Political Quotes

“the Clinton administration's first major drug control announcement is bleak. The annual high school survey on drug use released on Monday has found that for the first time in over a decade, teenage drug use is on the rise. Unfortunately, this comes as no great surprise. Accurate or not, the clear perception is that President Clinton has shown little real interest in fighting drug use. He waited nearly 5 months to appoint a drug czar, drastically cut his staff, missed deadlines for submitting a drug strategy, and has senior members of his administration openly advancing or at least studying legalization. No wonder drug use is up among our Nation's school children. If the President cannot control the statements of his senior advisers on legalization, how can we expect him to have any success at controlling drug use among our Nation's youth? In the space of 2 weeks, the Surgeon General said we should consider legalizing drugs and the AIDS czar has called for needle exchange programs, both of which send the wrong message about drugs. Our Nation's children need strong leadership and a clear and consistent message that drug use is dangerous, wrong, and criminal. This administration seems confused about how best to fight the war on drugs. I sometimes wonder if they are even in the fight. Drug use will continue to climb until the President himself makes this issue a top priority and gets a unified drug strategy underway.”