CLINTON URGES YOUTHS TO STAY OFF DRUGS.Byline: Christopher S. Wren wren, small, plump perching songbird of the family Troglodytidae. There are about 60 wren species, and all except one are restricted to the New World. The plumage is usually brown or reddish above and white, gray, or buff, often streaked, below. The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times Recalling the experiences of his own generation, and indeed his own brother, President Clinton warned a rapt audience of high school students Thursday that illegal drugs were dangerous as well as wrong and that using them would mean forfeiting Forfeiting Method of financing international trade of capital goods. personal freedom and a promising future. "I grew up in the '60s," Clinton said, "when most people your age, when I was your age, they just sort of got into this business. They didn't really believe drugs were dangerous until it nearly destroyed a generation." For all his emotion on the subject, the president left unmentioned his own youthful encounter with marijuana marijuana or marihuana, drug obtained from the flowering tops, stems, and leaves of the hemp plant, Cannabis sativa (see hemp) or C. indica; the latter species can withstand colder climates. , an admission during the 1992 presidential campaign that drew sharp attacks from Republicans, who later accused him of not doing enough to fight drugs as president. In March 1992, Clinton confessed to having once experimented with marijuana "a time or two," but insisted that he did not like it and did not inhale in·hale v. 1. To breathe in; inspire. 2. To draw something such as smoke or a medicinal mist into the lungs by breathing; inspire. , a claim for which he has been derided ever since. But Clinton made his point when he told the students, "I had a brother who nearly lost his life. I know a lot about this." His brother Roger is a recovered cocaine addict Any individual who habitually uses any narcotic drug so as to endanger the public morals, health, safety, or welfare, or who is so drawn to the use of such narcotic drugs as to have lost the power of self-control with reference to his or her drug use. . "More and more young people believe drugs aren't dangerous," Clinton said. "That is factually wrong." He said the toxic content of marijuana alone was nearly three times as great as it was 30 years ago, when he was a college student. "It is not true that they are not dangerous," he continued. "They are illegal and therefore wrong, but they are also dangerous. And I say again, I nearly lost my only brother. I'm not just telling you as the president. This is not a political speech, this is a personal statement." Clinton's appearance, at a conference on youths, drugs and violence, was another set piece in his effort to showcase a "values agenda" largely molded mold 1 n. 1. A hollow form or matrix for shaping a fluid or plastic substance. 2. A frame or model around or on which something is formed or shaped. 3. Something that is made in or shaped on a mold. around children's issues to compete with the Republican emphasis on cultural and social issues. In the past few weeks, the president has spoken in favor of school uniforms at a campaign rally in California and brought television executives to the White House to discuss voluntary ratings system for programs and the quality of shows for children. In delivering perhaps the strongest anti-drug message of his three years in the White House, the president moved to wrest wrest tr.v. wrest·ed, wrest·ing, wrests 1. To obtain by or as if by pulling with violent twisting movements: wrested the book out of his hands; wrested the islands from the settlers. the issue from his Republican critics, who were preparing to announce results of their own research into drug abuse at a news conference Thursday. Drugs, like Hollywood culture, is a policy area where Republicans have tried to make their mark, by being critical of Clinton's move early in his term to slash the staff in the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) was established by the National Narcotics Leadership Act of 1988 (21 U.S.C.A. § 1501 et seq.) and began operations in January 1989. to make good on a campaign pledge to reduce the White House staff. This week the White House announced that Clinton would restore staffing levels and this year would spend an additional $250 million, taken from the Pentagon, on the fight against drugs. |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion