Proclamation 5883 --
By
the President of the
A
Proclamation
The
very concept of Drug-Free America Week, 1988, reminds us of how far we have
advanced in our thinking and actions in the fight to stop illegal drugs. Most
people now understand that illegal drug use brings illness, disability, and
death. The illegal drug user costs our Nation billions of dollars in lost
productivity each year, while undermining our economy and threatening our
national security. Drugs ruin lives and destroy families and prey on our young
people. Americans everywhere recognize the real and present danger of illegal
drug use.
Most
people also understand that illegal drug use is preventable -- if we have the
will and the moral courage to stand and be counted. Drug-Free America Week is
an opportunity to do just that.
During
Drug-Free America Week, we will continue to spread the messages that there is
no safe use of illegal drugs; that illegal drug use is simply unacceptable
anywhere in America; and that we will pursue the fight against illegal drugs,
in our homes and schools and in our communities and factories. We will seek and
take every opportunity to oppose the presence and use of illegal drugs. We will
hold drug dealers and users responsible and accountable for the plague of
illegal drugs.
Each
American has a right to live in a drug-free family, to dwell in a drug-free
community, to learn in a drug-free school, to earn a living in a drug-free
workplace, and to travel on drug-free roads, waterways, railways, and airways.
Concerned parents, youth, community groups, businesses, churches, and educators
are accepting the challenge to stop drugs and build a better future for our
children and for our Nation.
We
should be pleased with the progress we have made together as Americans -- in
strong law enforcement against drug criminals, in international cooperation to
reduce drug production and smuggling, in research to learn more about drugs and
what works in treatment, and in education and prevention. Each of these
important gains is a battle won in the war against drugs. We have started a
crusade for a Drug-Free America. We must maintain awareness of the drug threat
and continue the fight until illegal drugs are only a bad memory.
Many
individuals, civic groups, businesses, and government at all levels are
demonstrating leadership, creativity, and determination in the fight for a
drug-free
To
encourage all Americans to join together to stop illegal drugs, the Congress,
by Senate Joint Resolution 329, has designated the week of October 24 through
October 30, 1988, as ``Drug Free America Week.''
Now,
Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, by the
authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do
hereby proclaim the week of October 24 through October 30, 1988, as Drug-Free
America Week, and I call upon the people of the United States to observe this
week with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.
In
Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this nineteenth day of October, in
the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-eight, and of the
Ronald
Reagan
[Filed with the Office
of the Federal Register,
Note: The proclamation
was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on October 20.