Bill Clinton: “Good morning. This week General Barry McCaffrey, Attorney General Reno, and I were in Atlanta to launch an unprecedented…”

“Good morning. This week General Barry McCaffrey, Attorney General Reno, and I were in Atlanta to launch an unprecedented antidrug campaign to ensure that when young people watch television, listen to the radio, read the newspaper, or surf the Web, they will get the powerful message that drugs are wrong, illegal, and can kill. They're both with me here today. This morning I'd like to talk to you about how we are working to sever the dangerous link between illegal drugs and violent crime. There is no greater threat to our families and communities than the abuse of illegal drugs. For the last 5\1/2\ years, we've worked hard to fight drugs on every front: on our streets, in our schools, at our borders, in our homes. We've made real progress. Today there are 50 percent fewer Americans using drugs than just 15 years ago. This morning the Justice Department will release a study that highlights several areas where we have more work to do. On the positive side, it shows that crack cocaine, which once ravaged whole neighborhoods, is now on the decline. In Manhattan, for example, the number of young criminals testing positive for crack cocaine dropped from 77 percent in 1988 to just 21 percent last year. However, abuse of methamphetamine--after falling for 2 years--is now rising in the West and Southwest. Clearly, we have more to do.…”