STATEMENT BY BARRY R. MCCAFFREY, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL
POLICY BEFORE THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY JUNE 17, 1998
(continued from part 1)

The National Drug Control Strategy -- The Opportunity Before Us

Despite these troubling facts, we have the opportunity now to dramatically
reduce youth drug use. Over the last two years, with this Committee's help
we have put in place a balanced National Drug Control Strategy that can
reduce drug use in the United States by half over the next ten years. The
bulk of this decline will come through prevention efforts targeted at our
young people -- prevention is Goal 1 of our Strategy.

The National Drug Control Strategy focuses on youth for both moral and
practical reasons. Children must be nurtured and protected from drug use
and other forms of risky behavior to ensure that they grow up as healthy,
productive members of society. As youngsters grow, they learn what they are
taught; they develop values and habits that will last them a lifetime. If
boys and girls reach adulthood without abusing illegal substances, they
probably will never develop a chemical-dependency problem.

The Strategy's mid-term objectives are to reduce past-month drug use among
youth by 20 percent and increase the average age of first use by twelve
months before the year 2002. The long-term objectives are a 50 percent
reduction in current drug use and an increase of thirty-six months in the
average age of first use by the year 2007.

To achieve these objectives, we are putting the needed resources behind
efforts to keep kids away from drugs. In FY1998, we will spend 1.76 billion
dollars to reduce youth drug use. In FY1999, the President's budget calls
for over $2 billion for youth prevention efforts, a 14 percent increase
over FY1998 -- the largest percentage growth of any component of our Strategy.

It is too soon to be overly optimistic. However, there are signs that the
Strategy is working. After yearly growth since 1992, current drug use by 12
to 17 year olds living in households declined between 1995 and 1996 (from
10.9 percent to 9 percent). Use of marijuana, which had fueled past
increases, stabilized at 7.1 percent. Current use of alcohol among teens is
down. Attitudes are also beginning to improve. A 1997 Harvard University
poll found that adults believe the number one problem facing America's
children is drug abuse. A 1997 study by the Center on Addiction and
Substance Abuse, found that over half of our young people support drug
testing in their schools and say they are willing to report a drug user to
school officials.

However, we can not afford to confuse progress with ultimate success. We
still have far too many children trying -- and dying -- from drugs. We have
to redouble our efforts To this end, we are substantially increasing our
prevention-based efforts. What follows is a snapshot view of our current
efforts to cut youth drug use.

The Youth Media Campaign

This July our Youth Media Campaign will go "national." The campaign,
created with the bipartisan support of Congress and in conjunction with Mr.
Jim Burke and the Partnership for a Drug Free America, will play an
important role in turning youth attitudes around. Now when children turn on
the TV, surf the "net," or listen to the radio, they will get a simple
message that drugs are deadly and wrong. The campaign will also speak
directly to parents to encourage them to talk to their children about the
perils of drug use. When fully operational, the effort will be an
integrated campaign, planned and executed by some of the brightest minds in
the media and advertising world -- just like Nike or Pepsi run to sell
their products. Corporate partners, like the Florida Marlins and Major
League Soccer, are already teaming up to help us get the message heard and
understood. The campaign's goal is to reach 90 percent saturation within
the target audiences, four times a week.

The preliminary results of the 12 city pilot phase of the campaign are
already out-stripping expectations. The volume of calls to local coalition
help numbers listed on the ads are two to three times higher than before
the campaign. Calls to the national clearinghouse numbers from the twelve
cities are up by over 25 percent. And, we are receiving an unprecedented
dollar-for-dollar media match -- for every dollar we spend buying ads,
local media are matching with a dollar's worth of donated PSA time.

Last week, at the United Nations, the President announced that he would
work with Congress to extend this program into a five-year effort, which
with the private sector match will total over $2 billion. ONDCP looks
forward to working with the members of this Committee to make this a reality.

The Drug Free Communities Program

We are also in the process of making the first grants under the Drug Free
Communities Program. The program, created with the bipartisan support of
this Congress, will help build thousands of new community anti-drug
coalitions over the next five years. At the same time we will also
strengthen the 4,000 existing coalitions. Our nation's drug problem is, in
reality, not a national problem; instead, it is a series of local drug
epidemics. These coalitions will take on the drug problem street-by-street,
neighborhood-by-neighborhood, and child-by-child. Their efforts are
critical to stamping out these local epidemics in towns and communities,
big and small, all across the country.

Safe and Drug Free Schools

America's schools must be safe havens where our children are protected from
the evils of drugs and violence. Although the greatest risks to children
are currently in the "out of school hours," we still need to do more to
ensure that our schools are truly safe and drug free.

The Safe and Drug Free Schools Program funds anti-drug efforts in over 97
percent of the nation's school districts. Despite its current success, we
need to strengthen the program. Drugs and drug dealers remain far too
common a sight in our schools. As part of this effort, the President's
budget calls for a $50 million pilot program to provide drug prevention
counselors to 6,500 schools. These counselors will become the nucleus from
which we can build a Safe and Drug Free Schools Program that will deliver
the maximum "ounces of prevention."

In 1998, the Department of Education will also implement principles of
effectiveness for the program. These principles will help grantees use
program funds more effectively. The Department of Education will develop an
Expert Review Panel to help identify promising or exemplary drug and
violence prevention programs. School-based prevention programs that are in
widespread use include the Hilton Foundation's Project Alert, Drug Abuse
Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.), the University of California's Self
Management and Resistance Training (SMART), and LifeSkills. The President's
budget also calls for $140 million "High Hopes Initiative" to expand
mentoring for disadvantaged children; and, $146 million Youth Tobacco
Initiative to prevent underage smoking.

These new initiatives can play a major role in helping us reduce youth drug
use and gateway behaviors that lead to drug use among our young people. The
bipartisan support of this Committee, and the Congress as a whole, is
critical if we are to succeed in realizing the full potential these
programs have to offer.

Alcohol and Tobacco Prevention on College Campuses

Illegal drug use and the abuse of alcohol and tobacco also are serious
problems on our college and university campuses. In the 1997/1998 academic
year, several students died as a direct result of binge drinking, and many
more were admitted to hospitals for treatment of alcohol-related injuries
and alcohol poisoning. In 1998, Secretary Riley and the Department of
Education will lead efforts to identify those programs and activities that
have been successful in reducing alcohol and drug use on college campuses.
The Department of Education will also provide funding and technical
assistance to a limited number of colleges and universities so they can
adopt those programs that have been identified as successful.

Parenting and Mentoring

Positive parental involvement in children's lives reduces the likelihood of
drug use. Parents must understand that they -- not schools, community
groups, or the government -- can make the biggest difference in children's
attitudes and values. A number of initiatives are underway to strengthen
the role of parents and mentors. Secretary Shalala of Health and Human
Services (HHS) has launched a Youth Substance Abuse Initiative to reduce
drug use by youth aged twelve to seventeen. The cornerstone of the
initiative is the effort to mobilize resources through state and federal
collaborative activities and partnerships with national organizations. A
key component is the State Incentive Grant Program, which will assist
states in developing coordinated statewide substance-abuse prevention
systems. The Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration's Center
for Substance Abuse Prevention (SAMSHA/CSAP) program, and the Centers for
the Application of Prevention Technologies will help the dissemination and
application of proven prevention strategies. Other aspects of the HHS
initiative include awareness-raising activities, parent mobilization,
regional prevention research symposia, and measurement of outcomes. ONDCP,
in cooperation with Dr. Nelba Chavez and the Substance Abuse Mental Health
Services Administration (SAMHSA), is supporting a "Parenting is Prevention"
initiative to mobilize national anti-drug organizations and strengthen
their role in schools and communities. We are extremely proud of the
leadership of Dr. Alan Leshner and The National Institute on Drug Abuse
(NIDA). NIDA's pamphlet, Preventing Drug Use Among Children and
Adolescents, provides research-based information for parents, community
leaders and prevention providers -- this pamphlet is the first
research-based guide to prevention.

Promoting Media Literacy/Critical Viewing Skills

Media literacy teaches critical thinking so that individuals can discern
the substance and intention of messages relating to drugs, tobacco, and
alcohol. Media-literate youth understand the manipulative component of such
material and are more likely to reject it. Last year, NIDA, SAMHSA,
SAMSHA/CSAP, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Office of Justice
Programs of the Department of Justice incorporated media literacy in their
drug-prevention programs. In 1998, ONDCP, HHS, SAMSHA/CSAP, and SAMHSA will
support an American Academy of Pediatrics "Media Matters" campaign to
provide media-literacy training for parents and physicians. ONDCP is also
sponsoring a Mediascope-conducted content analysis of music videos and
videotapes (two of the most popular forms of entertainment among youth) to
quantify and describe how drugs, alcohol, and tobacco are depicted.

In conjunction with CDC, SAMHSA/CSAP has developed a curriculum called
MediaSharp as a key component of the HHS Secretary's Youth Substance Abuse
Prevention Initiative. It consists of a video and print media literacy
education resource guide for educators and community leaders who work with
middle school and high school age youth and focuses on alcohol and tobacco
advertising and marketing, as well as messages about alcohol and tobacco in
the entertainment and news media. SAMHSA/CSAP is also a major partner in
the 3rd National Media Education Conference scheduled for June 28-July 1,
in Colorado Springs, CO, and will sponsor media training for pediatricians
in Boston on July 11-12.

Civic and Service Alliance

In November of 1997, ONDCP organized and led a White House Conference with
leaders of forty-five national and international civic and service
organizations, representing fifty-five million volunteers. To date,
thirty-four of the organizations have signed an historic agreement creating
a civic alliance: "Prevention Through Service." Highlights of the alliance
include increasing public awareness, promoting communication about
effective prevention, networking among organizations and communities,
providing leadership and scholarship, and encouraging volunteerism, as well
as service to families. Collectively, the organizations will support
prevention efforts across the nation with one million volunteer hours.

Expanding Partnerships with Health-Care Professionals

Health-care professionals are vital sources of drug-prevention information.
They can help parents influence children in positive ways, prevent drug
use, and treat abuse. Last year, ONDCP coordinated the distribution of the
Prescription for Prevention pamphlet by fifteen pharmaceutical companies to
primary-care physicians throughout the country. ONDCP will continue
promoting the involvement of medical organizations in drug-prevention
programs.

Working with the Child Welfare System

The safety of children and well-being of families are jeopardized by the
strong correlation between chemical dependency and child abuse. For
example, in 1997, an average of 67 percent of parents involved with the
child welfare system needed substance-abuse treatment. If prevention and
treatment are not provided to this high-risk population, the same families
will remain extensively involved in the welfare and criminal-justice
systems. With funding from ONDCP, the Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), and SAMHSA, the Child Welfare League of
America is developing resources and other tools for assessing and reducing
substance abuse among parents and preventing drug use by abused children
from substance-abusing families.

Preventing Alcohol Use and Drunk and Drugged Driving Among Youth

The Strategy recommends educating youth, their mentors, and the public
about the dangers of underage drinking; limiting youth access to alcoholic
beverages; encouraging communities to support alcohol-free behavior on the
part of youth; and creating incentives as well as disincentives that
discourage alcohol abuse by young people. Dr. Enoch Gordis and the National
Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), along with Dr. Alan
Leshner of NIDA, and SAMSHA/CSAP, are examining possible causal
relationships between exposure to alcohol advertising and alcohol
consumption among youth. NHTSA and OJJDP are addressing alcohol and
drug-related crashes among young people in support of the President's
"Youth, Drugs, and Driving" initiative. NHTSA is providing law enforcement,
prosecutors, and judges with training and education for detecting,
arresting, and imposing sanctions on juvenile alcohol and drug offenders.
States are urged to enact zero-tolerance laws to reduce drinking and
driving among teens. Civic and service organizations are encouraged to
collaborate with organizations like Mothers Against Drunk Driving and
Students Against Destructive Decisions.

Under Secretary Shalala's Youth Substance Abuse Prevention Initiative,
several programs target reducing drinking and driving among underage youth.
These efforts include 1) a National 2000 by 2000 Campaign to reduce the
number of youth killed in alcohol-related crashes; 2) a National Zero
Tolerance Campaign to promote the "no use" message regarding alcohol and
illicit drugs; 3) an increased number of Teen Court Program training
opportunities for State and local participants; 4) a Youth Summit in
conjunction with the National Organizations for Youth Safety quarterly
meting; and, 5) collaboration with the Department of Transportation in
their Partners In Progress initiative addressing impaired driving deaths
and injuries.

SAMHSA/CSAP, as a founding member of the North American Partnership for
Responsibility Hospitality, is working with five pilot sites to support
State/local hospitality panels comprised of prevention, law enforcement,
restaurant/tavern/bar, alcohol regulatory, public health and other
representatives who are receiving technical assistance, training, program
support regarding server intervention, voluntary alcohol control measures
and other effective responsible hospitality practices. SAMHSA/CSAP's
National Center for the Advancement of Prevention is also developing a
variety of products that deal with alcohol availability, including
estimates of the costs of problems resulting from availability of alcohol
to underage drinkers, cost analyses of problems that occur as a result of
privatizing of State-run alcohol outlets; and evaluations of policy
strategies targeting alcohol availability. A new SAMHSA/CSAP Prevention
Enhancement Protocol (PEP), entitled "Preventing Problems Related to
Alcohol Availability: Environmental Approaches" and a wide variety of other
alcohol-specific publications are available from the National Clearinghouse
on Alcohol and Drug Information.

Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth

Several federal agencies are involved in increasing awareness among youth
of the dangers of tobacco use. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is
enforcing regulations that reduce youth access to cigarettes and smokeless
tobacco products. The FDA also will conduct a publicity campaign in 1998 to
encourage compliance by merchants. State enforcement of laws prohibiting
sale of tobacco products to minors, as required by the Public Health
Services Act, will be monitored by SAMHSA/CSAP. CDC supports the "Research
to Classrooms" project to identify and expand school-based
tobacco-prevention efforts; CDC also will fund initial research on
tobacco-cessation programs for youth. The tobacco legislation pending
before the Congress represent an opportunity to set the conditions for a
dramatic reduction in underage smoking. The Administration's goal is to
reduce juvenile smoking rates by 60 percent in ten years.

Targeted Treatment Services for Youth

While substance abuse prevention for youth is critical, there is also a
need for treatment services which specifically target adolescents. This
need is particularly acute for those youth whose treatment needs will not
be met by insurance or family resources. In FY 1998 SAMHSA/CSAT will fund a
new grant program which is designed to identify exemplary treatment
approaches for adolescents, with an emphasis on adolescent heroin abusers.
In addition, SAMHSA/CSAT has launched its Targeted Capacity Expansion
Program which will allow States and local communities to apply for funding
to target specific treatment needs, including the need for services
targeting adolescents.

Athletics

ONDCP will kick off an Athletic Initiative this summer. Athletics play a
major role in young people's lives. Our children look up to sports stars as
heros and emulate their behaviors -- good and bad. Sports can also play a
major role in building core values, teaching life-long lessons, educating
children about the dangers of drugs, and giving them positive alternatives
to hanging out on the streets and getting involved in risky behaviors.
Studies show that children involved in organized sports tend to use less
drugs than their peers who are not involved.

The goals of the ONDCP initiative are two-fold: work with the leagues and
teams to ensure that the messages being sent to children by athletes
reinforce the understanding that drugs are a deadly game; and, use sports
to help send kids the right messages about drugs. We are already seeing
great enthusiasm by sports organizations for this program. ONDCP worked
closely with the U.S. Olympic Committee in helping the International
Olympic Committee (IOC) close the marijuana loophole that stemmed from the
snowboarding incident at the 1998 Nagano Games. (After a gold medalist
snowboarder tested positive for marijuana, an international tribunal ruled
that the Olympic rules did not apply to "nonperformance enhancing drugs."
The decision of the IOC closed the gap opened by this ruling.) We have been
working with the NBA and the NBA Players' to try to close the league's
marijuana loophole. (Under the players' contract, the NBA drug testing
rules do not apply to marijuana). Just this last week, the Florida Marlins
became the first Major League Baseball team to agree to "team up" with
ONDCP in both our Media Campaign and the Athletics Initiative. The Marlins
have also agreed to show anti-drug PSAs at every single one of their
homegames this season. The Boston Red Sox were the first team to show these
PSAs during a game at Fenway Park earlier this month, and we are now
working with them to sign them up to the full initiative.

Conclusion

The key to ending drug use in the United States is to prevent it before it
happens. Prevention begins with our young people. Our National Drug Control
Strategy's first objective is to stop our young people from ever making
that first bad decision to try an illegal drug. If we are able to keep them
- -- by their attitudes and actions -- free from drugs through their teens,
they are likely to remain drug free for the rest of their lives.

However, the success of the Strategy in safeguarding our young people
hinges upon the will and commitment of the American people. The first
defense is the kitchen table. If parents talk to their children about the
harm that drugs do -- their children will listen. If teachers, health care
professionals, coaches, clergy, community leaders, law enforcement and
other youth mentors will steer our young people away from risks and toward
bright futures -- young people will listen. If our society sends young
people the unequivocal message that drug use will destroy their lives and
futures -- they will listen. The commitment, will and guidance of
responsible adults who care for the health and well-being of our young
people can work miracles in keeping our youth drug free.

We are grateful for the bipartisan support of Congress, in particular the
members of this Committee. The successes we have had to date in addressing
youth drug use have been based on the united, nonpartisan efforts of the
Congress and the Executive working together. With your continued support we
can make difference. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today.

Checked-by: Richard Lake