Four out of five teens believe current laws against both the sale and the use of drugs (including marijuana) are not strict enough.
—The Gallup Youth Surveys, 1985 and 1986
"Policy is useless without action! Drugs do not have to be tolerated on our school campuses. Policy to that effect is almost universally on the books. Drugs remain on campus because consistent, equitable and committed enforcement is lacking."
—Bill Rudolph, Principal, Northside High School, Atlanta, Georgia
Testimony submitted to the U.S. Senate Committee on Special Investigations, July 1984
"… We have a right to be protected from drugs."
—Cicely Senior, a seventh-grader,
McFarland Junior High, Washington, D.C.
William J. Bennett
Secretary of Education
The foremost responsibility of any society is to nurture and protect its children. In America today, the most serious threat to the health and well-being of our children is drug use.
For the past year and a half, I have had the privilege of teaching our children in the classrooms of this country. I have met some outstanding teachers and administrators and many wonderful children. I have taken time during these visits to discuss the problem of drug use with educators and with police officers working in drug enforcement across the country. Their experience confirms the information reported in major national studies: drug use by children is at alarming levels. Use of some of the most harmful drugs is increasing. Even more troubling is the fact that children are using drugs at younger ages. Students today identify drugs as a major problem among their schoolmates as early as the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades.