DENVER -- The Bush administration on Wednesday unveiled its 2006 anti-drug program, a campaign that encourages more high schools to screen students and urges teens to live above the influence of drugs and peer pressure.
Drug use among some teen groups is down, and this year's strategy focuses on expanding or improving existing campaigns for prevention, treatment and reducing supplies, said John P. Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.
"We're not radically tearing things up because, for the first time in a couple of decades, we're having dramatic results," he said in an interview before presenting the strategy at a youth substance-abuse treatment center.
"We want to keep the pressure on."
Since the Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that schools can randomly test high school students in competitive extracurricular activities, his office and the Department of Education have provided grants and other support to at least 350 school districts to screen students.
The drug control office says screening can deter teens from starting to use drugs and can identify teens who have begun to use drugs, providing parents and counselors a chance to intervene.
Screening can also identify teens who have developed a dependency on drugs so they can be referred for treatment, the office said.
Walters dismissed claims by critics who said he chose Denver for the drug-policy announcement because voters last fall legalized possession of small amounts of marijuana for adults, or because a similar proposal could be on the statewide ballot in November.
Read more from this post.
