We can also bring statewide and nationwide expertise and resources to bear on a problem. And we can draw the attention of news media that is so critical to educating and mobilizing neighborhoods to solve their toughest social problems. If there is any public-policy area that demands a new, more effective approach, it is drug abuse. Recent Gallup polls show that crime and drugs are Americans' top concerns. When you ask parents and children what is the most serious issue facing youth today, both groups cite drug abuse.
National statistics show there is indeed cause for alarm.
LSD use is now at its highest level since 1975, when it was first measured. Since 1992, the number of children between 12 and 17 using marijuana has nearly doubled. Greater Cincinnati has a drug problem that mirrors the startling national statistics. This region of the country experienced a similar decline in drug use in the 1980s. But by the early 1990s, it began to skyrocket.