13 Aug 1997 Forbes Rips Clinton as New Report Shows Teen Drug Use Still Soaring

Press ReleaseAmericans for Hope, Growth and Opportunity

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

August 13, 1997

 

AMERICANS FOR HOPE, GROWTH AND OPPORTUNITY RIPS CLINTON FOR LACK OF LEADERSHIP AS NEW REPORT SHOWS PRE-TEEN DRUG USE SOARING“When the number of 12-year-olds who know cocaine and heroin users doubles in one year, that’s a crisis that demands presidential leadership. Yet Bill Clinton’s silence on the worsening drug crisis is deafening. Where is Bill Clinton? Why isn’t he leading?” says Forbes(Bedminster, New Jersey) Steve Forbes, Honorary Chairman of Americans for Hope, Growth Opportunity, a national issues advocacy organization, responding to new information showing the drug crisis worsening dramatically among young people, today sharply criticized President Clinton for a demonstrating “a deeply disturbing lack of leadership in the war on drugs.”

According to a new survey by the Commission on Substance Abuse Among America’s Adolescents, the number of pre-teenagers who know a friend or classmate who has used illegal drugs such as cocaine and heroin soared 122 percent between 1996 and 1997. The survey found that 23.5 percent of 12-year olds know illegal drug users, up from 10.6 percent in 1996.

Last week, the 1996 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse revealed an increase in overall drug use among young people between the ages of 18 and 25-years old. Drug use among this age group is now the highest it has been since 1988.

A new Columbia University study shows teen heroin has doubled between 1991 and 1996.

“When the number of 12 year olds who know cocaine and heroin users doubles in one year, that’s a crisis that demands presidential leadership. Yet Bill Clinton’s silence on the worsening drug crisis is deafening. Where is Bill Clinton? Why isn’t he leading?” said Mr. Forbes “At a minimum, it is time for a nationally-televised, Oval Office address in which the President lays out a real anti-drug strategy aimed at protecting young people.”

Contact: Joel Rosenberg, Communications Director, (703) 925-9281 or [email protected]

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