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REMARKS BY:	DONNA E. SHALALA, SECRETARY OF HEALTHA AND HUMAN SERVICES
PLACE:		National Drug Control Strategy Event, Washington, D.C.
DATE:		February 8, 1999
TOPIC:

"Preventing and Treating Drug Abuse"

Thank you General McCaffrey. Recently, I read a story about a young man in Washington who first tried heroin as a teenager. He wrote: "I used to dream of becoming a lawyer, but found myself on the skids, going down the endless, slippery slope of addiction." He would soon lose everything: his home, his family, his self-worth. But eventually, that young man was able to get treatment-and to struggle free from heroin's grip.

His story is eloquent testimony to the importance of drug prevention efforts to stop people from going down that slippery slope in the first place. And to the importance of drug treatment strategies to help those who are already caught in the chains of addiction. That's why I'm so pleased that the President has requested an increase in drug treatment money in Fiscal Year 2000. We're asking for an additional 85 million dollars-which will allow us to serve 20,000 more individuals.

Our 1999 National Drug Control Strategy also recognizes the importance of drug treatment and prevention, and I'm proud of the role that my Department had in its development. General McCaffrey just told you about a major focus of the 1999 Strategy-the "National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign." HHS is providing a substantial amount of support to this campaign. We'll be evaluating the Campaign's effectiveness through surveys of parents and youth. And we've expanded our National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information, to accommodate the expected increase in calls.

These initiatives are designed to make the most of the "window of opportunity" we saw in last year's Monitoring the Future Report. That survey of illicit drug use among teenagers showed that teen drug use remained stable for the second year in a row-and even decreased in several important areas. The news on marijuana was especially heartening. Past and present surveys indicate that marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug among teenagers-and that marijuana use went up sharply in the first half of this decade. Monitoring the Future showed that the trend may finally be starting to change. Marijuana use among 8th and 12th graders in 1998 was essentially the same as the year before-and dropped significantly among 10th graders. Last year's report was also the first since 1991 to show an increase in the percentage of 8th graders who say marijuana is a risk to their health and life. That's incredibly important-because when the perceived risk of marijuana goes up, use tends to go down.

Of course, we all must do more to combat drug use among every segment of our society-and we need to begin the fight as early as possible. We know that parents are the single most important factor in preventing children from trying drugs. We need parents to sit down with their children-early and often-and tell them that drugs are bad for your brains and bad for your bodies.that drugs are not the stuff of dreams, but the stuff of nightmares.and that when you buy drugs, you're mortgaging your hopes and dreams. Teachers, coaches, neighbors-and every single person who cares about young people-must also join hands to protect our children. We must all continue to work to define innovative prevention and treatment strategies. And we must keep a steady drum beat of anti-drug messages echoing from every corner of society-so that, one day, no one will be caught in the chains of addiction.

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