who draw their power from public acquiescence. Bigger supplies and lower prices have put cocaine in the hands of people who were never before tempted to use it.
Today an even more devastating form of cocaine—"crack"—has appeared. Crack is smoked, producing immediate effects in the user. It is relatively inexpensive, but is so powerfully addictive that the user, even a first-time user, feels an overwhelming compulsion for more. Crack is used by people of all ages. Tragically, it is sold to and used by even 11- and 12-year-olds. To mothers and fathers, boys and girls at this age are children. To a cocaine dealer, they are just another market.
The Congress, by Public Law 99-481, has designated October 1986 as "Crack/Cocaine Awareness Month" and has authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of that occasion.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, RONALD REAGAN, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the month of October 1986 as Crack/Cocaine Awareness Month. I call on each American to seek every opportunity to educate yourself and others about cocaine and to be unyielding in your intolerance of cocaine users and inflexible in your commitment to a drug-free America.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirty-first day of October, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and eleventh.
Proclamation 5563 of October 31, 1986
National Child Identification and Safety Information Day, 1986
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
The American people are becoming increasingly aware of the incidence of abduction and exploitation of the children of the United States. In order to combat this threat, many private organizations and their dedicated volunteers have established programs to teach safety measures to children.
All across our country, in towns, cities, and rural areas alike, corporations, civic associations, church groups, and individual citizens are working together to strengthen the American family. Too often, we neglect to warn and protect these families from the most devastating blow they can suffer, the discovery that a child is missing. Many communities have neighborhood watch programs to help guard their possessions from theft. Should we do anything less for our children? Protecting the lives of these innocents is a community-wide responsibility. As part of this effort, many parents have established fingerprint and other identification records that will aid in locating their children should the unthinkable ever happen.
