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[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 295 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 295

   To express the sense of the Senate concerning the development of 
          effective methods for eliminating the use of heroin.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

              October 9 (legislative day, October 2), 1998

 Mr. Coats (for himself, Mr. McCain, and Mr. Coverdell) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Labor and 
                            Human Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
   To express the sense of the Senate concerning the development of 
          effective methods for eliminating the use of heroin.

Whereas heroin use in the United States continues to increase;
Whereas drug use among teenagers in the United States is increasing and the 
        number of teenagers that are using heroin for the first time is higher 
        than any other number previously determined;
Whereas between 1992 and 1996, heroin use among college-age students increased 
        an estimated 10 percent;
Whereas an estimated 810,000 chronic heroin addicts live in the United States;
Whereas an estimated 115,000 heroin addicts in the United States are currently 
        participating in methadone programs;
Whereas methadone is a synthetic opiate and the use of methadone in treatment 
        for heroin addiction results in the transfer of addiction from one drug 
        to another drug;
Whereas heroin addicts and methadone addicts are unable to function as self-
        sufficient, productive members of society;
Whereas methadone addicts who attempt to become drug free experience the same 
        difficult withdrawal process as that experienced by heroin addicts;
Whereas the Clinton Administration, through the Office of National Drug Control 
        Policy, is directing the drug policy of the United States toward the 
        wrong goals by announcing a new heroin policy;
Whereas that heroin policy would double the number of heroin addicts transferred 
        to methadone addiction, loosen controls with respect to the licensing of 
        methadone dispensers, and promote methadone addiction as the principal 
        means of ending heroin addiction;
Whereas no official responsible for that policy has consulted with Congress 
        concerning that policy and the Clinton Administration lacks sufficient 
        statutory and budgetary authority to carry out that policy; and
Whereas in promoting methadone addiction as the preferred treatment for heroin 
        addiction, the Clinton Administration has abandoned heroin addicts to a 
        lifetime of Government-sponsored drug dependency: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) the Federal Government should adopt a zero-tolerance 
        drug-free policy that has as its principal objective the 
        elimination of drug abuse and addiction, including both 
        methadone and heroin;
            (2) Congress should conduct a thorough examination of the 
        national drug control policy of the United States to determine 
        the reasons for the failure of methadone and methadone 
        maintenance programs to eliminate heroin addiction;
            (3) Congress should carefully examine alternative 
        approaches to curing heroin addiction, and focus on treatments 
        that eliminate dependence on, or addiction to, any substance or 
        drug; and
            (4) Congress should work with the Clinton Administration to 
        develop an effective drug control policy that--
                    (A) includes a clear and comprehensive strategy to 
                provide for a transition to a zero-tolerance, drug-free 
                program that is based on detoxification and the 
                comprehensive treatment of the pathology of drug 
                addiction;
                    (B) addresses other human needs that contribute to 
                recidivism among recovering heroin addicts; and
                    (C) provides opportunities for former addicts to 
                become self-sufficient, productive members of society.
                                 <all>
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