN SCHOOL, INSTEAD OF
GIVING BIRTH TO A CHILD ADDICTED TO COCAINE. SO JIM
DID SOMETHING. HE LED AN ANTI-DRUG PARTNERSHIP,
FINANCED BY PRIVATE FUNDS, TO WORK WITH ADVERTISERS AND
MEDIA FIRMS. THEIR PARTNERSHIP IS NOW DETERMINED TO
cducationalwessnse worth
WORK WITH OUR STRATEGY BY GENERATING A MILLION DOLLARS day
WORTH OF AIRTIME EVERY DAY FOR THE NEXT THREE YEARS
WORTH of ADVERTISING
A BILLION DOLLARS TOTAL. THINK OF IT, A BILLION
DOLLARS OF TELEVISION TIME, ALL TO PROMOTE THE ANTI-
DRUG MESSAGE. IIII
AS PRESIDENT, ONE OF MY FIRST MISSIONS IS TO KEEP
THE NATIONAL FOCUS ON OUR OFFENSIVE AGAINST DRUGS. SO
NEXT WEEK I WILL TAKE THE ANTI-DRUG MESSAGE TO THE
CLASSROOMS OF AMERICA IN A SPECIAL TELEVISION ADDRESS,
ONE THAT I HOPE WILL REACH EVERY SCHOOL, EVERY YOUNG
AMERICAN. BUT DRUG EDUCATION DOESN'T BEGIN IN CLASS OR
ON T.V. IT MUST BEGIN AT HOME AND IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
PARENTS AND FAMILIES MUST SET THE FIRST EXAMPLE OF A
DRUG-FREE LIFE. AND WHEN FAMILIES ARE BROKEN, CARING
FRIENDS, AND NEIGHBORS MUST STEP IN. 1111
- 17 -
THESE ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENTS IN OUR
STRATEGY TO FIGHT DRUGS. THEY ARE ALL DESIGNED TO
REINFORCE ONE ANOTHER, TO MESH INTO A POWERFUL WHOLE.
TO MOUNT AN AGGRESSIVE ATTACK ON THE PROBLEM FROM EVERY
ANGLE. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME IN THE HISTORY OF OUR
COUNTRY, THAT WE TRULY HAVE A COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY.
AS YOU CAN TELL, SUCH AN APPROACH WILL NOT COME
CHEAPLY. LAST FEBRUARY, I ASKED FOR A SEVEN-HUNDRED-
MILLION DOLLAR INCREASE IN THE DRUG BUDGET FOR THE
COMING YEAR. OVER THE PAST SIX MONTHS OF CAREFUL
STUDY, WE HAVE FOUND AN IMMEDIATE NEED FOR ANOTHER
BILLION-AND-A-HALF DOLLARS. WITH THIS ADDED 2.2
BILLION, OUR 1990 DRUG BUDGET TOTALS ALMOST EIGHT
BILLION DOLLARS -- THE LARGEST INCREASE IN HISTORY.
- 18 -
WE NEED THIS PROGRAM FULLY IMPLEMENTED -- RIGHT
AWAY. 11 THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR BEGINS JUST 26 DAYS FROM
NOW. SO TONIGHT I'M ASKING THE CONGRESS -- WHICH HAS
HELPED US FORMULATE THIS STRATEGY -- TO HELP US MOVE IT
FORWARD IMMEDIATELY.
WE CAN PAY FOR THIS FIGHT AGAINST DRUGS WITHOUT
RAISING TAXES OR ADDING TO THE BUDGET DEFICIT. WE HAVE
SUBMITTED OUR PLAN TO CONGRESS THAT SHOWS JUST HOW TO
FUND IT WITHIN THE LIMITS OF OUR BIPARTISAN BUDGET
AGREEMENT.
I KNOW SOME WILL STILL SAY THAT WE ARE NOT
SPENDING ENOUGH MONEY. BUT THOSE WHO JUDGE OUR
STRATEGY ONLY BY ITS PRICE TAG, SIMPLY DON'T UNDERSTAND
THE PROBLEM. LET'S FACE IT, WE'VE ALL SEEN IN THE PAST
THAT MONEY ALONE WON'T SOLVE OUR TOUGHEST PROBLEMS.
TO BE STRONG AND EFFICIENT, OUR STRATEGY NEEDS
THESE FUNDS. BUT THERE IS NO MATCH FOR A UNITED
AMERICA, A DETERMINED AMERICA, AN ANGRY AMERICA. OUR
OUTRAGE AGAINST DRUGS UNITES US, BRINGS US TOGETHER
BEHIND THIS ONE PLAN OF ACTION, 11 AN ASSAULT ON EVERY
FRONT.
- 19 -
THIS IS THE TOUGHEST DOMESTIC CHALLENGE WE'VE
FACED IN DECADES. AND IT IS A CHALLENGE WE MUST
FACE -- NOT AS DEMOCRATS OR REPUBLICANS, LIBERALS OR
CONSERVATIVES -- BUT AS AMERICANS. THE KEY IS A
COORDINATED, UNITED EFFORT. WE HAVE RESPONDED
FAITHFULLY TO THE REQUEST OF THE CONGRESS TO PRODUCE
OUR NATION'S FIRST NATIONAL DRUG STRATEGY. I'LL BE
LOOKING TO THE DEMOCRATIC MAJORITY AND OUR REPUBLICANS
IN CONGRESS FOR LEADERSHIP AND BIPARTISAN SUPPORT. AND
OUR CITIZENS DESERVE COOPERATION, NOT COMPETITION; A
NATIONAL EFFORT, NOT A PARTISAN BIDDING WAR.
TO START, CONGRESS NEEDS NOT ONLY TO ACT ON THIS
NATIONAL DRUG STRATEGY, BUT ALSO TO ACT ON OUR CRIME
PACKAGE ANNOUNCED LAST MAY; A PACKAGE TO TOUGHEN
SENTENCES, BEEF UP LAW ENFORCEMENT AND BUILD NEW
PRISION SPACE FOR 24,000 INMATES.
11 YOU AND I BOTH KNOW THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
CAN'T DO IT ALONE. THE STATES NEED TO MATCH TOUGHER
FEDERAL LAWS WITH TOUGHER LAWS OF THEIR OWN -- STIFFER
BAIL, PROBATION, PAROLE AND SENTENCING.
- 20 - -
AND WE NEED YOUR HELP. IF PEOPLE YOU KNOW ARE
A
USERS, HELP THEM GET OFF DRUGS. IF YOU ARE A PARENT,
KIDS
TALK TO YOUR CHILDREN ABOUT DRUGS -- TONIGHT.
CALL YOUR LOCAL DRUG PREVENTION PROGRAM. BE A BIG
BROTHER OR SISTER TO A CHILD IN NEED. PITCH IN WITH
YOUR LOCAL NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH PROGRAM. WHETHER YOU
GIVE YOUR TIME OR TALENT, EVERYONE COUNTS.
\/\/
EVERY EMPLOYER WHO BANS DRUGS FROM THE WORKPLACE.
EVERY SCHOOL THAT'S TOUGH ON DRUG USE.
EVERY NEIGHBORHOOD IN WHICH DRUGS ARE NOT WELCOME.
\/\/
AND MOST IMPORTANT, EVERY ONE OF YOU WHO REFUSES
TO LOOK THE OTHER WAY. EVERY ONE OF YOU COUNTS.
OF COURSE, VICTORY WILL TAKE HARD WORK AND TIME.
BUT TOGETHER WE WILL WIN -- -- TOO MANY YOUNG LIVES ARE AT
STAKE. 1111
- 21 -
/\/\
NOT LONG AGO, I READ A NEWSPAPER STORY ABOUT A
LITTLE BOY NAMED DOONEY, WHO, UNTIL RECENTLY, LIVED IN
A CRACK HOUSE IN A SUBURB OF WASHINGTON, D.C. IN
DOONEY'S NEIGHBORHOOD, CHILDREN DON'T FLINCH AT THE
SOUND OF GUNFIRE. AND WHEN THEY PLAY, THEY PRETEND TO
SELL TO EACH OTHER SMALL WHITE ROCKS THEY CALL CRACK.
LIFE AT HOME WAS SO CRUEL THAT DOONEY BEGGED HIS
TEACHERS TO LET HIM SLEEP ON THE FLOOR AT SCHOOL. AND,
WHEN ASKED ABOUT HIS FUTURE, 6-YEAR-OLD DOONEY ANSWERS:
"I DON'T WANT TO SELL DRUGS, BUT I WILL PROBABLY HAVE
TO." ((PAUSE)) 1111
WELL, DOONEY DOES NOT HAVE TO SELL DRUGS. NO
CHILD IN AMERICA SHOULD HAVE TO LIVE LIKE THIS.
TOGETHER, AS A PEOPLE, WE CAN SAVE THESE KIDS. WE
HAVE ALREADY TRANSFORMED A NATIONAL ATTITUDE OF
TOLERANCE INTO ONE OF CONDEMNATION. BUT THE WAR ON
DRUGS WILL BE HARD-WON, NEIGHBORHOOD BY NEIGHBORHOOD,
BLOCK BY BLOCK, CHILD BY CHILD. 11
- 22 -
IF WE FIGHT THIS WAR AS A DIVIDED NATION, THEN THE
WAR IS LOST. (PICK UP DRUGS, HOLD IT IN FRONT OF
YOU) ) BUT, IF WE FACE THIS EVIL AS A NATION UNITED,
THIS WILL BE NOTHING BUT A HANDFUL OF USELESS
CHEMICALS. ((SET VIAL DOWN, OFF CAMERA))
VICTORY ((PAUSE)) VICTORY OVER DRUGS IS
OUR CAUSE, A JUST CAUSE, AND WITH YOUR HELP, WE ARE
GOING TO WIN.
THANK YOU, GOD BLESS YOU AND GOOD NIGHT.
###
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE
UNTIL 9:00 P.M. EDT
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1989
PRESIDENT'S NATIONAL DRUG POLICY ADDRESS
The Oval Office
September 5, 1989
This is the first time since taking the oath of office that I
felt an issue was so important, so threatening, that it warranted
talking directly with you, the American people. All of us agree
that the gravest domestic threat facing our Nation today is
drugs.
Drugs have strained our faith in our system of justice. Our
courts, our prisons, our legal system are stretched to the
breaking point. The social costs of drugs are mounting. In
short, drugs are sapping our strength as a nation.
Turn on the evening news, or pick up the morning paper and you'll
see what some Americans know just by stepping out their front
door: Our most serious problem today is cocaine, and in
particular, crack.
Who's responsible? Let me tell you straight out.
Everyone who uses drugs.
Everyone who sells drugs.
And everyone who looks the other way.
Tonight, I will tell you how many Americans are using illegal
drugs. I will present to you our national strategy to deal with
every aspect of this threat. And I will ask you to get involved
in what promises to be a very difficult fight.
This is crack cocaine seized a few days ago by Drug Enforcement
Administration agents in a park just across the street from the
White House. It could easily have been heroin or PCP. It's as
innocent looking as candy, but it is turning our cities into
battle zones, and it is murdering our children. Let there be no
mistake, this stuff is poison. Some used to call drugs harmless
recreation. They're not. Drugs are a real and terribly
dangerous threat to our neighborhoods, our friends and our
families.
No one among us is out of harm's way. When four-year-olds play
in playgrounds strewn with discarded hypodermic needles and crack
vials -- it breaks my heart. When cocaine -- one of the most
deadly and addictive illegal drugs -- is available to school
kids -- school kids -- it's an outrage. And when hundreds of
thousands of babies are born each year to mothers who use
drugs -- premature babies born desperately sick -- then even the
most defenseless among us are at risk.
These are the tragedies behind the statistics. But the numbers
also have quite a story to tell. Let me share with you the
results of the recently completed Household Survey of the
National Institute on Drug Abuse. It compares recent drug use to
three years ago. It tells us some good news and, some very bad
news. First, the good.
- more -
- 2 -
As you can see in the chart, in 1985, the government estimated
that 23 million Americans were using drugs on a "current" basis
-- that is, at least once in the preceding month. Last year,
that number fell by more than a third. That means almost nine
million fewer Americans are casual drug users. Good news.
Because we changed our national attitude toward drugs, casual
drug use has declined. We have many to thank: Our brave
law-enforcement officers, religious leaders, teachers, community
activists, and leaders of business and labor. We should also
thank the media for their exhaustive news and editorial coverage
and, for their air time and space for anti-drug messages.
Finally, I want to thank President and Mrs. Reagan for their
leadership. All of these good people told the truth -- that drug
use is wrong and dangerous.
But, as much comfort as we can draw from these dramatic
reductions, there is also bad news -- very bad news. Roughly
eight million people have used cocaine in the past year, almost
one million of them used it frequently once a week or more.
What this means is that, in spite of the fact that overall
cocaine use is down, frequent use has almost doubled in the last
few years. And that's why habitual cocaine users -- especially
crack users -- are the most pressing, immediate drug problem.
What, then, is our plan? To begin with, I trust the lesson of
experience: No single policy will cut it, no matter how
glamorous or magical it may sound. To win the war against
addictive drugs like crack will take more than just a Federal
strategy. It will take a national strategy, one that reaches
into every school, every workplace, involving every family.
Earlier today, I sent this document, our first such National
Strategy to the Congress. It was developed with the hard work of
our Nation's first drug policy director, Bill Bennett. In
preparing this plan, we talked with state, local and community
leaders, law enforcement officials and experts in education, drug
prevention, and rehabilitation. We talked with parents and kids.
We took a long hard look at all that the Federal Government has
done about drugs in the past: What's worked, and -- let's be
honest -- what hasn't. Too often, people in government acted as
if their part of the problem -- whether fighting drug production,
or drug smuggling, or drug demand -- was the only problem. But
turf battles won't win this war. Teamwork will.
Tonight, I'm announcing a strategy that reflects the coordinated,
cooperative commitment of all Federal agencies. In short, this
plan is as comprehensive as the problem. With this strategy, we
now finally have a plan that coordinates our resources, our
programs and the people who run them.
Our weapons in this strategy are: The law and criminal justice
system; our foreign policy; our treatment systems, and our
schools and drug prevention programs. So the basic weapons we
need are the ones we already have. What has been lacking is a
strategy to effectively use them.
Let me address four of the major elements of our strategy.
-- First, we are determined to enforce the law, to make our
streets and neighborhoods safe. So to start, I'm proposing
that we more than double Federal assistance to State and local
law enforcement. Americans have a right to safety in and around
their homes.
- more -
- 3 -
And we won't have safe neighborhoods unless we are tough on drug
criminals -- much tougher than we are now. Sometimes that means
tougher penalties. But more often it just means punishment that
is swift and certain. We've all heard stories about drug dealers
who are caught and arrested -- again and again -- but never
punished. Well, here the rules have changed: If you sell drugs,
you will be caught. And when you're caught, you will be
prosecuted. And once you're convicted, you will do time.
Caught. Prosecuted. Punished.
I am also proposing that we enlarge our criminal justice system
across the board -- at the local, state and federal levels alike.
We need more prisons, more jails, more courts, more prosecutors.
So tonight, I'm requesting -- altogether -- an almost
billion-and-a-half dollar increase in drug-related Federal
spending on law enforcement.
And while illegal drug use is found in every community, nowhere
is it worse than in our public housing projects. You know, the
poor have never had it easy in this world. But in the past, they
weren't mugged on the way home from work by crack gangs. And
their children didn't have to dodge bullets on the way to school.
That is why I'm targeting $50 million to fight crime in public
housing projects -- to help restore order, and to kick out the
dealers for good.
-- The second element of our strategy looks beyond our borders,
where the cocaine and crack bought on America's streets, is grown
and processed. In Colombia alone, cocaine killers have gunned
down a leading statesman, murdered almost two hundred judges and
seven members of their supreme court. The besieged governments
of the drug-producing countries are fighting back, fighting to
break the international drug rings. But you and I agree with the
courageous President of Colombia, Virgilio Barco, who said that
if Americans use cocaine, then Americans are paying for murder.
American cocaine users need to understand that our Nation has
zero tolerance for casual drug use. We have a responsibility not
to leave our brave friends in Colombia to fight alone.
The $65 million emergency assistance announced two weeks ago was
just our first step in assisting the Andean Nations in their
fight against the cocaine cartels. Colombia has already arrested
suppliers, seized tons of cocaine and confiscated palatial homes
of drug lords. But Colombia faces a long, uphill battle, so we
must be ready to do more.
Our strategy allocates more than a quarter of a billion dollars
for next year in military and law enforcement assistance for the
three Andean Nations of Colombia, Bolivia and Peru. This will be
the first part of a five-year, $2 billion program to counter the
producers, the traffickers and the smugglers.
I spoke with President Barco last week, and we hope to meet with
the leaders of affected countries in an unprecedented drug
summit, all to coordinate an Inter-American strategy against the
cartels. We will work with our allies and friends -- especially
our Economic Summit partners -- to do more in the fight against
drugs. I'm also asking the Senate to ratify the U.N. Anti-Drug
Convention concluded last December.
To stop those drugs on the way to America, I propose that we
spend more than a billion-and-a-half dollars on interdiction.
Greater interagency cooperation, combined with sophisticated
intelligence-gathering, and defense department technology, can
help stop drugs at our borders.
- more -
- 4 -
Our message to the drug cartels is this: The rules have changed.
We will help any government that wants our help. When requested,
we will for the first time make available the appropriate
resources, of America's armed forces. We will intensify our
efforts against drug smugglers on the high seas, in international
airspace and at our borders. We will stop the flow of chemicals
from the United States used to process drugs. We will pursue and
enforce international agreements to track drug money to the front
men and financiers. And then we will handcuff these money
launderers, and jail them -- just like any street dealer. And
for drug kingpins, the death penalty.
--
The third part of our strategy concerns drug treatment.
Experts believe that there are two million American drug users
who may be able to get off drugs with proper treatment. But
right now, only 40 percent of them are actually getting help.
This is simply not good enough.
Many people who need treatment won't seek it on their own. And
some who do seek it are put on a waiting list. Most programs
were set up to deal with heroin addicts, but today, the major
problem is cocaine users. It's time we expand our treatment
systems and do a better job of providing services to those who
need them.
So tonight, I'm proposing an increase of $321 million in Federal
spending on drug treatment.
With this strategy, we will do more. We will work with the
states. We will encourage employers to establish Employee
Assistance Programs to cope with drug use. And, because
addiction is such a cruel inheritance, we will intensify our
search for ways to help expectant mothers who use drugs.
--
Fourth, we must stop illegal drug use before it starts.
Unfortunately, it begins early -- for many kids, before their
teens. But it doesn't start the way you might think, from a
dealer or an addict hanging around a school playground. More
often, our kids first get their drugs free, from friends, or even
from older brothers or sisters. Peer pressure spreads drug use.
Peer pressure can help stop it.
I am proposing a quarter-of-a-billion-dollar increase in Federal
funds for school and community prevention programs that help
young people and adults reject enticements to try drugs.
And I'm proposing something else. Every school, college and
university -- and every workplace -- must adopt tough but fair
policies about drug use by students and employees. Those that
will not adopt such policies will not get federal funds. Period.
The private sector also has a role to play. I spoke with a
businessman named Jim Burke who said he was haunted by the
thought --a nightmare really -- that somewhere in America, at any
given moment, there is a teenage girl who should be in school,
instead of giving birth to a child addicted to cocaine. So Jim
did something. He led an anti-drug partnership, financed by
private funds, to work with advertisers and media firms. Their
partnership is now determined to work with our strategy by
generating educational messages worth a million dollars a day --
every day for the next three years -- a billion dollars worth of
advertising, all to promote the anti-drug message.
- more -
- 5 -
As President, one of my first missions is to keep the national
focus on our offensive against drugs. So next week I will take
the anti-drug message to the classrooms of America in a special
television address, one that I hope will reach every school,
every young American. But drug education doesn't begin in class
or on T.V. It must begin at home and in the neighborhood.
Parents and families must set the first example of a drug-free
life. And when families are broken, caring friends and neighbors
must step in.
These are the most important elements in our strategy to fight
drugs. They are all designed to reinforce one another, to mesh
into a powerful whole. To mount an aggressive attack on the
problem from every angle. This is the first time in the history
of our country, that we truly have a comprehensive strategy.
As you can tell, such an approach will not come cheaply. Last
February, I asked for a $700 million increase in the drug budget
for the coming year. Over the past six months of careful study,
we have found an immediate need for another billion-and-a-half
dollars. With this added 2.2 billion, our 1990 drug budget
totals almost eight billion dollars the largest increase in
history.
We need this program fully implemented -- right away. The next
fiscal year begins just 26 days from now. So tonight I'm asking
the Congress -- which has helped us formulate this strategy -- to
help us move it forward immediately.
We can pay for this fight against drugs without raising taxes or
adding to the budget deficit. We have submitted our plan to
Congress that shows just how to fund it within the limits of our
bipartisan budget agreement.
I know some will still say that we are not spending enough money.
But those who judge our strategy only by its price tag, simply
don't understand the problem. Let's face it, we've all seen in
the past that money alone won't solve our toughest problems.
To be strong and efficient, our strategy needs these funds. But
there is no match for a united America, a determined America, an
angry America. Our outrage against drugs unites us, brings us
together behind this one plan of action, an assault on every
front.
This is the toughest domestic challenge we've faced in decades.
And it is a challenge we must face -- not as Democrats or
Republicans, liberals or conservatives -- but as Americans. The
key is a coordinated, united effort. We have responded
faithfully to the request of the Congress to produce our Nation's
first national drug strategy. I'll be looking to the Democratic
Majority and our Republicans in Congress for leadership and
bipartisan support. And our citizens deserve cooperation, not
competition; a national effort, not a partisan bidding war.
To start, Congress needs not only to act on this national drug
strategy, but also to act on our crime package announced last
May; a package to toughen sentences, to beef up law enforcement
and build new prison space for 24,000 inmates.
You and I both know the Federal Government can't do it alone.
The States need to match tougher Federal laws with tougher laws
of their own -- stiffer bail, probation, parole and sentencing.
And we need your help. If people you know are users, help them
get off drugs. If you are a parent, talk to your children about
drugs -- tonight.
- more -
- 6 -
Call your local drug prevention program. Be a Big Brother or
Sister to a child in need. Pitch in with your local Neighborhood
Watch program. Whether you give your time or talent, everyone
counts.
Every employer who bans drugs from the workplace.
Every school that's tough on drug use.
Every neighborhood in which drugs are not welcome.
And most important, every one of you who refuses to look the
other way. Every one of you counts.
Of course, victory will take hard work and time. But together
we will win -- too many young lives are at stake.
Not long ago, I read a newspaper story about a little boy named
Dooney, who, until recently, lived in a crack house in a suburb
of Washington, D.C. In Dooney's neighborhood, children don't
flinch at the sound of gunfire. And when they play, they pretend
to sell to each other small white rocks they call crack.
Life at home was so cruel that Dooney begged his teachers to let
him sleep on the floor at school. And, when asked about his
future, 6-year-old Dooney answers: "I don't want to sell drugs,
but I will probably have to."
Well, Dooney does not have to sell drugs. No child in America
should have to live like this. Together, as a people, we can
save these kids. We have already transformed a national attitude
of tolerance into one of condemnation. But the war on drugs will
be hard-won, neighborhood by neighborhood, block by block, child
by child.
If we fight this war as a divided nation, then the war is lost.
But if we face this evil as a nation united, this will be nothing
but a handful of useless chemicals.
Victory. Victory over drugs is our cause, a just cause, and with
your help, we are going to win.
# # #
To cup CW
Date 8/28
Time 2pm
WHILE YOU WERE OUT
M John Schmidtz
of Concil's Office
Phone X.6611
Area Code
Number
Extension
TELEPHONED
PLEASE CALL
CALLED TO SEE YOU
WILL CALL AGAIN
WANTS TO SEE YOU
URGENT
RETURNED YOUR CALL
Message
x.6611 11
They need more time,
Isaid by 3pm please KG
AMPAD
EFFICIENCY@
23-020
Document No. 067421
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
DATE:
8/28/89
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
2:00 TODAY
SUBJECT:
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS ON DRUGS
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
steve Fanan 2315
DARMAN David Hahn late
STUDDERT
Called at 2 pm
BATES
UNTERMEYER
BREEDEN
ROGERS outof butdue town in today
CARD
WINSTON
CICCONI
A
PINKERTON
DEMAREST
BOSKIN
#
FITZWATER
BENNETT David Tell 673 -
GRAY Schmitz late
just rec. at 130pm 2512
needs a couple
HAGIN
hours- - callat 4pm
REMARKS:
Please provide your comments/recommendations directly to Chriss
Winston's office with an info copy to my office by 2:00 TODAY,
Monday, August 28. Thank you.
RESPONSE:
UG 28 All 36
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
Davis/Martin
August 26, 1989
Title: b: Drug2
Draft: Five
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS ON DRUGS: All Networks
Tuesday, Sept. 5/9 p.m.
I. A War Footing: Good evening.
Yesterday marked the unofficial end of summer, a time of
family vacations, away from work and away from school. America
has known many such peaceful and prosperous summers. But now
yellow school buses are back on the streets; America's children
are back in class; and our thoughts turn to the future.
This is the first time since taking the oath of office that
I felt an issue was so important, so threatening, that it
warranted directly talking with you, the American people. You,
your friends, your neighbors and I agree that the gravest
domestic threat facing our nation today is drugs.
Turn on the evening news, or pick up the morning paper and
you'll see what some Americans know just by stepping out their
front door: the most serious problem today is cocaine, and in
particular, crack.
Who's responsible? Let me tell you.
Anyone who uses drugs.
Anyone who sells drugs.
And anyone who looks the other way.
Tonight, I will tell you how many Americans are using
illegal drugs; and present to you our national plan -- our
2
strategy -- for dealing with this threat. I will enlist your
help in what promises to be a difficult fight. And finally, I
will offer a vision for the future -- why we can and will win the
war against drugs.
Some used to call drugs just a benign form of recreation.
They're not. Drugs are a creeping malignancy that threaten our
neighborhoods, our homes and our families. And it is because of
this threat, that we have made a fundamental decision in this
country. Americans are ready, as never before, to go on a war-
footing against drugs.
It doesn't matter where you live. It doesn't matter what
your race or background is. It doesn't matter if you are rich or
poor. No one is too young or too innocent to be out of harm's
way.
When a 3-year-old Seattle boy steps on a needle while
picnicking with his parents, and must now endure AIDS testing --
to tell you the truth, it breaks my heart.
When crack -- one of
the most powerfully addictive substances known to Man -- is
plain
furious
available to school kids, it makes my blood boil And when
200,000 babies are born each year to mothers who use drugs --
babies who know the agony of withdrawal as they draw their first
breath, then I know this is a war we must win.
In the inner-city, in the small town, in the suburbs,
America is under siege. And Americans must fight to take back
our streets.
Many citizens, and many communities, already are in the
thick of it. Some have even paid with their lives. Corporal
3
Charles Hill, a suburban Virginia policeman, was gunned down
while trying to persuade a crack-crazed junkie to release a
hostage. ( (Another example to come) ) These are American heroes.
And now it's our duty to join in this struggle for the future,
the very soul, of America.
II. Some Good News: Let me share a few facts with you. I
want to show you the results of the recently completed Household
Survey of the National Institute of Drug Abuse. It compares
recent drug abuse to three years before. It tells us some very
good news
and some very bad news. First, the good.
( (Camera cuts to Slide One. ) ) ( (PAUSE))
In 1985, 37 million Americans between the ages of 12 and 54
said they had used illegal drugs at least once during the
previous year. In the past year, that number dropped by 25
percent to 28 million. This means that almost ten million
Americans dropped so-called casual drug use for good. ( (Cut to
Slide Two. ))
Of the 37 million users in 1985, approximately 12 million
had used cocaine, and that had dropped by one-third to 8 million
users in 1988.
And there's even more. When people were asked about drug
use in the last month, the decline was even greater -- a 37
percent decline for the use of any illicit drug.
How much comfort can we take from these dramatic declines in
usage? Let me get to that in a moment.
4
First, let's talk about the bad news -- very bad news.
my
( (Cut to Slide Three) ) Among the more than eight million people
who used cocaine in the past year, almost half of them used it
daily. inncorrect
600,000 900,000 daily
1190 of the
8M
What all this means is, that in spite of the fact that
cocaine use is down over the last three years by one-third,
habitual cocaine abusers are up by at least 50 percent. The
dooble
overwhelming majority of them are addicted.
check
And our estimates are probably overly optimistic, since they
do not include the transient population, the people on the
streets and in the jails. Most experts believe that we have at
nearly
least one million frequent users of cocaine, / over half of them
crack addicts. ( (PAUSE) )
inflated by and about
a thous
That we have seen some progress already against such odds is
due to a national change in attitude. I want to thank all of you
who have already done so much: our brave police officers across
America
parents, teachers
community activists
and business and labor leaders who have assumed responsibility in
the workplace. I particularly want to thank the media --
television, radio and the press -- for their exhaustive news and
editorial coverage. And finally, I want to thank a President and
a First Lady by the name of Reagan. All of them helped to
accelerate the change that we are witnessing in this country
today.
But to win the war against addictive drugs like crack will
take a national strategy all Americans can support.
5
III. A Drug Strategy: Tonight, I want to announce
America's first such strategy. As it was prepared, we talked
with state, local and community leaders, law enforcement
officials and rehabilitation experts. We talked with parents and
kids. They all had a lot to say, wisdom to share. The result of
our discussions is a new comprehensive strategy, a coordinated
strategy, to fight drugs with prevention, treatment, tougher laws and
enforement better
and interdiction, prevention and treatment.
Third tangher enforcement is critical but
*** First, we must stop drug abuse before it starts. I am
2nd
233 million
proposing more than a ((dollar)) increase for education and
lover 1989
prevention programs. But let's face it -- you and I both know
that when it comes to drug education, we don't need compromise,
we need values. We must discard the failed approach of meek
advice-giving, and replace it with bold confrontation -- the best
approach from grade school to graduate school.
We must also look to the private sector for continued
leadership in drug education. A businessman by the name of Jim
Burke told me he was haunted by the thought ( (-- a nightmare,
really --)) that, at any given moment, somewhere in America there
is a teen-age girl giving birth to a child addicted to cocaine.
So Jim did something. He and other businessmen and -women raised
hundreds of millions of dollars for a national ad campaign
against drugs. And now they are determined to raise a million
6
dollars a day for the next three years, a billion dollars total,
all to promote the anti-drug message.
Next week I will take this same message to the kids of
America in a special television address, one that I hope will
reach every school, every teen-ager. But drug education doesn't
begin in class or on T.V. It must begin at home. Parents must
set the first example of a drug-free life.
Finally, the fourth
*** The second part of our plan seeks to help addicts who
want to go clean. They don't just need treatment programs, they
$1304
need programs that work. That's why I'm proposing a ((number))
3rd
million-dollar increase for the most effective treatments. I am
also proposing research into ways to treat cocaine and crack
addiction. Most of all, because drug addiction is a cruel
inheritance, our treatment efforts will focus on expectant
mothers.
Just
*** Third, our enforcement strategy is based on a simple
philosophy: If you commit a drug crime, you will be caught. And
if caught, you will be prosecuted. And if convicted, you will do
lot
time. Congress must pass this Administration's crime package to
toughen sentences, and to provide more federal law enforcers,
prosecutors and prisons. And then we must increase funding for
state and local law enforcers. In return, I expect the states to
match tougher federal laws with stiffer bail, probation, parole
and state legis latures
and sentencing. I especially urge the governors to punish, drug
7
-b enoet
laws
7
offenders by taking away their driver's licenses. This may sound
harsh, but for many young people, leniency is the harshest policy
of all.
States should also sentence first-time non-violent drug
offenders to alternative programs, like house arrest and boot
camps; and test criminals for drugs, from sentencing straight
through to parole.
Finally, we must make room for the dealers of death -- room
in our prisons. And as for their bosses, the drug lords, we can
raise the cost of doing business to the stiffest price possible -
- life in prison, no parole.
When it comes to enforcing the law, drug abuse is a problem
in every community. But nowhere are drug traders as brazen as in
our public housing projects. The overwhelming majority of public
housing tenants want nothing to do with these thugs. They fear
for their lives and the safety of their children. We cannot, we
will not, turn our backs on any of our neighbors in trouble. I
seek to empower these communities to restore order, to kick out
the dealers -- and to keep them out.
*** And Second finally, the fourth element of our strategy looks
second
beyond our borders, where drug gangsters have slaughtered brave
statesmen and honest judges. The besieged governments of the
drug-producing countries are ready to fight back, to help us
crack the international drug rings. And I am pleased to note
( (Late news item from Colombia to be added. ))
8
Next month, I will build on this progress by going to a
summit in Costa Rica to present my plan to assist foreign
governments in eradicating drug crops, and to help them fight the
violence of drug terrorists. On the high seas and in the skies,
we will adopt tougher rules of engagement against smugglers. And
on land, we will seek international agreements to make it easier
to follow the trail of drug money back to the front-men and
financiers. We will put these pinstriped money-launderers where
they belong -- in prison stripes.
Our strategy is comprehensive. The programs within it are
intended to mesh, to draw strength from one another, to sustain a
national effort. We cannot relax on any front in the war against
drugs. That means aggressively attacking the problem from every
angle.
Such an approach will not come cheaply. Last February, I
$635
asked for a $625 million increase in the drug budget for the
coming year. Now, after six months of careful study, we have
identified an immediate need for two billion dollars more. I am
$7.9
proposing a 1990 drug-budget totaling seven and a half billion
dollars -- the largest single increase in history.
Yes, these dollars are vital. But a sense of national
determination, born of anger, is even more important. Let our
outrage unite us, and bring us together behind this one plan of
action, an assault on every front.
9
IV. Call to Action: We must summon our national will, from
the White House, to the statehouse, to the courthouse, from the
boardroom to the pulpit, from every workplace to every classroom
in America. Wherever Americans work, study, play or pray, we
must join together for this single purpose.
I pledge to do my part. But I need your help. More
important, the children of America need your help. Today --
right now.
Every American can make a special contribution. Call your
local drug prevention program. Be a big brother or sister to a
child in need. Pitch in with your local Neighborhood Watch
program. Whether you donate your time, serve as a counselor, or
participate in a fundraising drive, there are no mundane tasks in
the war on drugs. Every volunteer counts.
From the schools of Los Angeles to Bowling Green, Kentucky,
armies of volunteers are taking up the fight against drugs. What
can one person do? Consider Dr. Lorraine Hale who was driving
through Harlem, only to see a young mother, high on heroin,
holding a baby in her lap. On impulse, Dr. Hale parked, and
asked the woman to take the baby to the home of Clara Hale, her
mother. From this simple beginning, Lorraine and Clara Hale, and
a team of helpers, now nurse hundreds of drug-addicted babies
back to health.
So there are solutions. People like the Hales. Or any
parent who talks to a child about the dangers of drugs, also
provides a solution.
10
Any employer who bans drugs from the workplace.
Any school that takes a hardnosed stance.
Any neighborhood in which drugs are not welcome.
And finally, anyone who refuses to look the other way.
V. Conclusion: Of course, even with our best efforts,
victory is years away. But we must not relent, too many young
lives are at stake.
When I think of the devastation of drugs, I think of a
little boy named Dooney, who, until recently, lived in a crack
house in a suburb of Washington, D.C. In Dooney's neighborhood,
children don't flinch at the sound of gunfire. And when they
play, they pretend to sell to each other small white rocks they
call crack.
Life at home is so dismal that Dooney begged his teachers to
let him sleep on the floor of his school. And 6-year-old Dooney
says: "I don't want to sell drugs, but I probably have to."
((PAUSE))
Dooney doesn't have to sell drugs. No child in America
should have to face such a future, or endure such a home.
Together, as a people, we can save these children of despair. We
have already saved countless lives. We have already transformed
a national attitude of tolerance into intolerance. But the war
on drugs will be hard-won, kid by kid, block by block,
neighborhood by neighborhood.
11
This is the toughest domestic challenge we've faced in
decades. If we fight this war as a nation of isolated
individuals, the war is lost. But if we face this evil as a
nation united, our children will have a brighter future, and
cocaine will be nothing but a useless chemical.
Victory over drugs is our cause, a just cause, and with your
help, justice will prevail.
Thank you, God bless you and good night.
#
#
#
ROUER Ponter
Sununu
Davis/Martin
August 26, 1989
Title: Bismark
Draft: Six
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS ON DRUGS: All Networks
Tuesday, Sept. 5/9 p.m.
Good evening. Yesterday marked the unofficial end of
summer, a time of family vacations, away from work and away from
school. America has known many such peaceful and prosperous
summers. But now yellow school buses are back on the streets;
America's children are back in class; and our thoughts turn to
the future.
This is the first time since taking the oath of office that
I felt an issue was so important, so threatening, that it
Oval
be
warranted directly talking with you, the American people. You,
your friends, your neighbors and I agree that the gravest
domestic threat facing our nation today is drugs.
Turn on the evening news, or pick up the morning paper and
you'll see what some Americans know just by stepping out their
front door: the most serious problem today is cocaine, and in
particular, crack.
Who's responsible? Let me tell you.
Anyone who uses drugs.
Anyone who sells drugs.
And anyone who looks the other way.
Tonight, I will tell you how many Americans are using
illegal drugs. I will present to you our national plan for
2
dealing with this threat. And I will ask for your help in what
promises to be a difficult fight.
( (Pick up vial) ) This is crack cocaine seized last night by
Drug Enforcement Administration agents just ten blocks from where
I'm sitting now. It could just as easily have been heroin or
PCP. It's as innocent-looking as candy, but it is turning our
cities into battle zones and it is murdering our children by the
thousands. Let there be no mistake, this is the enemy. ( (Set
vial down, out of camera range. ))
Some used to call drugs just a benign form of recreation.
They're not. Drugs are a creeping malignancy, a direct and
terribly dangerous threat to our neighborhoods, to our homes and
to our families and friends. Many of us have seen first hand the
damage drugs do. All of us know that this has got to stop. And
that's why this country has made a fundamental decision: we are
Strike back J amut duys
ready, as never before to go on a war-footing against drugs.
No one among us is out of harm's way. When a 3-year-old
Seattle boy, while picnicking with his parents, finds a dirty
needle and sticks himself -- and must now endure AIDS testing --
to tell you the truth, it breaks my heart. When cocaine -- one
of the most deadly and addictive illegal drugs -- is available to
school kids, it makes me furious. And when as many as 200,000
babies are born each year to mothers who use drugs -- babies who
know the agony of withdrawal as they draw their first breath,
then I know this is a war we must win.
3
Many citizens, and many communities, are already in the
thick of it. Some Americans have even paid with their lives.
Corporal Charles Hill, a Virginia policeman, was gunned down
while trying to persuade a violent crack addict to release a
hostage. ((Maria Hernandez, a New York woman, was shot in her
bedroom one morning because she and her husband had confronted
local drug dealers. )) These are American heroes -- heroes who
struggled to save the future, the very soul, of America. We
mourn their loss. And as a nation, we VOW that they have not
died in vain.
What exactly are we up against? Let me share with you the
results of the recently completed Household Survey of the
National Institute on Drug Abuse. It compares recent drug use to
three years before. It tells us some very good news
...
and
some very bad news. First, the good. ((Camera cuts to Slide
One.)) ((PAUSE))
In 1985, the government estimated that 23 million Americans
were using drugs on a "current" basis -- that is, at least once
in the preceding 30 days. Last year, that number fell by 37
percent to 14.5 million. That means that almost nine million
Americans have given up so-called casual drug use. ( (Cut to
Slide Two. ) )
Current use of the two most common, illegal substances --
marijuana and cocaine -- is down 36 and 48 percent respectively.
A change in attitude led to this decline in casual drug use,
and there are many to thank for this: our brave law-enforcement
leadus
4
officers, parents, teachers, community activists, and business
and labor leaders. I want to thank the media -- television,
radio and the press -- for their exhaustive news and editorial
coverage; and advertisers for their anti-drug campaign. Finally,
I especially want to thank a President and a First Lady by the
name of Reagan. All of these good people told the truth -- that
drug use is wrong and dangerous.
But, as much comfort as we can draw from these dramatic
declines in usage, there is also bad news -- very bad news.
( (Cut to Slide Three. ))
Among the more than eight million people who used cocaine at
all in the past year, almost one million of them used it once a
week or more.
What this means is that, in spite of the fact that overall
cocaine use is down, habitual cocaine use has almost doubled.
And habitual cocaine use -- especially crack use -- is our most
pressing, immediate drug problem. ( (PAUSE) )
Make no mistake. There are no easy answers, no magic-bullet
solutions. To win the war against addictive drugs like crack
will take a national strategy all Americans can support.
Tonight, I want to announce America's first such strategy.
As it was prepared, we talked with state, local and community
leaders, law enforcement officials and rehabilitation experts.
We talked with parents and kids. They all had a lot to say,
wisdom to share. The result is a new comprehensive strategy, a
coordinated strategy, and a new determination. Our weapons are
5
many: Schools and drug prevention programs; our treatment system;
our laws and criminal justice system; and our foreign policy.
Each of these is important, vital, necessary.
*** First, comes our determination to enforce the law, to
make our streets and neighborhoods safe. Americans have a right
to safety in and around their homes. To help you secure that
to more than double - an additional
safety, I am proposing a 133 percent increase or $200 million
-- in federal assistance to state and local law enforcement.
We have to be tough on drug crime -- much tougher than we
are now. Sometimes that means tougher penalties. But more often
certain.
it just means penalties that are swift and sure. We've all heard
stories about drug dealers who are caught and arrested -- again
and again -- but never punished. They should get what they
deserve -- justice.
Our enforcement strategy is based on a simple philosophy: If
you commit a drug crime, you will be caught. And if caught, you
will be prosecuted. And if convicted, you will do time.
I am proposing that we enlarge our criminal justice system
across the board -- at the local, state and federal levels alike.
We need more prisons, more jails, more courts, more prosecutors.
So tonight, I am requesting a $1.4 billion increase in drug-
related federal spending on law enforcement.
I also want to acknowledge a special problem. While illegal
to
drug use is found in every community, nowhere is it worse than in
our inner cities. The poor have always borne a disproportionate
6
share of suffering. But in America's past, their children didn't
have to dodge bullets on the way to school. And they didn't have
their parents
weren's
to worry about being mugged by crack gangs on the way home from
work. These Americans deserve compassion. And they will be the
first to tell you that in this case, compassion means strength.
We cannot, we will not, turn our backs on any of our
neighbors in trouble, especially those who must live in drug-
infested public housing projects. That is why I am seeking $50
million through the Department of Housing and Urban Development
to restore order -- by kicking the dealers out for good.
*** The second element of our strategy looks beyond our
borders, where all the cocaine and crack sold on America's street
is grown and processed; and where drug gangsters have slaughtered
brave statesmen and honest judges. In Colombia alone, cocaine
killers have murdered 178 judges, seven members of the supreme
Court and a Justice Minister. The besieged governments of the
drug-producing countries are ready to fight back, to help XS
crack the international drug rings. We must not leave them to
fight alone.
The $65 million emergency assistance announced two weeks ago
is a first step in assisting some South American countries, the
Andean nations, in their fight against the cocaine cartel. We
have seen the government of Colombia, under the leadership of
President Barco, set an example of heroism for the world. The
Colombians have arrested suppliers, seized tons of cocaine and
7
confiscated the palatial homes of the drug lords. But Colombia
faces a long, uphill battle, so we must be ready to do more.
Tonight I am also seeking an additional $260 million in
military and law enforcement assistance for the three Andean
nations of Colombia, Bolivia and Peru. And I will ask Congress
to assist these governments with a five-year, $2 billion program
to counter the producers, traffickers and smugglers of narcotics.
this
Later, I will hold a drug summit with the countries of our
To
Hemisphere to develop an Inter-American strategy against the
Oct
And,
cartels.
We must reach international agreements to make it
the
Say
easier to follow the trail of drug money back to the front-men
IF80
and financiers.
And we must adopt tougher rules of engagement
If
against smugglers in the skies and on the high seas
we'll 80 after the white collar cuntrals with the
same vigor that we go after street thugs - you
***
have our
The third part of our plan concerns drug treatment.
word on
ct.
Experts believe that there are two million American drug users
who stand a reasonable chance of improvement in well-designed,
existing programs. But right now, only 40 percent of them are
actually getting the help they need. This is simply not good
enough.
Many people who need treatment won't seek it on their own.
And some who do seek it are put on a waiting list. Most of our
programs were set up to deal with heroin addicts, but today we
have six times as many cocaine users. What's more, many
treatment centers are not located in the towns or urban
neighborhoods where they are most needed.
8
To improve our treatment facilities, I am proposing a 53
percent increase in federal spending on drug treatment -- or an
increase of $321 million.
We will work with the states to improve their treatment
systems. We will encourage employers to establish Employee
Assistance Programs that cover drug use. And, because addiction
is a cruel inheritance, we will intensify our search for ways to
identify, reach and treat expectant mothers who use drugs.
*** Fourth, we must stop illegal drug use before it starts.
Unfortunately, it usually begins early -- in the first years of
adolescence. But it usually doesn't start the way you might
think, with a dealer or addict furtively hanging around a school
playground. More often, kids first try drugs as a dare from
their friends. So to keep drug use from starting is largely a
matter of fighting peer pressure.
Tonight, I am proposing a $233 million increase in federal
funds for school and community prevention programs that help
young people -- and adults -- reject enticements to try drugs.
And because words alone are not enough, I am proposing something
else. I call on every school, college and university -- and
every workplace -- to adopt tough but fair policies about drug
use by students and employees. Those that do not adopt such
policies will not get federal funds. Period.
The private sector also has a role to play. A businessman
by the name of Jim Burke told me he was haunted by the thought --
9
a nightmare really -- that somewhere in America, at any given
moment, there is a teen-age girl giving birth to a child addicted
to cocaine. So Jim did something. He and other businessmen and
-women raised hundreds of millions of dollars for a national ad
campaign against drugs. And now they are determined to raise a
million dollars a day for the next three years, a billion dollars
total, all to promote the anti-drug message.
Next week I will take this same message to the children of
America in a special television address, one that I hope will
reach every school, every teen-ager. But drug education doesn't
begin in class or on T.V. It must begin at home. Parents must
set the first example of a drug-free life.
performed
These are a few of the most important elements in my plan to
fight drugs. There are many others. They are all designed to
mesh into a powerful whole, to draw strength from one another.
one
To sustain a national effort, a winning effort. To mount an
aggressive attack on the problem from every angle.
Such an approach will not come cheaply. Last February, I
asked for a $635 million increase in the drug budget for the
coming year. Now, after six months of careful study, we have
identified an immediate need for two billion dollars more. I am
proposing a 1990 drug-budget totaling almost eight billion
dollars -- the largest single increase in history.
Still, some will say that we are not spending enough money.
And in a sense, they are right There is not enough money in the
But three who measure the quality of our plan by its price
tog singly don It understand the problem.
10
Treasury -- and in all the family bank accounts of America -- to pay for
an
end this scourge.
Yes, dollars are vital. But a sense of national
determination, born of anger, is the key. Let our outrage unite
us, and bring us together behind this one plan of action, an
assault on every front.
We must summon our national will, from the White House, to
the statehouse, to the courthouse, from the boardroom to the
pulpit, from every workplace to every classroom in America.
Wherever Americans work, study, play or pray, we must join
conguss
together for this single purpose.
pass pack
I challenge the newspapers of this country to print the
names of all those arrested for selling -- and for using --
SHOULD
STATES
drugs.
MATCH
TOUNS new
I challenge our doctors and health professionals to give,
when they can, pro bono work in drug counseling and
rehabilitation.
I challenge every citizen who knows someone who is using
drugs to encourage them to get help.
I pledge to do my part. But I need your help. More
important, the children of America need your help. Today --
right now.
You can make a unique contribution. Call your local drug
prevention program. Be a Big Brother or Sister to a child in
need. Pitch in with your local Neighborhood Watch program.
Whether you donate your time, serve as a counselor, or
11
participate in a fundraising drive, there are no mundane tasks in
the war on drugs. Every volunteer counts.
From the schools of Los Angeles to Bowling Green, Kentucky,
armies of volunteers are taking up the fight against drugs. What
can one person do? Consider Dr. Lorraine Hale who was driving
through Harlem, only to see a young mother -- an addict --
holding a baby in her lap. On impulse, Dr. Hale parked, and
asked the woman to take the baby to the home of Clara Hale, her
mother. From this simple beginning, Lorraine and Clara Hale, and
a team of helpers, now nurse hundreds of drug-addicted babies
back to health.
So there are solutions. People like the Hales. Any parent
who talks to a child about the dangers of drugs.
Any employer who bans drugs from the workplace.
then
Any school that takes a hardnosed stance.
about
Any neighborhood in which drugs are not welcome.
drugs
And finally, anyone who refuses to look the other way.
Of course, victory will take hard work and many years. But
we must not relent -- too many young lives are at stake.
Not long ago, I read a newspaper story about a little boy
named Dooney, who, until recently, lived in a crack house in a
suburb of Washington, D.C. In Dooney's neighborhood, children
don't flinch at the sound of gunfire. And when they play, they
pretend to sell to each other small white rocks they call crack.
Life at home was so dismal that Dooney begged his teachers
to let him sleep on the floor at school. And, when asked about
12
his future, 6-year-old Dooney says this : "I don't want to sell
drugs, but I will probably have to." ( (PAUSE))
Dooney doesn't have to sell drugs. No child in America
should have to face such a future, or endure such a home.
Together, as a people, we can save these children of despair. We
have already saved countless lives. We have already transformed
a national attitude of tolerance into intolerance. But the war
on drugs will be hard-won, kid by kid, block by block,
neighborhood by neighborhood.
This is the toughest domestic challenge we've faced in
decades. And it is a challenge we must face -- not as Democrats
or Republicans, liberals or conservatives -- but as Americans.
The key is a coordinated united effort. we have responded faithfully to the
And In just a few minutes, you will hear from Congressman Tom Foley mandat of the
and Senator George Mitchell, the Democratic leaders of Congress. Congress to produce
I will be looking to George and will Tom for leadership and bipartisan fust own nat
support. And I am sure they agree that we need cooperation, not such
national
competition; a national effort, not a partisan bidding war.
strategy
If we fight this war as a divided nation, then the war is
lost. ( (Pick up vial, hold it in front of you) ) But, if we face
this evil as a nation united, our children will have a brighter
future, and this will be nothing but a vial of useless chemicals.
( (Set vial down, off camera) ) Victory
( (PAUSE) ) victory
over drugs is our cause, a just cause, and with your help,
justice will prevail.
Thank you, God bless you and good night.
chang the mles miles
Davis/Martin
August 26, 1989
Title: Bismark
Draft: Six
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS ON DRUGS: All Networks
Tuesday, Sept. 5/9 p.m.
Good evening. Yesterday marked the unofficial end of
summer, a time of family vacations, away from work and away from
school. America has known many such peaceful and prosperous
summers. But now yellow school buses are back on the streets;
America's children are back in class; and our thoughts turn to
the future.
This is the first time since taking the oath of office that
I felt an issue was so important, so threatening, that it
warranted directly talking with you, the American people. You,
your friends, your neighbors and I agree that the gravest
domestic threat facing our nation today is drugs.
Turn on the evening news, or pick up the morning paper and
you'll see what some Americans know just by stepping out their
front door: the most serious problem today is cocaine, and in
particular, crack.
Who's responsible? Let me tell you.
Anyone who uses drugs.
Anyone who sells drugs.
And anyone who looks the other way.
Tonight, I will tell you how many Americans are using
illegal drugs. I will present to you our national plan for
2
dealing with this threat. And I will ask for your help in what
promises to be a difficult fight.
( (Pick up vial)) This is crack cocaine seized last night by
Drug Enforcement Administration agents just ten blocks from where
I'm sitting now. It could just as easily have been heroin or
PCP. It's as innocent-looking as candy, but it is turning our
cities into battle zones and it is murdering our children by the
thousands. Let there be no mistake, this is the enemy. ( (Set
vial down, out of camera range. ))
Some used to call drugs just a benign form of recreation.
They're not. Drugs are a creeping malignancy, a direct and
terribly dangerous threat to our neighborhoods, to our homes and
to our families and friends. Many of us have seen first hand the
damage drugs do. All of us know that this has got to stop. And
that's why this country has made a fundamental decision: we are
ready, as never before, to go on a war-footing against drugs.
No one among us is out of harm's way. When a 3-year-old
Seattle boy, while picnicking with his parents, finds a dirty
needle and sticks himself -- and must now endure AIDS testing --
to tell you the truth, it breaks my heart. When cocaine -- one
of the most deadly and addictive illegal drugs -- is available to
school kids, it makes me furious. And when as many as 200,000
babies are born each year to mothers who use drugs -- babies who
know the agony of withdrawal as they draw their first breath,
then I know this is a war we must win.
3
Many citizens, and many communities, are already in the
thick of it. Some Americans have even paid with their lives.
(fothee of two))
Corporal Charles Hill, a Virginia policeman, was gunned down
while trying to persuade a violent crack addict to release a
hostage. ( (Maria Hernandez, a New York woman, was shot in her
while setting ready for work
bedroom one morning because she and her husband had confronted
after
local drug dealers. )) These are American heroes -- heroes who
struggled to save the future, the very soul, of America. We
mourn their loss. And as a nation, we VOW that they have not
died, in vain.
Bot
What exactly are we up against? Let me share with you the
results of the recently completed Household Survey of the
National Institute on Drug Abuse. It compares recent drug use to
three years before. It tells us some very good news
and
some very bad news. First, the good. ((Camera cuts to Slide
One. )) ((PAUSE))
In 1985, the government estimated that 23 million Americans
were using drugs on a "current" basis -- that is, at least once
in the preceding 30 days. Last year, that number fell by 37
percent to 14.5 million. That means that almost nine million
Americans have given up so-called casual drug use. ( (Cut to
Slide Two. ) )
Current use of the two most common, illegal substances --
marijuana and cocaine -- is down 36 and 48 percent respectively.
A change in attitude led to this decline in casual drug use,
and there are many to thank for this: our brave law-enforcement
4
officers, parents, teachers, community activists, and business
and labor leaders. I want to thank the media -- television,
radio and the press -- for their exhaustive news and editorial
coverage; and advertisers for their anti-drug campaign. Finally,
I especially want to thank a President and a First Lady by the
name of Reagan. All of these good people told the truth -- that
drug use is wrong and dangerous.
But, as much comfort as we can draw from these dramatic
declines in usage, there is also bad news -- very bad news.
( (Cut to Slide Three. ))
Among the more than eight million people who used cocaine at
all in the past year, almost one million of them used it once a
week or more.
What this means is that, in spite of the fact that overall
cocaine use is down, habitual cocaine use has almost doubled.
And habitual cocaine use -- especially crack use -- is our most
pressing, immediate drug problem. ( (PAUSE))
Make no mistake. There are no easy answers, no magic-bullet
solutions. To win the war against addictive drugs like crack
will take a national strategy all Americans can support.
Tonight, I want to announce America's first such strategy.
As it was prepared, we talked with state, local and community
leaders, law enforcement officials and rehabilitation experts.
We talked with parents and kids. They all had a lot to say,
wisdom to share. The result is a new comprehensive strategy, a
coordinated strategy, and a new determination. Our weapons are
crose
5
many: Schools and drug prevention programs; our treatment system;
our laws and criminal justice system; and our foreign policy.
element of OUR Plan
Each of these is important, vital, necessary
*** First, comes our determination to enforce the law, to
make our streets and neighborhoods safe. Americans have a right
to safety in and around their homes. To help you secure that
safety, I am proposing a 133 percent increase -- or $200 million
-- in federal assistance to state and local law enforcement.
We have to be tough on drug crime -- much tougher than we
are now. Sometimes that means tougher penalties. But more often
it just means penalties that are swift and sure. We've all heard
stories about drug dealers who are caught and arrested -- again
and again -- but never punished. They should get what they
deserve 50/our -- justice. [CHANGING THE RULES]
Our enforcement strategy is based on a simple philosophy: If
you commit a drug crime, you will be caught. And if caught, you
will be prosecuted. And if convicted, you will do time.
I am proposing that we enlarge our criminal justice system
across the board -- at the local, state and federal levels alike.
We need more prisons, more jails, more courts, more prosecutors.
So tonight, I am requesting a $1.4 billion increase in drug-
related federal spending on law enforcement.
I also want to acknowledge a special problem. While illegal
drug use is found in every community, nowhere is it worse than in
our inner cities. The poor have always borne a disproportionate
6
share of suffering. But in America's past, their children didn't
have to dodge bullets on the way to school. And they didn't have
to worry about being mugged by crack gangs on the way home from
work. These Americans deserve compassion. And they will be
selling the
first to tell you that in this case, compassion means strength.
We cannot, we will not, turn our backs on any of our
neighbors in trouble, especially those who must live in drug-
infested public housing projects. That is why I am seeking $50
million through the Department of Housing and Urban Development
to restore order -- by kicking the dealers out for good.
*** The second element of our strategy looks beyond our
borders, where all the cocaine and crack sold on America's street
is grown and processed; and where drug gangsters have slaughtered
brave statesmen and honest judges. In Colombia alone, cocaine
killers have murdered 178 judges, seven members of the supreme
Court and a Justice Minister. The besieged governments of the
drug-producing countries are ready to fight back, to help us
crack the international drug rings. We must not leave them to
fight alone.
The $65 million emergency assistance announced two weeks ago
is a first step in assisting some South American countries, the
Andean nations, in their fight against the cocaine cartel. We
have seen the government of Colombia, under the leadership of
President Barco, set an example of heroism for the world. The
Colombians have arrested suppliers, seized tons of cocaine and
7
confiscated the palatial homes of the drug lords. But Colombia
faces a long, uphill battle, so we must be ready to do more.
Tonight I am also seeking an additional $260 million in
military and law enforcement assistance for the three Andean
nations of Colombia, Bolivia and Peru. And I will ask Congress
to assist these governments with a five-year, $2 billion program
to counter the producers, traffickers and smugglers of narcotics.
Later, I will hold a drug summit with the countries of our
Hemisphere to develop an Inter-American strategy against the
cartels. We must reach international agreements to make it
easier to follow the trail of drug money back to the front-men
and financiers. And we must adopt tougher rules of engagement
against smugglers in the skies and on the high seas. [CHANGING
RULES]
*** The third part of our plan concerns drug treatment.
Experts believe that there are two million American drug users
who stand a reasonable chance of improvement in well-designed,
existing programs. But right now, only 40 percent of them are
actually getting the help they need. This is simply not good
enough.
Many people who need treatment won't seek it on their own.
And some who do seek it are put on a waiting list. Most of our
programs were set up to deal with heroin addicts, but today we
have six times as many cocaine users. What's more, many
treatment centers are not located in the towns or urban
neighborhoods where they are most needed.
8
To improve our treatment facilities, I am proposing a 53
percent increase in federal spending on drug treatment -- or an
increase of $321 million.
We will work with the states to improve their treatment
systems. We will encourage employers to establish Employee
Assistance Programs that cover drug use. And, because addiction
is a cruel inheritance, we will intensify our search for ways to
identify, reach and treat expectant mothers who use drugs.
*** Fourth, we must stop illegal drug use before it starts.
Unfortunately, it usually begins early -- in the first years of
adolescence. But it usually doesn't start the way you might
think, with a dealer or addict furtively hanging around a school
playground. More often, kids first try drugs as a dare from
their friends. So to keep drug use from starting is largely a
matter of fighting peer pressure.
Tonight, I am proposing a $233 million increase in federal
funds for school and community prevention programs that help
young people -- and adults -- reject enticements to try drugs.
And because words alone are not enough, I am proposing something
else. I call on every school, college and university -- and
every workplace -- to adopt tough but fair policies about drug
use by students and employees. Those that do not adopt such
policies will not get federal funds. Period. [CHANGING THE RULES]
The private sector also has a role to play. A businessman
by the name of Jim Burke told me he was haunted by the thought --
9
a nightmare really -- that somewhere in America, at any given
moment, there is a teen-age girl giving birth to a child addicted
to cocaine. So Jim did something. He and other businessmen and
-women raised hundreds of millions of dollars for a national ad
campaign against drugs. And now they are determined to raise a
million dollars a day for the next three years, a billion dollars
total, all to promote the anti-drug message.
Next week I will take this same message to the children of
America in a special television address, one that I hope will
reach every school, every teen-ager. But drug education doesn't t
begin in class or on T.V. It must begin at home. Parents must
set the first example of a drug-free life.
These are a few of the most important elements in my plan to
fight drugs. There are many others. They are all designed to
mesh into a powerful whole, to-draw strength from one another
To sustain a national effort, a winning effort.
To mount an
aggressive attack on the problem from every angle.
Such an approach will not come cheaply. Last February, I
asked for a $635 million increase in the drug budget for the
coming year. Now, after six months of careful study, we have
identified an immediate need for two billion dollars more. I am
proposing a 1990 drug-budget totaling almost eight billion
dollars -- the largest single increase in history.
Still, some will say that we are not spending enough money.
And in a sense, they are right. There is not enough money in the
10
Treasury -- and in all the family bank accounts of America -- to
end this scourge.
Yes, dollars are vital. But a sense of national
determination, born of anger, is the key. Let our outrage unite
us, and bring us together behind this one plan of action, an
assault on every front.
We must summon our national will, from the White House, to
the statehouse, to the courthouse, from the boardroom to the
pulpit, from every workplace to every classroom in America.
Wherever Americans work, study, play or pray, we must join
together for this single purpose.
I challenge the newspapers of this country to print the
names of
those arrested for selling -- and for using --
drugs.
DRIVER'S LICENSE
I challenge our doctors and health professionals to give,
when they can, pro bono work in drug counseling and
rehabilitation.
I challenge every citizen who knows someone who is using
drugs to encourage them to get help.
I pledge to do my part. But I need your help. More
important, the children of America need your help. Today --
right now.
You can make a unique contribution. Call your local drug
prevention program. Be a Big Brother or Sister to a child in
need. Pitch in with your local Neighborhood Watch program.
Whether you donate your time, serve as a counselor, or
11
participate in a fundraising drive, there are no mundane tasks in
the war on drugs. Every volunteer counts.
From the schools of Los Angeles to Bowling Green, Kentucky,
armies of volunteers are taking up the fight against drugs. What
can one person do? Consider Dr. Lorraine Hale who was driving
through Harlem, only to see a young mother -- an addict --
holding a baby in her lap. On impulse, Dr. Hale parked, and
asked the woman to take the baby to the home of Clara Hale, her
mother. From this simple beginning, Lorraine and Clara Hale, and
a team of helpers, now nurse hundreds of drug-addicted babies
back to health.
So there are solutions. People like the Hales. Any parent
who talks to a child about the dangers of drugs.
Any employer who bans drugs from the workplace.
Any school that takes a hardnosed stance.
Any neighborhood in which drugs are not welcome.
And finally, anyone who refuses to look the other way.
Of course, victory will take hard work and many years. But
we must not relent -- too many young lives are at stake.
Not long ago, I read a newspaper story about a little boy
named Dooney, who, until recently, lived in a crack house in a
suburb of Washington, D.C. In Dooney's neighborhood, children
don't flinch at the sound of gunfire. And when they play, they
pretend to sell to each other small white rocks they call crack.
Life at home was so dismal that Dooney begged his teachers
to let him sleep on the floor at school. And, when asked about
12
his future, 6-year-old Dooney says this : "I don't want to sell
drugs, but I will probably have to." ( (PAUSE) )
Dooney doesn't have to sell drugs. No child in America
should have to face such a future, or endure such a home.
Together, as a people, we can save these children of despair. We
have already saved countless lives. We have already transformed
a national attitude of tolerance into intolerance. But the war
on drugs will be hard-won, kid by kid, block by block,
neighborhood by neighborhood.
This is the toughest domestic challenge we've faced in
decades. And it is a challenge we must face -- not as Democrats
or Republicans, liberals or conservatives -- but as Americans.
In just a few minutes, you will hear from Congressman Tom Foley
and Senator George Mitchell, the Democratic leaders of Congress.
I will be looking to George and Tom for leadership and bipartisan
support? And I am sure they agree that we need cooperation, not
competition; a national effort, not a partisan bidding war.
If we fight this war as a divided nation, then the war is
lost. ( (Pick up vial, hold it in front of you) ) But, if we face
this evil as a nation united, our children will have a brighter
future, and this will be nothing but a vial of useless chemicals.
( (Set vial down, off camera) ) Victory
((PAUSE)) victory
over drugs is our cause, a just cause, and with your help,
justice will prevail.
Thank you, God bless you and good night.
Davis/Martin
August 26, 1989
Title: Drug
Draft: Four
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS ON DRUGS: All Networks
Tuesday, Sept. 5/9 p.m.
I. A War Footing: Good evening.
Yesterday marked the unofficial end of summer, a time of
family vacations, away from work and away from school. America
suchpeaceful such and prosperous
has known many summers. of peace and prosperity But now yellow
school buses are back on the streets; America's children are back
in class; and our thoughts turn to the future.
This is the first time since taking the oath of office that
I felt an issue was so important, so threatening, that it
warranted directly talking with you, the American people. You,
your friends, your neighbors and I agree that the gravest
domestic threat facing our nation today is drugs.
Turn on the evening news, or pick up the morning paper and
you'll see what some Americans know just by stepping out their
front door: the most serious problem today is cocaine, and in
particular, crack.
Who's responsible? Let me tell you.
Anyone who uses drugs.
Anyone who sells drugs.
And anyone who looks the other way.
Tonight
will
I want to attempt to describe this problem in terms of the
numbers of Americans involved in using illegal drugs; and present
-our
strategy-
will
to you our national plan for dealing with this threat.
I
ask all of you for your help in what promises to be a difficult
fight. And finally, I will give you my views of the future ---
why we can and will win the war against drugs.
( (Pick up vial) ) This is crack cocaine seized last night by
Drug Enforcement Administration agents just ten blocks from where
I'm sitting now. It could just as easily have been heroin or
PCP. It's as innocent-looking as candy, but it is turning our
cities into battle zones and it is murdering our children by the
thousands. Let there be no mistake, this is the enemy. ( (Set
vial down, out of camera range.) )
Some used to call drugs just a benign form of recreation.
They're not. Drugs are a creeping malignancy that threaten our
neighborhoods, our homes and our families. And it is because of
fundamental
this threat, that we have made a decision in this country.
Americans are ready, as never before, to go on a war-footing
against drugs.
It doesn't matter where you live. It doesn't matter what
your race or background is. It doesn't matter if you are rich or
poor. No one is too young or too innocent to be out of harm's
way. When a 3-year-old Seattle boy steps on a needle while
picnicking with his parents, and must now endure AIDS testing --
to tell you the truth, it breaks my heart. When crack -- one of
the most powerfully addictive substances known to Man -- is
available to school kids, it makes my blood boil. And when
200,000 babies are born each year to mothers who use drugs --
3
babies who know the agony of withdrawal as they draw their first
I
breath, then know this is a war we must win.
In the inner-city, in the small town, in the suburbs,
America is under siege. And Americans must fight to take back
our streets.
Many citizens, and many communities, already are in the
thick of it. Some brave have even paid with their lives.
Corporal Charles Hill, a suburban Virginia policeman, was gunned
down while trying to persuade a crack-crazed junkie to release a
hostage. ( (first name) ) Wilson, the owner of a New York
restaurant, was killed because he refused to allow drug deals
under his roof. These are American heroes. But you shouldn
And
now
have to be a hero today Just to be on the side of the law. It's
our duty to join in this struggle for the future, the very soul,
of America.
II. Some Good News: Let me share a few facts with you. I
want to show you the results of the recently completed Household
Survey of the National Institute of Drug Abuse, compare
the
day
to
same story done three years ago. It contains some very good news
and some very bad news. First, the good news. ((Camera
cuts to Slide One. ))
In 1985, 37 million Americans between the ages of 12 and 54
said they had used illegal drugs at least once during the
previous year. In the past year, that number dropped by 25
percent to 28 million. This means that almost ten million
4
Americans dropped so-called casual drug use for good. ( (Cut to
Slide Two. ) )
Of the 37 million users in 1985, approximately 12 million
had used cocaine, and that had dropped by one-third to 8 million
users in 1988.
And theres
more good news. When people were asked about
drug use in the last month, the decline was even greater -- a 37
percent decline for the use of any illicit drug and a 50 percent
decline in the regular use of socaine.
How much comfort can we take from these dramatic declines in
usage? Let me get to that in a moment.
First, let's talk about the bad news -- very bad news.
( (Cut to Slide Three) ) Among the more than eight million people
who used cocaine in the past year, eleven percent used it once or
more
a
week. And almost half of them used it daily.
What all this means is, that in spite of the fact that
habitual
cocaine use is down over the last three years by one-third,
cocaine abusers are up by at least 50 percent. The overwhelming
majority of them are addicted.
And our estimates are probably overly optimistic, since they
does not include the transient population, the people in our
streets and jails. Most experts believe that we have at least
one million frequent users of cocaine, over half of them crack
addicts.
(PAUSE)
That we have seen some progress already against such odds is
due to a national change in attitude. I want to thank all of you
5
who have already done so much: our brave police officers across
America
parents, teachers
community activists
and business and labor leaders who have assumed responsibility in
and
the workplace particularly to thank the media
exhaustive
television, radio and the press -- for their entriordinary news-
and editorial
coverage; for the thoughtful editorials and feature stories; and
for making available amounts of time and space for
educational advertising efforts. And finally, I want to thank a
President and a First Lady by the name of Reagan. All of this is
helping to accelerate the change that we are witnessing in this
country today.
But to win the war against addictive drugs like crack will
take more than a change in attitude. It will take a national
strategy all Americans can support.
III. A Drug Strategy: Tonight, I want to announce
America's first such strategy. As it was prepared, we talked
with community leaders, law enforcement officials and
rehabilitation experts. We talked with parents and kids
all had a lot to say, wisdom to share. The result of our
discussions is a new comprehensive strategy, a coordinated
strategy, to fight drugs; a strategy based on prevention,
treatment, tougher laws and interdiction.
*** First, we must stop drug abuse before it starts. I am
proposing more than a ((dollar)) increase for education and
6
prevention programs. But let's face it -- you and I both know
that when it comes to drug education, we don't need compromise,
we need values. We must discard the failed approach of meek
advice-giving, and replace it with bold confrontation -- the best
approach from grade school to graduate school.
must
We will also look to the private sector for continued
leadership in drug education. A businessman by the name of Jim
Burke told me he was haunted by the thought ( (-- a nightmare,
really --)) that, at any given moment, somewhere in America there
is a teen-age girl giving birth to a child addicted to cocaine.
So Jim did something. He and other businessmen and -women raised
hundreds of millions of dollars for a national ad campaign
against drugs. And now they are determined to raise a million
dollars a day for the next three years, a billion dollars total,
all to promote the anti-drug message.
Next week I will take this same message to the kids of
America in a special television address, one that I hope will
reach every school, every teen-ager. But drug education doesn't
begin in class or on T.V. It must begin at home. Parents must
set the first example of a drug-free life.
*** The second part of our plan seeks to help addicts who
want to go clean. They don't just need treatment programs, they
need programs that work. That's why I'm proposing a ((number))
million-dollar increase for the most effective treatments. I am
also proposing research into ways to treat cocaine and crack
7
addiction. Most of all, because drug addiction is a cruel
inheritance, our treatment efforts will focus on expectant
mothers.
*** Third, our enforcement strategy is based on a simple
philosophy: If you commit a drug crime, you will be caught. And
if caught, you will be prosecuted. And if convicted, you will do
time. Congress must pass this Administration's crime package to
toughen sentences, and to provide more federal law enforcers,
prosecutors and prisons. And then we must increase funding for
state and local law enforcers. In return, I expect the states to
match tougher federal laws with stiffer bail, probation, parole
and sentencing. I especially urge the governors to punish drug
offenders by taking away their driver's licenses. This may sound
harsh, but for many young people, leniency is harsher.
States should also sentence first-time non-violent drug
offenders to alternative programs, like house arrest and boot
camps; and test criminals for drugs, from sentencing straight
through to parole.
Finally, we must make room for the dealers of death -- room
in our prisons. And as for their bosses, the drug lords, we can
raise the cost of doing business to the stiffest price possible -
- life in prison, no parole.
When it comes to enforcing the law, drug abuse is a problem
in every community. But nowhere are drug traders as brazen as in
orawhelmy
our public housing projects. The majority of public housing
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4566218;# 2
Davis/Martin
August 26, 1989
Titles be Drug2
Draft: Five
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS ON DRUGS: All Networks
Tuesday, Sept. 5/9 p.m.
I. A War Footing: Good evening.
Yesterday marked the unofficial end of summer, a time of
family vacations, away from work and away from school. America
has known many such peaceful and prosperous summers. But now
yellow school buses are back on the streets) America's children
are back in class; and our thoughts turn to the future.
This is the first time since taking the oath of office that
I felt an issue was so important, so threatening, that it
warranted directly talking with you, the American people. You,
your friends, your neighbors and I agree that the gravest
domestic threat facing our nation today is drugs.
Turn on the evening news, or pick up the morning paper and
you'll see what some Americans know just by stepping out their
front door: the most serious problem today is cocaine, and in
particular, crack.
Who's responsible? Let me tell you.
Anyone who uses drugs.
Anyone who sells drugs.
And anyone who looks the other way.
Tonight, I will tell you how many Americans No are using
I will OK
my
No
illegal drugs and ^ present to you our national plan -- our
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4566218;# 3
Administration's
2
And
^ strategy Itor dealing with this threat. nI will entirt your
ask FOR
But first, let me
help in what promises to be A difficult fight. ^ And denally, I
tal you just where 1 think we stand right nowo
will offer & vision for the future why we our and will win the
WILL against drugs
Some used to call drugs just a benign form of recreation.
direct and terribly dangerous throat: to
They're not. Drugs are a creeping malighancy that threaten our
to
to
and friendso Just amyone who's
neighborhoods, our homes, and our families. And it 1. because of
seen the damage dwys do first hamlo H's got to stope All of VS know that And sotimes country has
ok
white threaty that NE have made a fundamental decisions in this
we
country Americans, are ready, as never before, to go on a war-
footing against drugs.
No one among vs IS fully out of harm's wayo when four-year -olds
nIe deeon matter where you live. It doesn't matter what
play in playgrounds strain with discuded hypodermic needles
your race or background is. It down t matter if you are rich or
and crack vials
poor No one is too young or too innocent to be out of harm's
way, When a 3 year old Seattle boy steps on & needle while
picnicking with his parents, and must now endure AIDS testing
cocaine
our
to tell you the truth, it breaks my heart. When smeek *** of
deally and
illegal drug
the mostA powerfully addictive substances known to Kan -- is
available to school children kids, it makes my blood boil. And when ^ as many as
200,000 babies are born each year to mothers who use drugs --
- babics born desperately SILK, weeks or months premiture
babies who know the ageny or withdrawal as they draw their first
tunt Lose wong
then I know this is a war VO. you A must win.
In the inner city, in the small town, Im the suburbs,
America is under singe And Americans nuss fight to take back
our struden,
Many citizens, and many communities, already are in the
thick of it. Some have even paid with their lives. Corporal
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4566218;# 4
Carlos and Mina Hernamilez fought repeatedly against the duy dealers in their Brooklyn,
NW York neighbor hord. Early one morning tab summer, a car drove my their apartment.
Five shots were fired at the budroom winhow. Maria Hernandez who killer as she
dressed for work. (CPAVSE))
3
Charles Hill, a Virginia policeman, was gunned down
violent crade addict
while trying to persuade a 1 crased jusitie to release a
hostage. example to come)) These are American heroes.
And now it's our duty to join in this struggle for the future,
the very soul, of America I mourn their losso It is our duty as a nation
to assure that they WAVE not died in vaing to win
and Bml Nuss
II. Good News: Let me share a few facts with you. I
want to show you the results of the recently completed Household
on
Survey of the National Institute Drug Abuse. It compares
recent drug abuse to three years before. It tells us some very
good news
and some very bad news. First, the good.
((Camera cuts to Slide One. )) ((PAUSE))
LIM government estimated that 23) were using drugs on a "current"
basis that is, at least ince in the preceding 30 days. last year, tunt
In 1985 million Americans between the ages-of 12 and 54 ^
said they had used illegal drugs at least once during the
number fell by 37 perant to 14.5 milliono That means tunt almost nine
year. In the past year, that number dropped by 23
million Americans seem to have given vp
percent to 28 million This means than almost ten million
so-called casual drug usenzer good. ((Cut to
Slide Two.))
Current VS2 of the two most wimin illegal substances manjuana
Of the 37 million upere in 1985, approximately 12 million
aml cocaine - is down 36 and to percent respectivelyo
had used cossine, and that had dropped by one-third to 8 million
***** in 1988.
And there' even more. When people were asked about drug
use in the last month, the decline was even greates & 37
percent decline for the use of any illicit drug
How much comfort can we take from these dramatic declines in
usage? Let me get to that in a moment.
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4566218;# 5
9 Make no mistake about it. This is a tough, tough problemo There win be w
quick fix or magic bollet solution Bit tm first step has alrendy been taken.
we have made some progress against trus challenge progress through changed and
hundenne national attitudes Award days
First, let's talk about the bad news very bad news.
((Cut to Slide Three)) Among the more than eight million people
at all
a million
who used cocaine in the past year, almost hald of them used it
doily.
once A welk or moreo
A
overall
What all this means is, that in spite of the fact that
cocaine use is down over the last three years by one third,
use has almost doublal And habitual cocaine are
habitual cocaine abusers are up by at least 50 percent. The
especially VS2 of crack is our most pressing inveidiate dny problem . (CPAUSE))
noverwhelming majority of then are addicted.
And our estimates are probably overly optimistic, since they
do not include the transient population, the people on the agree to
deles
streets and in the jails. Most experts believe that we have at
least one million frequent users of cocaine, over half of them
crack addicter ((PAUSE))
That we have seen some progress already against such edds **
review
due to & national change in attitude. 4 I want to thank all of you to
move
law inforcement
later
who have already done so much:, our brave officers across
on
America
parents, teachers
community activists
and business and labor leaders who have assumed responsibility in
the workplace. I particularly want to thank the media --
television, radio and the press -- for their exhaustive news and
need part on advertising
editorial coverage. And finally, I want to thank a President and
$ All of truse good puple told the twth--
a First Lady by the name of Reagan. ^ All of them helped to
that drug VSI is writty and dimgerous and they dirl something about it.
accolerate the change that we are withessing in this country
today.
But to win the war against addictive drugs like exacit will
take a national strategy all Americans can support.
91 Tonight, / would like to tell you what I intent to do about it
as president of the Unital stutes, in an Administration that will leml
an all-out assunt against the cvil of dwy us ame dny truffuliers.
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4566218;# 6
4 We also took a long, num look at all that the tulled government has done about
drugs in the pust: all that's been good and effective, and some - let's be monst-
some that hasn't.
5
Earlier today, / sent our first Nutional Dvry
control Struting to nu congress@
III. A Drug Strategy: Tonight, 1 want to announce
America Hust such strategy. As it was prepared, we talked
with state, local and community leaders, law enforcement
officials and rehabilitation experts. We talked with parents and
kids. They all had a lot to say, wisdom to share. x The result of
over discussions is a new comprehensive strategy, a coordinated
a new determination
even tool at our disposal
ourschools
strategy, to fight drugs with, provention, treatment, tougher laws
and interdiction.
and duy preventions programs@ our drug transment anskmo ovr laws and
our ariminal ishm programs And our foreign polimo Euch of truse
tools is importains, vitul, nucssmy Pnt will only win this wm when all so tren
*** First, we must stop drug ebuse before it starts, am will.
an vour tophin, and
effectives
proposing MOTO than & (doiler)) increase for education and
prevention programer But let as face It -- you and 1 both know
INSERT
A
that when 11 comes to drug education, - don't need compenise,
are need values. We must discaud the failed approach of meek
advice giving and replace it with hold confrontation -- the beat
approach from grade school to graduate school.
We must also look to the Private sector for continued
leaderchip in drug education. of A businessman by the name of Jim
Burke told me he was haunted by the thought a nightmare,
really --+) that at any given moment somewhere in America there
is a teen-age girl giving birth to a child addicted to cocaine.
So Jim did something. Re and other businessmen and women raised
hundreds of millions of dollars for a national ad campaign
against drugs. And now they are determined to raise a million
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4566218;# 7
INSERT A
First, we must stop drug use before it begins.
Unfortunately, it usually starts early -- in the first few years
of adolescence. But it usually doesn't start the way you might
think. Children almost never get their first drugs from an
addict or a dealer. Instead, they get them for free -- from
friends or acquaintances who think casual drug use is harmless
fun. Peer pressure is what spreads drug use. So fighting that
kind of peer pressure is what will stop drug use from starting.
Tonight, I am proposing a $233 million increase in Federal
funds for school and community prevention programs that help
young people -- and adults -- reject enticements to try drugs.
And because words alone are not help enough, I am proposing
something else. I am proposing that every institution in America
do something about the people who spread drug use: drug users
themselves. I want every school, college, and university -- and
every workplace -- to adopt tough and fair policies about drug
use by students or employees. Those that do not adopt such
policies will not get Federal funds. Period.
We cannot have anyone sitting on the sidelines. Our fight
against drugs is too serious and urgent for that.
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4566218;# 8
6
dollars & day for the next three years, a billion dollars total
all to promote the anti-drug message.
children
Next week I will take this same message to the hide of
America in a special television address, one that I hope will
just to dassroumdo
reach every school, every teen-ager. I Buy Arug education deesn
again, presention chn't m restricted
begin in cluss or on T.V. It must begin at home, with Parents more
and funnilies
set first example of drug free life.
And the it must white - in every organizal community in every business, in every
durch m America. ((PAUSE))
*** The second part or our plan steks to help addicts who
INSENT
want to go clean. They don't just need tweatment programs, they
need programs that work. That's why I'm proposing & ((number))
million dollar increase for the most effective treatments. I am
also proposing research into ways to treat cocains and crack
addiction Most of all, because drug addiction to B crust
inheritance, our treatment efforts WITT rocus on expectant
mothers.
*** Third, our enforcement strategy is based on a simple
philosophy. If you commit & drug crime, you will DU caught. And
INSERT
if caught you will be presecuted. And if convicted, you will do
time.
Congress must pass this Administration's crime package to
toughen sentences, and to provide more federal law enforcers,
prosecutors and prisons And then we must increase runding for
state and local law enforcers. In returny T expect the ebates to
match tougher federal laws with stiffer bail, probation parole
and sentencing I especially urge the governoze $ punish drug
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4566218;# 9
INSERT B
The second part of my plan concerns drug treatment. Last
year, an estimated four million Americans had serious drug
problems: they took drugs 200 times or more. Many of them -- as
many as one in four -- will be able to stop with the help of
friends, family, clergy, and their own motivation. Another
quarter -- hard-core addicts or career criminals -- are difficult
to reach with existing treatment methods and are unwilling or
unable to stay drug-free.
That leaves roughly two million American drug users who
stand a reasonable chance of significant improvement in well-
designed, existing programs. But right now only about 40 percent
of them are actually getting the help they could use. We have to
do better.
Many people who need treatment won't seek it voluntarily.
And some people who do seek treatment can't get in -- waiting
lists are still common. Most of our programs were originally set
up to deal with heroin addicts, but today we have six times as
many problem cocaine users. What's more, many treatment centers
aren't located in the towns, cities, and neighborhoods where they
are most needed. And many programs can't provide services that
are well-matched to individual treatment patients' problems.
And there is too little money. So tonight I am proposing a
53 percent increase in Federal spending on drug treatment: $321
million more.
We will work with the states to improve their treatment
systems. We will encourage employers to establish Employee
Assistance Programs that cover drug use. And we will intensify
our work on research -- especially on ways to reach, identify,
and treat expectant mothers who use drugs. ((PAUSE))
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4566218:#10
INSERT C
Third, there is our law enforcement and criminal justice
system. My plan has a simple goal: making our streets and
neighborhoods safe. When drugs are sold openly on street
corners, and drug users stand on line in the sun to buy them,
then law-abiding residents are held hostage to crime. Americans
have a right to safety in and around their homes. To help you
secure that safety, I am proposing a 133 percent increase -- $200
million -- in Federal assistance to state and local law
enforcement.
And because no one knows the problem of neighborhood safety
better than the tenants of our public housing complexes, I am
seeking $50 million through the Department of Housing and Urban
Development good. to get drug criminals out of these buildings -- for
We have to be tough on drug crime -- much tougher than we
are now. Sometimes that means tougher penalties. But more often
it just means penalties that are swift and sure. We've all heard
stories about drug dealers who are caught and arrested -- again
and again -- but never punished. That's not justice. And
justice is what we need.
I am proposing that we enlarge our criminal justice system
across the board -- at the local, state, and federal levels
alike. We need more prisons, more jails, more courts, more
prosecutors. So tonight I am requesting -- altogether -- & $1.4
billion increase in drug-related Federal spending on law
enforcement. ((PAUSE))
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4566218;#11
7
effendous by taking away their driver 0 licenses. This may sound
harsh but for many young people leniency is the havehest policy
of
and
States should also sentence TION visiont drug
offenders to alternative programs, like house arrest and boot
camps: and test aviminals for drugs, from sentencing straight
through to purvis.
we mewt make zoom for the desture of death woom
in sur présons And as for their Bosses, the drug fords, WE can
raise the cost of doing business to the stiffest price possible -
life in prison, gamls
When it comes to enforcing the law, drug abuse in-a problem
in every community But nowhere are daug traders CB brazen as-in as
our public housing projects The overwhelming majority of public
housing tenant - to do with these thugs. They fear
des shole lives and ahe safety of their childrent We cannot, we
7114 mov/ our backs on any of our neighbors in trouble. I
seek to empower these communities to restors sadery to out
the declare and to keep them out
INSENT
*** And finally the fourth slement of our strategy looks
D
peyand our borders, where drug gangsters have siaughtered brave
atatemen and honest judges The besinged governments of the
drue-producing countries are ready CO fight backy CO help us
crack the international drug Finys. And 168 am pleased to hote-
(Late news drem derom Colombia to be added
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4566218:#12
INSERT D
Finally, the fourth part of my drug strategy looks beyond
our borders -- where drug gangsters have slaughtered brave
statesmen and honest judges; where all the cocaine and crack sold
on America's streets is grown and processed and controlled.
Tonight, as we speak, criminal drug syndicates are
threatening the democratic governments of Colombia, Bolivia, and
Peru. These nations in the Andean Region of south America have
indicated a new willingness to attack the drug trade in their
mountains and jungles and cities. President Barco of Colombia
has launched an unprecedented crackdown on the cocaine mafia in
his country, for example. All three countries need help in this
fight. For their good -- and ours -- we must provide it.
I recently announced an emergency aid package for Colombia.
Tonight I am also seeking an additional $260 million in military,
law enforcement, and other assistance for the three Andean
cocaine producing countries.
These nations are not requesting American personnel to do
the job -- any more than we would want their people to fight
drugs on America's streets. But the Andean countries do need
material and economic aid, training, and better information --
and they need it over the long term. so my Administration will
seek a five-year program of Andean assistance totalling more than
$2 billion, tied to measurable progress against the trafficking
networks. ((PAUSE))
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7021 ; 8-30-89 ; 6:16PM ;
4566218;#13
B
Next month, I WITH build on this progress by going to a
8 work in Costs Plea se present my plan to accion deseign
governments in cuadicating drug crops, and to help them fight the
véclence of drug terroriste. On the high your and in the skies
we will adope tougher rules of engagement against smugglers. And
on land, we will-seek international agreements to make 1+ casion
To Collow the trail of drug money back to the front-men and
financiers No will put these pinstriped money-launderers where
they belong in prison stripes
Our strategy is comprehensive. The programs within it are
insended to mesh, to draw strength érom one another, to oustain a
national offort. We cannot relax on any front in the was against
drugs, That means aggressively stracking the problem from every
angla.
INSERT
Such an approach will not come cheaply. Last february, I
E
asked for A S.5.25 million increase in the drug budget for the
coming year Now After -in months or carerul study, NO have
identified an immediate need for two Billion dollars morer 1 BLUT
proposing & 1990 drug budget totaling seven and helf billion
dollars the largest single increase in history.
Yes, these dollars AIR vital But a sense of national
determination, born of anger, IS even more important. Let ear
oberage white us, and bring us together bokind this one plan of
action, 1b connuit on easry front.
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7021 ; 8-30-89 ; 6:16PM ;
4566218;#14
INSERT E
These are a few of the most important elements in my plan to
fight drugs. There are many others. They are all designed --
each specific program -- to mesh into a powerful whole. To draw
strength from one another. To sustain a winning and truly
national initiative.
We cannot relax on any front in the war against drugs. That
means an agressive attack on the problem from every angle.
As you can tell, my plan will not be cheap. Last February,
I asked for a $700 million increase in the Federal drug budget
for the coming year. Now, after six months of careful study, I
have identified an immediate need for $1.5 billion on top of
that. Altogether, I am proposing a 1990 drug budget totalling
almost $8 billion -- the largest single increase in history.
Let me tell you how important this is. We need this program
fully implemented -- and the money to pay for it -- right away.
The next fiscal year begins just 26 days from now. So tonight I
am asking the Congress -- which has helped us formulate this plan
-- to help us fund it, as well.
My budget director, Dick Darman, has sent a letter to the
Congress detailing precisely how we can fully fund this drug
strategy within the limits of our bipartisan budget agreement.
If the drug problem is our highest domestic priority -- and we
all agree that it is -- then we must act accordingly. The drug
war is not a political issue. It is an urgent national concern.
And I intend to work with Congress -- beginning immediately -- to
see that our fight against drugs gets the full Federal attention
it needs and deserves.
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7021 ; 8-30-89 ; 6:17PM ;
4566218:#15
1 ask your 9 help, as wello Join meo urge your
ry. Call to Action: We must summan OUT national will, from
local leaders and natural representatives to take our stratugy to heart.
the White House, to the statehouse, to the courthouse, from the
boardroom to the pulpit, from every workplace 10 every classroom
in America Wherever Americans work, study, play or pray, we
aust join together for this single purpose.
I pledge to do ay past. But H need your help. Home
important, the children of America need your help, Today =
wight new.
9 Aml please - make a personal contribution.
personalize
Every American can make special contribution. Call your
local drug prevention program. Be a big brother or sister to a
child in need. Pitch in with your local Neighborhood Watch
program. Whether you donate your time, serve as a counselor, or
participate in a fundraising drive, there are no mundane tasks in
the war on drugs. Every volunteer counts.
From the schools of Los Angeles to Bowling Green, Kentucky,
armies of volunteers are taking up the fight against drugs. What
can one person do? Consider Dr. Lorraine Hale who was driving
through Harlem, only to see a young mother a high on a heroing
addit
-
holding & baby in her lap. On impulse, Dr. Hale parked, and
asked the woman to take the baby to the home of Clara Hale, her
mother. From this simple beginning, Lorraine and Clara Hale, and
a team of helpers, now nurse hundreds of drug-addicted babies
back to health.
So there are solutions. People like the Hales. + Any
parent who talks to a child about the dangers of drugs also
provides . solution.
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7021 ; 8-30-89 ; 6:17PM ;
4566218;#16
10
Any employer who bans drugs from the workplace.
Any school that takes a hardnosed stance.
Any neighborhood in which drugs are not welcome.
And finally, anyone who refuses to look the other way.
victory will take hard work -aml time O
V. Conclusion: of sourse, even with QUE best afforts,
Laboxy to years away But we must not relent, too many young
lives are at stake.
Not 10mg ago 1 rend a newspaper story about
when I child of the devastation of drugs, I think of a
additional
little boy named Dooney, who, until recently, lived in a crack
He was scon his/mother dorsel with
house in a suburb of Washington, D.C. A In Beoney neighbochood,
children don't disnon at the sound of gunfire And when they
boiling watn my dry dealars 0 He has heard so much gunfire he no longer
flinchoo social service agencies were awan of him but it who unsufe to
2047 EXPO1 - - течае HOPE $4 ITS# 02 puesent Loug Line
call -
enter has neighborhood to offn him help.
was
Life at home 60 dismal that Dooney begged his teachers to
at
when he grows up
this
let him sleep on the floor of his school, I'll And 5-year-old Dooney
says "I don't want to sell drugs, but A probably have to." H
((PAUSE))
Dooney doesn't have to sell drugs. No child in America
should have to face such a future, or endure such a home.
Together, as a people, we can save these children of despair. We
have already saved countless lives. We have already transformed
a national attitude of tolerance into intolerance. But the war
child by child
on drugs will be hard-won, Xid by kid, block by block,
neighborhood by neighborhood.
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7021 ; 8-30-89 ; 6:18PM ;
4566218:#17
11
This is the toughest domestic challenge we've faced in
decades. If we fight this war as a nation of isolated
individuals, the war is lost. But if we face this evil as a
nation united, our children will have a brighter future, and
cocaine will be nothing but a useless chemical.
Victory over drugs is our cause, a just cause, and with your
help, justice will prevail.
Thank you, God bless you and good night.
#
#
#
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7021 ; 8-30-89 ; 6:18PM ;
4566218:#18
Presidential Address on Drugs: All Networks
Tuesday, Sept. 5/ 9:00 p.m.
1. A War Footing: Good Evening.
Yesterday marked the unofficial end of summer, a time of
family vacations, away from work and away from school. America
has known many such peaceful and prosperous summers. But now
yellow school buses are back on the streets; America's children
are back in class; and our thoughts turn to the future.
This 18 the first time since taking the oath of office that
I felt an issue was so important, so threatening, that it
warranted talking directly with you, the American people. You,
your friends, your neighbors and I agree that the gravest
domestic threat facing the nation today is drugs.
Turn on the evening news, or pick up the morning paper and
you'll see what some Americans know just by stepping out their
front door: the most serious problem today is cocaine, and in
particular, crack.
Who's responsible? Let me tell you.
Anyone who uses drugs.
Anyone who sells drugs.
And anyone who looks the other way.
Tonight, I will tell you how many Americans are using
illegal drugs. I will present to you my national plan -- my
Administration's strategy -- for dealing with this threat. And I
will ask for your help in what promises to be a difficult fight.
But first, let me tell you just where I think we stand right now.
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2
Some used to call drugs just a benign form of recreation.
They're not. Drugs are a direct and terribly dangerous threat:
to our neighborhoods, to our homes, and to our families and
friends. Just ask anyone who's seen the damage drugs do first
hand. It's got to stop. All of us know that. And so this
country has made a fundamental decision. We are ready, as never
before, to go on a war footing against drugs.
No one among us is fully out of harm's way. When four-year-
olds play in playgrounds strewn with discarded hypodermic needles
and crack vials -- to tell you the truth, it breaks my heart.
When cocaine -- our most deadly and addictive illegal drug -- is
available to schoolchildren, it makes my blood boil. And when as
many as 200,00Dbabies are born each year to mothers who use drugs
-- babies born desperately sick, weeks or months premature --
then I know this is a war that must be won.
Many citizens, and many communities, are already in the
thick of it. Some have even paid with their lives. Corporal
Charles Hill, a Virginia policeman, was gunned down while trying
to persuade a violent crack addict to release a hostage. Carlos
and Maria Hernandez fought repeatedly against the drug dealers in
their Brooklyn, New York neighborhood. Early one morning this
summer, a car drove by their apartment. Five shots were fired at
the bedroom window. Maria Hernandez was killed as she dressed
for work. ((PAUSE))
These are American heroes. I mourn their loss. It is our
duty as a nation to assure that they have not died in vain.
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3
II. Good News and Bad News: Let me share a few facts with
you. I want to show you the results of the recently completed
Household Survey of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. It
compares recent drug use to three years before. It tells us some
very good news
and some very bad news. First, the good.
( (Camera cuts to slide One.) ((PAUSE))
In 1985, the government estimated that 23 million Americans
were using drugs on a "current" basis -- that is, at least once
in the preceding 30 days. Last year, that number fell by 37
percent to 14.5 million. That means that almost nine million
Americans seem to have given up so-called casual drug use. ((Cut
to slide Two. ))
Current use of the two most common, illegal substances --
marijuana and cocaine -- is down 36 and 48 percent respectively.
How much comfort can we take from these dramatic declines in
usage? Let me get to that in a moment.
First, let's talk about the bad news -- very bad news.
((cut to slide Three)) Among the more than eight million people
who used cocaine at all in the past year, almost a million of
them used it once a week or more.
What all this means is that, in spite of the fact that
overall cocaine use is down, habitual cocaine use has almost
doubled. And habitual cocaine use -- especially crack use -- is
our most pressing, immediate drug problem. ((PAUSE))
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4
Make no mistake about it. This is a tough, tough problem.
There will be no quick fix or magic bullet solution. But the
first step has already been taken. We have made some progress
against this challenge -- progress through changed and hardened
national attitudes toward drugs.
I want to thank all of you who have already done so much:
our brave law enforcement officers across America
parents,
teachers
community activists
and business and labor
leaders who have assumed responsibility in the workplace. I
particularly want to thank the media -- television, radio, and
the press -- for their exhaustive news and editorial coverage.
And finally, I want to thank a President and a First Lady by the
name of Reagan.
All of these good people told the truth -- that drug use is
wrong and dangerous -- and they did something about it.
Tonight, I would like to tell you what I intend to do about
it -- as President of the United States, in an Administration
that will lead an all-out assault against the evil of drug use
and drug trafficking.
III. A Drug strategy: Earlier today, I sent our first
National Drug Control Strategy to the Congress. As it was
prepared, we talked with state, local, and community leaders, law
enforcement officials, and rehabilitation experts. We talked
with parents and kids. They all had a lot to say, wisdom to
share.
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7021 ; 8-30-89 ; 6:20PM ;
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5
We also took a long, hard look at all that the Federal
government has done about drugs in the past: all that's been
good and effective, and some -- let's be honest -- some that
hasn't.
The result is a new comprehensive strategy, a coordinated
strategy, a new determination to fight drugs with every tool at
our disposal. our schools and drug prevention programs. Our
drug treatment system. Our laws and our criminal justice
programs. And our foreign policy. Each of these tools is
important, vital, necessary. But we'll only win this war when
all of them are used together, and well.
*** First, we must stop drug use before it starts.
Unfortunately, it usually starts early -- in the first few years
of adolescence. But it usually doesn't start the way you might
think. Children almost never get their first drugs from an
addict or a dealer. Instead, they get them for free -- from
friends or acquaintances who think casual drug use is harmless
fun. Peer pressure is what spreads drug use. so fighting that
kind of peer pressure is what will stop drug use from starting.
Tonight, I am proposing a $233 million increase in Federal
funds for school and community prevention programs that help
young people -- and adults -- reject enticements to try drugs.
And because words alone are not help enough, I am proposing
something else. I am proposing that every institution in America
do something about the people who spread drug use: drug users
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7021 ; 8-30-89 ; 6:21PM ;
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6
themselves. I want every school, college, and university -- and
every workplace -- to adopt tough and fair policies about drug
use by students and employees. Those that do not adopt such
policies will not get Federal funds. Period.
We cannot have anyone sitting on the sidelines. Our fight
against drugs is too serious and urgent for that.
A businessman by the name of Jim Burke told me he was
haunted by the thought -- a nightmare, really -- that somewhere
in America, at any given moment, there is a teenage girl giving
birth to child addicted to cocaine. so Jim did something. He
and other businessmen and women raised hundreds of millions of
dollars for a national ad campaign against drugs. And now they
are determined to raise a million dollars a day for the next
three years -- a billion dollars total -- all to promote the
anti-drug message.
Next week I will take this same message to the children of
America in a special television address, one that I hope will
reach every school, every teenager. But, again, drug prevention
can't be restricted just to classrooms. It must begin at home,
with parents and families. And it must continue -- in every
organized community, in every business, in every church in
America. ((PAUSE))
*** The second part of my plan concerns drug treatment.
Last year, an estimated four million Americans had serious drug
problems: they took drugs 200 times or more. Many of them -- as
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7021 ; 8-30-89 ; 6:21PM ;
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7
many as one in four -- will be able to stop with the help of
friends, family, clergy, and their own motivation. Another
quarter -- hard-core addicts or career criminals -- are difficult
to reach with existing treatment methods and are unwilling or
unable to stay drug-free.
That leaves roughly two million American drug users who
stand a reasonable chance of significant improvement in well-
designed, existing programs. But right now only about 40 percent
of them are actually getting the help they could use. We have to
do better.
Many people who need treatment won't seek it voluntarily.
And some people who do seek treatment can't get in -- waiting
lists are still common. Most of our programs were originally set
up to deal with heroin addicts, but today we have six times as
many problem cocaine users. What's more, many treatment centers
aren't located in the towns, cities, and neighborhoods where they
are most needed. And many programs can't provide services that
are well-matched to individual treatment patients' problems.
And there is too little money. So tonight I am proposing a
53 percent increase in Federal spending on drug treatment: $321
million more.
We will work with the states to improve their treatment
systems. We will encourage employers to establish Employee
Assistance Programs that cover drug use. And we will intensify
our work on research -- especially on ways to reach, identify,
and treat expectant mothers who use drugs. ((PAUSE))
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7021 ; 8-30-89 ; 6:22PM ;
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8
*** Third, there is our law enforcement and criminal justice
system. MY plan has a simple goal: making our streets and
neighborhoods safe. When drugs are sold openly on street
corners, and drug users stand on line in the sun to buy them,
then law-abiding residents are held hostage to crime. Americans
have a right to safety in and around their homes. To help you
secure that safety, I am proposing a 133 percent increase -- $200
million - in Federal assistance to state and local law
enforcement.
And because no one knows the problem of neighborhood safety
better than the tenants of our public housing complexes, I am
seeking $50 million through the Department of Housing and Urban
Development to get drug criminals out of these buildings -- for
good.
We have to be tough on drug crime -- much tougher than we
are now. Sometimes that means tougher penalties. But more often
it just means penalties that are swift and sure, We've all heard
stories about drug dealers who are caught and arrested -- again
and again -- but never punished. That's not justice. And
justice is what we need.
I am proposing that we enlarge our criminal justice system
across the board -- at the local, state, and federal levels
alike. We need more prisons, more jails, more courts, more
prosecutors. so tonight I am requesting -- altogether -- a $1.4
DENI DI'Aerox Telecopier 7021 ; 8-30-89 ; 6:22PM ;
4566218;#26
9
billion increase in drug-related Federal spending on law
enforcement. ((PAUSE))
*** Finally, the fourth part of my drug strategy looks
beyond our borders -- where drug gangsters have slaughtered brave
statesmen and honest judges; where all the cocaine and crack sold
on America's streets is grown and processed and controlled.
Tonight, as we speak, criminal drug syndicates are
threatening the democratic governments of Colombia, Bolivia, and
Peru. These nations in the Andean Region of South America have
indicated a new willingness to attack the drug trade in their
mountains and jungles and cities, President Barco of Colombia
has launched an unprecedented crackdown on the cocaine mafia in
his country, for example. All three countries need help in this
fight. For their good -- and ours -- we must provide it.
I recently announced an emergency aid package for Colombia.
Tonight I am also seeking an additional $260 million in military,
law enforcement, and other assistance for the three Andean
cocaine producing countries,
These nations are not requesting American personnel to do
the job -- any more than we would want their people to fight
drugs on America's streets. But the Andean countries do need
material and economic aid, training, and better information --
and they need it over the long term. So my Administration will
seek a five-year program of Andean assistance totalling more than
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7021 ; 8-30-89 ; 6:22PM ;
4566218;#27
10
$2 billion, tied to measurable progress against the trafficking
networks. ((PAUSE))
These are a few of the most important elements in my plan to
fight drugs. There are many others. They are all designed --
each specific program -- to mesh into a powerful whole. To draw
strength from one another. To sustain a winning and truly
national initiative.
We cannot relax on any front in the war against drugs. That
means an aggressive attack on the problem from every angle.
As you can tell, my plan will not be cheap. Last February,
I asked for a $700 million increase in the Federal drug budget
for the coming year. Now, after six months of careful study, I
have identified an immediate need for $1.5 billion on top of
that. Altogether, I am proposing a 1990 drug budget totalling
almost $8 billion -- the largest single increase in history.
Let me tell you how important this is. We need this program
fully implemented -- and the money to pay for it -- right away.
The next fiscal year begins just 26 days from now. so tonight I
am asking the Congress -- which has helped us formulate this plan
-- to help us fund it, as well.
My budget director, Dick Darman, has sent a letter to the
Congress detailing precisely how we can fully fund this drug
strategy within the limits of our bipartisan budget agreement. If
the drug problem is our highest domestic priority -- and we all
agree that it is -- then we must act accordingly. The drug war
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7021 ; 8-30-89 ; 6:23PM ;
4566218:#28
11
is not a political issue. It is an urgent national concern. And
I intend to work with Congress -- beginning immediately -- to see
that our fight against drugs gets the full Federal attention it
needs and deserves.
IV. Call to Action: I ask your help, as well. Join me.
Urge your local leaders and national representatives to take our
strategy to heart.
And please -- make a personal contribution. Call your local
drug prevention program. Be a big brother or sister to a child
in need. Pitch in with your local Neighborhood Watch program.
Whether you donate your time, serve as a counselor, or
participate in a fundraising drive, there are no mundane tasks in
the war on drugs. Every volunteer counts.
From the schools of Los Angeles to Bowling Green, Kentucky,
armies of volunteers are taking up the fight against drugs. What
can one person do? Consider Dr. Lorraine Hale who was driving
through Harlem, only to see a young mother -- a heroin addict --
holding a baby in her lap. on impulse, Dr. Hale parked, and
asked the woman to take the baby to the home of Clara Hale, her
mother. From this simple beginning, Lorraine and Clara Hale, and
a team of helpers, now nurse hundreds of drug-addicted babies
back to health.
so there are solutions. People like the Hales. Any parent
who talks to a child about the dangers of drugs.
Any employer who bans drugs from the workplace.
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7021 ; 8-30-89 ; 6:23PM ;
4566218:#29
12
Any school that takes a hardnosed stance.
Any neighborhood in which drugs are not welcome.
And finally, anyone who refuses to look the other way.
V. Conclusion. Victory will take hard work -- and time.
But we must not relent -- too many young lives are at stake.
Not long ago, I read a newspaper story about a little boy
named Dooney, who, until recently, lived in a crack house in a
suburb of Washington, D.C. He has seen his addicted mother
doused with boiling water by drug dealers. He has heard so much
gunfire that he no longer flinches. Social service agencies were
aware of him, but it was unsafe to enter his neighborhood to
offer him help.
Life at home was so dismal that Dooney begged his teachers
to let him sleep on the floor at school. And when he grows up?
Six-year-old Dooney says this: "I don't want to sell drugs, but
I'll probably have to." ((PAUSE))
Dooney doesn't have to sell drugs. No child in America
should have to face such a future, or endure such a home.
Together, as a people, we can save these children of despair. We
have already saved countless lives. We have already transformed
a national attitude of tolerance into intolerance. But the war
on drugs will be hard-won, child by child, block by block,
neighborhood by neighborhood.
This is the toughest domestic challenge we've faced in
decades, If we fight this war as a nation of isolated
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7021 ; 8-30-89 ; 6:24PM ;
T
4566218;#30
13
individuals, the war is lost. But if we face this evil as a
nation united, our children will have a brighter future, and
cocaine will be nothing but a useless chemical.
Victory over drugs is our cause, a just cause, and with your
help, justice will prevail.
Thank you, God bless you and good night.
# # #