KATSAV: NO REDUCED SENTENCES FOR DRUG DEALERS

President Moshe Katsav has pledged that he will neither pardon nor
reduce the sentences of convicted drug dealers.

Katsav gave this assurance on Sunday at his annual meeting with the
National Authority for the War Against Drugs NAWAD).

Deeply concerned about rising statistics of drug and alcohol abuse,
both within and outside the work place and particularly among youth,
Katsav called on the government, the Ministry of Industry, Trade and
Labor, the Israel Manufacturers Association and employers throughout
the country to spare no effort in fighting drug and alcohol
consumption.

According to data made available to him by NAWAD said Katsav, 40 per
cent of fatalities in the work place and 47 per cent of injuries could
be attributed to drug and alcohol abuse.

Uncontrolled use of drugs and alcohol, he noted, leads to reduced
productivity, frequent absenteeism, inability to focus, errors in
judgment, an escalation in mistakes, slow responses, memory lapses,
confused thinking and a variety of other problems.

People who over-indulge in the use of drugs and alcohol pose a danger
to society at large, he warned, and even more to the societies they
are supposed to serve such as passengers on public transport services.
Inebriated drivers of buses or trains or those on a drug-induced high
are bound to make mistakes that could cost lives, he said.

A film screened by NAWAD vividly illustrated this point.

"The problem is not a peripheral one," said Katsav, citing statistics
indicating that 300,000 residents of Israel are addicted to drugs, and
of these 20,000 are aged 12-18. Only 6,000 of these cases are enrolled
in rehabilitation centers, he said, because there are insufficient
facilities available for addicts who would like to be weaned off their
habit.