Paul Coverdell: “the point that we are making is that you cannot talk about teen addiction and be silent on the No. 1 teen addiction…”

“the point that we are making is that you cannot talk about teen addiction and be silent on the No. 1 teen addiction problem, which is drug abuse. So the purpose of this amendment is to make certain that any legislation being considered by this Chamber about teen addiction and teen problems must also include a title to deal with the raging epidemic in our country--teenage drug abuse. Mr. President, in the last 6 rac{1}{2} years, teenage drug abuse has increased by 135 percent. Well, what does that mean? Does that mean that 10 more youngsters are using drugs than were 6 years ago? No. It means that almost 2 million teenagers are using drugs today that were not 6 rac{1}{2} years ago. This is a massive problem and it is a consequence, unfortunately, of altered Federal policy. We decided early in this administration that the battle against drug abuse would be altered, changed, downsized.”