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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
January 15, 2009
Message to the Congress of the United States
TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES:
I am pleased to transmit the 2009 National Drug Control Strategy, consistent with the provisions of section 201 of the Office of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 2006.
My Administration released its first National Drug Control Strategy in 2002 with the commitment to turn the tide against a problem that truly threatens everything that is good about our country. As we prepare to pass this noble charge to a new team of leaders, we can look back with satisfaction on what we have achieved together as a Nation. From community coalitions to our international partnerships, we pursued a balanced strategy that emphasized stopping initiation, reducing drug abuse and addiction, and disrupting drug markets.
The results of our efforts are clear. Together we have helped reduce teenage drug use by 25 percent since 2001. This means 900,000 fewer American teens are using drugs. The Access to Recovery program alone has extended treatment services to more than 260,000 Americans. Through law enforcement cooperation and international partnerships, the United States has caused serious disruptions in the availability of drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamine, reducing the threat such drugs pose to the American people, while also denying profits to drug traffickers and terrorists.
Our work is by no means complete -- we must build on these efforts both to further reduce drug use and to rise to new challenges. I thank the Congress for its support and ask that it continue to support this critical endeavor.
GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE,
January 15, 2009.
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