Like a corrosive, insidious cancer, drug abuse diminishes the potential of our citizens for full growth and development. The traditions of American government and democracy affirm self-determination and freedom. While government must minimize interference in the private lives of citizens, it cannot deny security to individuals and the collective culture the people uphold. Drug abuse and its consequences destroy personal liberty and the well-being of communities. Every drug user risks his ability to think rationally and his potential for a full, productive life.
Drug abuse drains the physical and moral strength of America.
It spawns global criminal syndicates and bankrolls those who sell drugs to children. Illegal drugs foster crime and violence in our inner cities, suburbs, and rural areas. Drug-induced deaths increased 47 percent between 1990 and 1994 and number approximately 14,000 a year. 2 Absent effective government action, the damage to our country would be even greater. Historians have documented America's experience with addictive drugs over the past two hundred years.