Clinton presents five-step drug plan

April 29, 1996
Web posted at: 1:25 p.m. EDT

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Declaring that the Miami area has set a standard that all cities should follow, President Clinton introduced Monday a new five-pronged plan to fight the nation's drug problems.

"While it is true that in the end this work has to be done student by student, family by family, school by school, neighborhood by neighborhood, we must acknowledge that the nation's government has a role to play," Clinton told an audience of 700 students at George Washington Carver Middle School in the Miami suburb of Coral Gables.

"We still have a responsibility to help people in American make the most out of their own lives ... to feel secure in their homes, on their streets and in their schools."

The National Drug Control Strategy, which Clinton said builds upon the work his administration has done over the past three years, is a 10-year plan created partly by retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey, White House drug policy chief.

Clinton outlined the plan's goals as:

• To get young people to reject drugs.
• To use effective treatment and prevention to break the vicious cycle that links drugs to violent crime.
• To stop drugs at the nation's borders.
• To break up the sources of supply.
• To reduce the terrible social and economic cost imposed by drugs on U.S. society (349K AIFF sound or 349K WAV sound)

Joined on stage by McCaffrey, Attorney General Janet Reno and Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, Clinton pointed to several actions he has already taken to fight drugs and violent crime, including stronger gun control and the more than 100 drug courts established around the country.

Clinton said that while statistics show drug use and crime have decreased over the past three years in the general population, drug use and random violent acts are increasing among people under 18 years old.

"They are the people for whom we must fight," he said, urging people to get involved at the grass-roots level.

McCaffrey, speaking before Clinton, said he plans to formally lay out his strategy before the Senate on Wednesday. Clinton said he will ask Congress to increase funding for the drug war by 9.3 percent and stressed the importance of bipartisan support for his plans.

"We can't stop drugs if the schools, hospitals and communities don't have the tools they need to get the job done," Clinton said. "We have to have the support of Congress to do this." (247K AIFF sound or 247K WAV sound)

Related stories:

• New drug plan targets youth, crime
• Clinton to announce grants to help fight gang violence - April 2, 1996
• Clinton targets teens in anti-drug effort - March 7, 1996
• Clinton rejects easing crack penalties - October 30, 1995

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