Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 104 Part 6.djvu/1039

 PROCLAMATION 6210—OCT. 19, 1990 104 STAT. 5429 awareness of the risks of excessive radon exposure and ways we can reduce them. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this nineteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fifteenth. GEORGE BUSH Proclamation 6210 of October 19, 1990 National Red Ribbon Week for a Drug-Free America, 1990 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation Illegal drug use costs the United States billions of dollars each year in terms of health care demands and lost economic productivity. Far more disturbing, however, is its daily toll in terms of human lives disrupted and destroyed. Those costs are immeasurable. Former addicts, families terrified by neighborhood violence, law enforcement officials and emergency medical personnel—all can describe the grave consequences of illicit drug use. Affecting individuals and families of every region, every race, every age, and every walk of life, illicit drug use undermines the very foundation of our society. Fortunately, however, we have made important strides in the fight against illegal drug use. Tougher law enforcement and escalated interdiction efforts, as well as education, prevention, and treatment programs in both the public and private sectors, have begim to prove ef- fective. In many parts of the United States today cocaine is harder to find, more expensive, and less pure than it was one year ago. The operations of a number of drug cartels have been disrupted. Surveys and other research indicators show that attitudes toward illicit drug use, including casual use, are also changing for the better. More and more Americans are refusing to tolerate in their communities illegal drugs and the insidious profiteers who deal them. More and more Americans agree that there is no safe use of illegal drugs. Most important, perhaps, more and more youngsters in this country are beginning to recognize that experimenting with drugs isn't cool, that drugs can kill. While we have made welcome the progress in the war on drUgs— thanks to the creative and determined efforts of law enforcement personnel, parents, educators, and other concerned individuals—we still have much work to do. The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that as many as 14.5 million Americans age 12 and over currently use illicit drugs. Seventy percent of all illegal drug users are employed—a percentage that underscores the threat drugs pose to the strength and productivity of American business and industry. During the past several years, the National Federation of Parents for Drug-Free Youth has encouraged the observance of a "National Red Ribbon Week for a Drug-Free America." Millions of Americans—including members of parents' groups, civic organizations, and business

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