The National Methamphetamine
Drug Conference
J. Robert Kerrey
United States Senator From Nebraska
That we have the freedom to choose and the freedom to create our own future is a deeply-held American principle. We not only have democracy here at home; we fought for it throughout this world. But combined with this freedom and the growing with this technology, we have also seen significant problems created along the way. We have more power, but at the same time, we feel strangely powerless to deal with the problem of methamphetamine and other drugs.
James McDonough presented the National Strategy to us as a tool against the drug problem. The Strategy has not been developed from the top but from the ground up. That strategy has been prospective and calls upon all of us to say to the best of our ability: This is what we think must be done. Much of this work involves helping our young people become productive citizens; it also requires that we use history and science in a responsible way. Let me elaborate on these points.
Prior to coming here this morning, I went to Field Club Elementary School to an honors convention for the sixth grade. There were 21 sixth graders and 42 parents at this event. We need participation by parents to help solve the problem of methamphetamine. We, as our children's role models, must get involved in their lives. This is the only way we can give our young people the promise of their birthright.
We need the courage to say to our young people that they must deny themselves at times. They cannot have the freedom to do everything they may want to do if they plan to multiply their talents. We must have the courage to say to our mothers and fathers that they must be good mothers and fathers with their sons and daughters. Parents must spend time with their children and give them guidance and discipline.
We have to muster the courage and say to our business community that it is not good to work the labor force too hard. Business needs not only to maintain zero drug tolerance in the workplace, but to be very careful with its instructions to workers. Business cannot inadvertently push workers into using stimulant drugs to meet industry work demands. This type of management philosophy will destroy workers' lives and their futures.
We need to harness the power of science on this drug problem. Whether one believes that God's plan was one of natural selection or as literally described in the Book of Genesis, we human beings have been on the earth for two million years. We have organized ourselves in civilized cities for some 6,000 years. But it is only within the last 400 years that we began, through our intellect, to organize science and use science in the pursuit of our objectives.
Senator Kerrey and Director McCaffrey take a moment to speak with press about the dangers of methamphetamine abuse. |
Finally, we must add the power of law to our efforts. I intend, as a consequence of listening as much as possible over the last 36 hours, to take your instructions and try to convert them into law. History teaches us that less than 1 or 2 percent of Americans will end the day breaking the law. The law not only tells us what we cannot do, it also tells us what we can do. Because we care, because we are human beings with consciences, because we are willing to try and fail at times, we have made progress by use of law.
A year from now, I hope we will feel a sense of progress under the leadership of Barry McCaffrey. What he has done so well in the past year is to call upon America's young and old, rich or poor, to participate in this battle, not simply to reject this drug problem, but to be able to say that we have responded to God's call. Keep in mind that this is not a national war on drugs; it is a global war on drugs, and we have a distance to go. I hope this conference has provided ideas to make your work more successful as it has for me. Thank you.
