Ill STAT. 224 PUBLIC LAW 105-20-JUNE 27, 1997 Public Law 105-20 105th Congress An Act To amend the National Narcotics Leadership Act of 1988 to establish a program Jvme 27, 1997 to support and encourage local communities that first demonstrate a comprehen- [H R 9561 sive, long-term commitment to reduce substance abuse among youth, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of Drug-Free the United States of America in Congress assembled, Communities Act of 1997. SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. nitY^^^^^^ This Act may be cited as the "Drug-Free Communities Act '^°*'- of 1997". SEC. 2. NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL PROGRAM. (a) IN GENERAL. —The National Narcotics Leadership Act of 1988 (21 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.) is amended— (1) by inserting between sections 1001 and 1002 the following: " CHAPTER 1—OFFICE OF NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL POLICY"; and (2) by adding at the end the following: " CHAPTER 2—DRUG-FREE COMMUNITIES 21 USC 1521. "SEC. 1021. FINDINGS. "Congress finds the following: "(1) Substance abuse among youth has more than doubled in the 5-year period preceding 1996, with substantial increases in the use of marijuana, inhalants, cocaine, methamphetamine, LSD, and heroin. "(2) The most dramatic increases in substance abuse has occurred among 13- and 14-year-olds. "(3) Casual or periodic substance abuse by youth today will contribute to hard core or chronic substance abuse by the next generation of adults. "(4) Substance abuse is at the core of other problems, such as rising violent teenage and violent gang crime, increasing health care costs, HIV infections, teenage pregnancy, high school dropouts, and lower economic productivity. "(5) Increases in substance abuse among youth are due in large part to an erosion of understanding by youth of the high risks associated with substance abuse, and to the softening of peer norms against use.
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