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REMARKS BY:      DONNA E. SHALALA,  SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
PLACE:           Press Conference on the 1995 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse
DATE:            August 20, 1996

Whether they are tender young pre-schoolers walking into a classroom for the first time or college students standing at the threshold of adulthood and, yes, a real job, these students are the real hope and promise of America.

But for young people to achieve the hope and promise of the future, they must avoid getting tangled in the deadly web of drugs. And that's why today we're here to do more than release new drug data. We're here to challenge all caring adults -- parents, teachers and others -- to take responsibility to warn our children about the dangers of drugs.

At swimming and soccer practice, at Scout meetings, at rehearsal or in the classroom, or on the job or on the playground, we must make it clear to every single young American that drugs are illegal, dangerous, and wrong.

We must let them know in the clearest possible terms that using drugs is like skydiving without the parachute -- that there is no soft landing in the end.

That's the real message of this press conference, and on that note, I'd like to begin with some good news.

First, I am pleased to report that overall drug use remains flat and far below the peak levels that we experienced during the late 1970s.

Second, the number of emergency room visits for drug-related reasons remained flat between 1994 and 1995, although the number and cost of these drug-related visits remains far too high.

And third, not only is overall cocaine use flat, but there has been a 35 percent decline in the number of occasional cocaine users since 1991.

These are important achievements: They indicate that we are continuing to make progress against drug use in the overall population. And they point the way for the kind of gains we need to make in the one area that continues to concern us the most -- youth drug use.

The 1995 Household Survey shows an increase in overall past month drug use, from 8.2 percent in 1994 to 10.9 percent among 12- to 17-year-olds.

This upward trend for 1995 is consistent with the increase reported in the 1995 Monitoring The Future Survey, which we released last December. Most of this increase is caused by significant increases in the past month use of marijuana.

We also saw increases in past month use of cocaine and hallucinogens by this age group, but the percentage of young people using these substances is much smaller than those using marijuana.

And we saw unacceptably high rates of tobacco and alcohol use by young Americans. About 4.5 million 12- to 17-year-olds were smokers in 1995, and about 10 million Americans under 21 drank alcohol in the past month.

When it comes to youth drug use, this year's Household Survey confirms what we have been saying all along. While the vast majority of young people do not use illicit drugs, increasing numbers are reaching for drugs and risking their futures. And that's wrong.

I spend a lot of time talking to parents and young people about this tragedy -- and what all of us can do to stop it. And, wherever I go, there are usually two questions that I'm asked.

The first is, "When did these increases begin?"

The answer, according to the science, is 1991 and 1992. Data from the Monitoring The Future Survey indicate the increase in marijuana use for 8th graders began in 1991. Data on 12- to 17-year-olds from the National Household Survey indicate the upward trend began in 1992. And, our studies show that student disapproval rates for marijuana began to decline in 1990.

So what we are seeing is something very serious -- a multi- year trend that began before this Administration came to Washington, and continues today.

Not something that just happened recently. Not something that might go away on its own.

The second question I am often asked is, "How does youth drug use today compare to the past?"

The answer is that we are still far below the peak years of the late 1970s and early 1980s when the Monitoring The Future Survey put monthly drug use by high school seniors at nearly 39 percent. This is a vitally important fact.

Young people need to know that drug use is not the norm among their peers. Everybody is not doing it.

In fact, as this survey shows, almost 78 percent of 12 to 17 year-olds have never used illicit drugs.

They get up every day. They go to school. They do their homework. They get to work on time. They're doing right by their futures. And, we must stand with them and protect them 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

As caring adults and concerned citizens, we must start with that foundation of anti-drug attitudes among our young people and build a nationwide movement to prevent substance abuse by our children.

That means doing more than raising our voices in concern. We must lead and we must act. And, that's exactly what President Clinton has done.

This President has displayed real leadership and put in place the most comprehensive drug control strategy our nation has ever seen.

As General McCaffrey knows so well, the President's strategy covers all the right bases to hit a home run against drugs, from law enforcement to prevention, from interdiction to treatment, from drug testing to new research.

And, it all begins and ends with the President's top priority -- the number one goal of our drug strategy -- to bring down youth drug use -- and keep it there.

To accomplish that, we're undertaking major community-based education campaigns, like our new "Reality Check" campaign targeted against marijuana.

We're teaming up with the National PTA to help parents talk to their children about the dangers of drugs -- before it's too late.

We're working with the Weekly Reader and Scholastic magazines to get new anti-drug materials into classrooms.

We're also supporting drug testing of high school athletes, and calling for school uniforms and curfews for teens.

We're working with the entertainment industry and the Partnership for a Drug Free America to de-glamorize drugs and re- glamorize opportunity in popular media.

We're supporting a major research agenda to deflate all the myths that marijuana and other drugs don't cause lasting harm.

And, with his veto pen, earlier this year the President made it clear that this is not the time to retreat in the battle against teenage drug use, by beating back extremist efforts to end the Safe and Drug Free Schools program.

This is a strong record of leadership.

We've backed up our words with powerful deeds, because this country needs a strong national drug strategy with a commitment to getting results.

And that's why we are so disappointed with the proposed House of Representatives cut of $184 million from the President's 1997 budget proposal for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

These devastating cuts would effectively shut down federal support for developing new strategies in substance abuse prevention and treatment.

Now is not the time to pull back our efforts against drugs. Now is the time to work in partnership with all Americans to spread this clear message about drugs: Drugs are illegal, dangerous and wrong.

Let me repeat: Drugs are illegal, dangerous and wrong.

So today, let us go from here with the banner of this simple, but powerful message unfurled as our rallying cry in this fight.

Let us pledge to continue building a solid future for our children, helping them slam the door on drugs shut and open the door to their futures.

This is a fight that we not only can win, but we must win, and we will win. And we will win it from our own personal bully pulpits --never letting up, never giving in, and never, ever backing down.

Because our children -- and their future -- are much too important.

Thank you.