The report on jail inmates released today by the Justice Department confirms the urgent need for Government at all levels to pursue a policy of coerced abstinence for drug offenders. The report shows that more than half of these criminals used drugs in the month prior to their arrest. We have an obligation to install a tough system of testing, treatment, and punishment for drug offenders to prevent them from returning to the streets with dangerous drug habits intact. Congress can take the lead by adopting my administration's proposals to promote coerced abstinence throughout the criminal justice system.
NOTE: This statement was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on April 25 but was embargoed for release until 4:30 p.m. on April 26.
William J. Clinton, Statement on Drug Use By Prison Inmates Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/225990