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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release April 26, 1998

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

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.

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