Office Of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 2006
OFFICE OF NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL POLICY REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2006 -- (House of Representatives - December 07, 2006)
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Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, first of all, I want to thank the gentleman from Maryland for yielding.
I also want to commend Chairman SOUDER and Ranking Member CUMMINGS for the tenacious and outstanding work that they have done on this issue ever since I have been associated with them and affiliated with the subcommittee. As a matter of fact, they have traveled all over America, the length and breadth of the country, listening to people, visiting with people. As a matter of fact, I do not know anybody who has worked harder on an issue than they have, and so I commend both of you for your tenacity and outstanding work.
I rise in support of H.R. 2829, Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 2005, a policy which addresses prevention, interdiction and treatment, as well as all aspects of law enforcement.
The use and abuse of illegal, illicit and contraband drugs is one of the most challenging and difficult problems facing America. For example, in Cook County where I live, in a survey that was taken a couple of years ago, 800,000 individuals indicated that they used drugs, 800,000. I grant you that we have a population of over 5 million people but 800,000 of those said that they used illicit drugs; 300,000 indicated that they were what we call hard core drug users, every day or whenever they could find the money to purchase what they need. As a matter of fact, the Chicago police records suggest that 75 percent of all the people that they arrest test positive for drug use.
If we could somehow or another reduce the use of drugs, crime statistics would go so far down until sometimes we would have a hard time finding them. There is a direct correlation between crime and drug use in America.
As a result of looking at this problem, I have become more and more a fan of what I call treatment on demand; that is, enough resources so that when individuals who are addicted decide that they are ready for treatment, that treatment is available to them and so that they do not have to wait 90 days or 60 days to get into a program, because in 90 days or 60 days or 30 days they may have decided that they do not want treatment anymore. So we lose the opportunity.
While again I commend Chairman Souder, Ranking Member CUMMINGS and certainly Chairman Tom Davis and Ranking Member HENRY WAXMAN for all of the attention that they have given, I hope that as we go into the new Congress in January that we can build upon the outstanding work that this subcommittee and the Committee on Government Reform has done and make certain that we have not only the resources available for law enforcement for prevention but that we also have enough resources available for treatment.
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