Focus on Drug Users--Reagan

President Reagan said today that the focus of America’s war against illegal drugs must be on the user rather than on the traffickers, and that “total victory” in the battle is “ultimately certain.”

“There are limits on what can be accomplished on the supply side,” Reagan said in a speech to corporate leaders who are trying to eliminate drugs from the workplace. “There must also be stern social sanctions on the user of illegal drugs and broad societal support for individuals being drug-free. It is this change in attitudes that I believe makes total victory in the war on drugs not just possible but ultimately certain.”