Good evening. This is the first time since taking the oath of office that I felt an issue was so important, so threatening that it warranted talking directly with you, the American people. All of us agree that the gravest domestic threat facing our nation today is drugs.

Drugs have strained our faith in our system of justice. Our courts, our prisons, our legal system are stretched to the breaking point. The social costs of drugs are mounting. In short, drugs are sapping our strength as a nation. Turn on the evening news or pick up the morning paper and you'll see what some Americans know just by stepping out their front door: Our most serious problem today is cocaine and, in particular, crack.

Who's responsible? Let me tell you straight out.

Everyone who uses drugs. Everyone who sells drugs. And everyone who looks the other way.

Tonight, I'll tell you how many Americans are using illegal drugs. I will present to you our national strategy to deal with every aspect of this threat. And I will ask you to get involved in what promises to be a very difficult fight.

This — this is crack cocaine seized a few days ago by Drug Enforcement agents in a park just across the street from the White House. It could easily have been heroin or PCP. It's as innocent-looking as candy, but it's turning our cities into battle zones, and it is murdering our children. Let there be no mistake; this stuff is poison. Some used to call drugs harmless recreation. They're not. Drugs are a real and terribly dangerous threat to our neighborhoods, our friends and our families.

No one among us is out of harm's way. When 4-year-olds play in playgrounds strewn with discarded hypodermic needles and crack vials — it breaks my heart. When cocaine — one of the most deadly and addictive illegal drugs — is available to school kids — school kids — it's an outrage. And when hundreds of thousands of babies are born each year to mothers who use drugs — premature babies born desperately sick — then even the most defenseless among us are at risk.

These are the tragedies behind the statistics. But the numbers also have quite a story to tell. Let me share with you the results of the recently completed Household Survey of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. It compares recent drug use to three years ago. It tells us some good news and some very bad news. First, the good.

As you can see in the chart, in 1985, the government estimated that 23 million Americans were using drugs on a "current" basis — that is, at least once in the preceding month. Last year, that number fell by more than a third. That means almost nine million fewer Americans are casual drug users. Good news.

Because we changed our national attitude toward drugs, casual drug use has declined. We have many to thank: our brave law enforcement officers, religious leaders, teachers, community activists, and leaders of business and labor. We should also thank the
coverage and for their air time and space for antidrug messages. And finally, I want to thank President and Mrs. Reagan for their leadership. All of these good people told the truth — that drug use is wrong and dangerous.

But as much comfort as we can draw from these dramatic reductions, there is also bad news — very bad news. Roughly eight million people have used cocaine in the past year; almost one million of them used it frequently — once a week or more.

What this means is that, in spite of the fact that overall cocaine use is down, frequent use has almost doubled in the last few years. And that's why habitual cocaine users — especially crack users — are the most pressing, immediate drug problem.

What, then, is our plan? To begin with, I trust the lesson of experience. No single policy will cut it, no matter how glamorous or magical it may sound. To win the war against addictive drugs like crack will take more than just a federal strategy. It will take a national strategy: one that reaches into every school, every workplace, involving every family....    

Our weapons in this strategy are the law and criminal justice system, our foreign policy, our treatment systems, and our schools and drug prevention programs. So the basic weapons we need are the ones we already have. What's been lacking is a strategy to effectively use them.  

Let me address four of the major elements of our strategy.   

First, we are determined to enforce the law, to make our streets and neighborhoods safe. So to start, I'm proposing that we more than double federal assistance to state and local law enforcement. Americans have a right to safety in and around their homes. And we won't have safe neighborhoods unless we're tough on drug criminals — much tougher than we are now. Sometimes that means tougher penalties. But more often it just means punishment that is swift and certain. We've all heard stories about drug dealers who are caught and arrested — again and again — but never punished. Well, here the rules have changed. If you sell drugs, you will be caught. And when you're caught, you will be prosecuted. And once you're convicted, you will do time. Caught. Prosecuted. Punished.   

I'm also proposing that we enlarge our criminal justice system across the board — at the local, state and federal levels alike. We need more prisons, more jails, more courts, more prosecutors.... The second element of our strategy looks beyond our borders where the cocaine and crack bought on America's streets is grown and processed. In Colombia alone, cocaine killers have gunned down a leading statesman, murdered almost 200 judges and seven members of their Supreme Court. The besieged governments of the drug-producing countries are fighting back, fighting to break the international drug rings. But you and I agree with the courageous President of Colombia, Virgilio Barco, who said that if Americans use cocaine, then Americans are paying for murder. American cocaine users need to understand that our nation has zero tolerance for casual drug use. We have a responsibility not to leave our brave friends in Colombia to fight alone....

And our message to the drug cartels is this: the rules have changed. We will help any government that wants our help. When requested, we will for the first time make available the appropriate resources of America's armed forces. We will intensify our efforts against drug smugglers on the high seas, in international airspace and at our borders. We will stop the flow of chemicals from the United States used to process drugs. We will pursue and enforce international agreements to track drug money to the front men and financiers. And then we will handcuff these money launderers and jail them — just like any street dealer. And for the drug kingpins, the death penalty.

The third part of our strategy concerns drug treatment. Experts believe that there are two milk lion American drug users who may be able to get off drugs with proper treatment. But right now, only 40 percent of them are actually getting help. This is simply not good enough.

Many people who need treatment won't seek it on their own. And some who do seek it are put on a waiting list. Most programs were set up to deal with heroin addicts, but, today, the major problem is cocaine users. It's time we expand our treatment systems and do a better job of providing services to those who need them....   

Fourth, we must stop illegal drug use before it starts. Unfortunately, it begins early — for many kids, before their teens. But it doesn't start the way you might think, from a dealer or an addict hanging around a school playground. More often, our kids first get their drugs free, from friends, or even from older brothers or sisters. Peer pressure spreads drug use. Peer pressure can help stop it....   

To start, Congress needs not only to act on this national drug strategy, but also to act on our crime package announced last May: a package to toughen sentences, beef up law enforcement and build new prison space for 24,000 inmates....

George Bush, Address by the President on National Drug Policy, the Oval Office, Sept. 5,1989.