Speech #970034131

The drug trade flourishes because it is relatively risk free. and affords the opportunity for tremendous profits in short periods of time. Last year. the Coast Guard seized marihuana with a street value of a billion dollars. yet this figure was estimated to be only about 10 percent of the total amount of marihuana smuggled into the country. Other agencies. such as the Customs Service and the Border Patrol. also estimate that only 5 to 10 percent of the drugs coming into the country are seized. According to the GAO and other critics of our efforts in this area. the single most important problem is that no one in the Federal Government has a clear mandate. or is exercising sufficient leadership to develop an integrated national strategy to deal with the drug problem. Efforts to develop a clear overall approach to this problem involve coordination among 17 Federal agencieswith programs in the area of drug supply or demand reductionsState and local agencies. and several foreign governments and international organizations.