Too often when addicts come to a treatment center and ask for help, they are turned away and told to come back in six months or more. This is how long the waiting list can be. Of all the inexplicable aspects of our response to the drug epidemic, none seems more unforgivable. This is a fundamental response to any public health epidemic. If we've learned anything, we've learned that we are in the midst of a public health crisis.
Drug use appears to be rising in inner-city neighborhoods where addiction problems are most severe.
In addition, a federal survey of American households shows that one million Americans use crack at least occasionally. There is nothing more important in this battle against drug addiction than early intervention with access for all to appropriate treatment. The consequences of inadequate or inappropriate action in this epidemic will continue to be devastating unless we respond immediately. The 1988 Omnibus Anti-Drug Abuse Act does not ignore law enforcement. If we are to succeed in a return to law and order in our cities, we must provide federal support to local police.