H. Res. 569

In the House of Representatives, U.S.,

October 7, 2002.

Whereas nearly 20,000 Americans, many of them children,

die of drug-induced deaths, more than 52,000 Americans

die from drug-related causes, and more than 600,000

Americans visit hospital emergency rooms for drug-related episodes every year;

Whereas the United States has for years been one of the

largest consumers of illegal drugs in the world;

Whereas more than 50 percent of high school seniors have experimented with an illegal drug at least once prior to

graduation, 2,800,000 Americans are considered to be

‘‘dependent’’ on illegal drugs, and an additional

1,500,000 are in the less severe ‘‘abuser’’ category;

Whereas the societal costs, including lost productivity, of the

illegal drug problem in America have reached a staggering $160,000,000,000 per year;

Whereas the United States is experiencing a dramatic increase in the potency of marijuana and sharply escalating

use of drugs such as methamphetamines, ‘‘club drugs’’

such as (‘‘ecstasy’’) and abuse of legally prescribed drugs

such as Oxycontin;

Whereas the Office of National Drug Control Policy within

the Executive Office of the President was established by
2

•HRES 569 EH

the National Narcotics Leadership Act of 1988 to coordinate the Nation’s overall counter-narcotics efforts;

Whereas the United States has consistently and firmly supported a ‘‘balanced’’ approach in the war on drugs, and

the National Drug Control Strategy for 2002 calls for

stopping drug use before it starts through education and

community action, healing America’s drug users by getting treatment resources where they are needed, and disrupting the market by attacking the economic basis of

the drug trade;

Whereas more than 5,000 community anti-drug coalitions

across America have been created to bring together parents, teachers, coaches, mentors, business leaders, faithbased organizations, and Federal, State, and local governments to reduce drug use through effective grassroots

efforts;

Whereas the President of the United States has directed the

Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Attorney General to better define and address the so-called

‘‘treatment gap’’ in America through increased and more

effective drug treatment facilities across America and by

convincing nearly 90 percent of drug abusers, particularly

adolescents, that they in fact need help;

Whereas the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign

plays an important role in reducing drug use and social

disapproval of drugs;

Whereas there is a well-established link between the profits

from the illegal drug trade and the financing of many of

the world’s leading terrorist organizations, including the

Taliban, al-Qaeda, and the Fuerzas Armadas

Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), and the illegal
3

•HRES 569 EH

narcotics trade has contributed directly to social and political instability and loss of innocent life in democratic

nations in the Andean region and around the world;

Whereas the United States Government and the House of

Representatives are working closely with allied nations to

stop the international production and transit of illegal

drugs and promote alternative development and means of

economic growth;

Whereas the capabilities of the United States Coast Guard,

the United States Customs Service, and the United

States Border Patrol are critical to our Nation’s drug

interdiction efforts and must be maintained at no less

than their current levels;

Whereas Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies

are working diligently to enforce laws prohibiting the use

of illegal drugs and to interdict illegal drug traffic to the

United States;

Whereas the Supreme Court of the United States decisively

reaffirmed that the Controlled Substances Act is binding

national law in United States v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers’ Collective, 532 U.S. 483 (2001); and

Whereas the use of illegal drugs has been decisively rejected

by the American people as inconsistent with the general

welfare of the United States and individual dignity: Now,

therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives—

(1) expresses its support for the President of the

United States and the Office of National Drug Control

Policy in the goal to reduce drug use in America by 10
4

•HRES 569 EH

percent during the next 2 years and 25 percent during

the next 5 years;

(2) calls on all Americans to join in the effort to

prevent, reduce, and reject illegal drug use in America

by talking to children about the dangers and consequences of illegal drug use and encouraging other responsible adults to do the same in their families and

communities;

(3) calls on the President, the Secretary of State,

the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Health and

Human Services, the Secretary of Transportation, the

Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy,

and the heads of subsidiary agencies (including the Drug

Enforcement Administration, the United States Customs

Service, the United States Coast Guard, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration) to

work together to effectively implement the 2002 National Drug Control Strategy and continue to seek ways

to improve the coordination among Federal, State, and

local governments, nonprofit organizations, corporations,

foreign governments, and private citizens to reduce the

demand for international supply of illegal drugs in the

United States;
5

•HRES 569 EH

(4) expresses its sense that narcotics control is an

integral part of homeland security and should be a priority mission for any new Department of Homeland Security;

(5) commends all Federal, State, and local government personnel working to combat illegal drug use in the

United States, as well as community leaders who seek to

make a difference across the United States; and

(6) reaffirms the sense of the House of Representatives against any use of narcotic and other drugs in a

manner inconsistent with the Controlled Substances Act.

Attest:

Clerk.