Paul Coverdell: “as I have said many times on the floor, we are in the midst of a drug epidemic in the United States of enormous…”

“as I have said many times on the floor, we are in the midst of a drug epidemic in the United States of enormous proportions that are not yet, I do not believe, fully comprehended. Drug use among our youth has doubled in the last 36 months, ending 12 years of a continued decline in drug use. Mr. President, this administration, unfortunately, has to come to terms with this issue because it is pretty clear that its decision to shut down the drug office, to shut down interdiction efforts, to dramatically curtail the war on drugs, and to the change policy regarding rehabilitation has had some very, very uncomfortable consequences. What does it mean when you say drug use has "doubled"? Does that mean two more people use it? No. What it means is there are 2 million American families who have fallen victim to the tragic consequences of involving themselves in drugs. Mr. President, in a moment I am going to yield to the distinguished chairman of the Judiciary Committee, the senior Senator from Utah. But let me say that among the data we are now discovering is the fact that our youth currently do not see drugs as a threat to them. How could that be? How could it be that the vast majority of youngsters no longer see that as a threat to them? Therefore, they are not concerned about it. Therefore, they use it more freely. Therefore, twice the number use it today.”