Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 102 Part 5.djvu/303

 PUBLIC LAW 100-690—NOV. 18, 1988

102 STAT. 4309

Subtitle E—President's Media Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention SEC. 5201. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR PRESIDENT'S MEDIA COMMISSION ON ALCOHOL AND DRUG ABUSE PREVENTION.

There are authorized to be appropriated for the President's Media Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention— (1) $1,000,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1989; (2) $1,000,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1990; and (3) $1,000,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1991.

Subtitle F—Drug-Free America Policy SEC. 5251. UNITED STATES POLICY FOR A DRUG-FREE AMERICA BY 1995.

(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that— (1) approximately 37 million Americans used an illegal drug in the past year and more than 23 million Americans use illicit drugs at least monthly, including more than 6 million who use cocaine; (2) half of all high school seniors have used illegal drugs at legist once, and over 25 percent use drugs at least monthly; (3) illicit drug use adds enormously to the national cost of health care and rehabilitation services; (4) illegal drug use can result in a wide spectrum of extremely serious health problems, including disruption of normal heart rh3rthm, small lesions of the heart, high blood pressure, leaks of blood vessels in the brain, bleeding and destruction of brain cells, permanent memory loss, infertility, impotency, immune system impairment, kidney failure, and pulmonary damage, and in the most serious instances, heart attack, stroke, and sudden death; (5) approximately 25 percent of all victims of AIDS acquired the disesise through intravenous drug use; (6) over 30,000 people were admitted to emergency rooms in 1986 with drug-related health problems, including nearly 10,000 for cocaine alone; (7) there is a strong link between teenage suicide and use of illegal drugs; (8) 10 to 15 percent of all highway fatalities involve drug use; (9) illegal drug use is prevalent in the workplace and endangers fellow workers, national security, public safety, company morale, and production; (10) it is estimated that 1 of every 10 American workers have their productivity impaired by substance abuse; (11) it is estimated that drug users are 3 times as likely to be involved in on-the-job accidents, are absent from work twice as often, and incur 3 times the average level of sickness costs as non-users; (12) the total cost to the economy of drug use is estimated to be over $100,000,000,000 annually; (13) the connection between drugs and crime is also wellproven;

21 USC 1502

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