WASHINGTON (BP)–President George W. Bush has a plan to reduce illegal drug use by 10 percent over two years and 25 percent over five years.
“We’re putting the fight against drugs in the center of our national agenda,” Bush told lawmakers, ambassadors and anti-drug officials at the White House Feb. 12, CNSNews.com reported, noting that Bush’s plan includes tougher law enforcement.
“We’ve got a problem in this country. Too many people use drugs,” Bush said. “This is an individual tragedy. And, as a result, it is a social crisis. There is no question that drug use wreaks havoc on the very fabric that provides stability for our society. Drug use wreaks havoc on our families. Drug use destroys people’s ambitions and hopes.”
White House drug policy director John Walters said the Bush administration’s strategy is based on making existing anti-drug programs more efficient and reducing public tolerance for drug use.
“We have to undermine the cynicism that people are always going to use drugs at roughly the same amount that they’re using now. That’s not true. And my goal is to demonstrate that’s not true,” Walters said.
Bush, in his comments, stated, “Drugs undermine the health of our citizens; they destroy the souls of our children. And the drug trade supports terrorist networks. When people purchase drugs, they put money in the hands of those who want to hurt America, hurt our allies. Drugs attack everything that is best about our country, and I intend to do something about them.”
Meanwhile, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) blasted the Bush administration’s plan, saying for the first time the White House is calling for “compassionate coercion” of millions of American citizens who smoke marijuana responsibly.
“The overwhelming majority of our nation’s drug users and drug arrestees are marijuana users, the majority of whom do not need treatment — coerced, compassionate or otherwise,” said Keith Stroup, executive director of NORML.
He pointed to the nation’s recent “war on tobacco,” noting that: “We have significantly reduced the prevalence of tobacco smoking and drunk driving in recent years.
“We have not achieved this by banning the use of alcohol and tobacco, or by targeting and arresting adults who use them responsibly, but through honest educational campaigns. We should apply these same principles to the responsible use of marijuana,” Stroup said.
He said that by calling American citizens who have voted in recent years in states like California, Nevada and Arizona “armchair theorists who want to define the problem away and normalize drug use,” the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) shifts the blame for a failed “war on drugs” to voters and organizations who support reform, instead of the federal government’s own policies. NORML also criticized the White House for linking the “war on terrorism” with the “war on drugs” during ads that were aired during the Super Bowl.
“It is patently absurd to suggest that marijuana smokers are in any way supporting terrorism — they are patriots and American citizens, too,” said Stroup.
Walters’ priorities include: identifying drug users who need treatment but are unlikely to seek it; helping recovering addicts stay clean; disrupting money laundering networks; and gathering better intelligence about drug distribution networks so they can be broken up.
The president’s proposed budget for next year includes $19.2 billion in anti-drug spending, 2 percent more than last year’s budget. He also is asking for $644 million for the Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program, which encourages drug-prevention among young people and $731 million to fight drug trafficking in the Andes.
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Hunter is the evening editor with CNSNews.com, on the Internet at www.cnsnews.com. Used by permission.
