William J. Bennett

Despite the failures of the Clinton administration, the war on drugs can succeed, William J. Bennett contends in the following viewpoint. He argues that federal drug-control programs led to a significant decline in illegal drug use during the 1980s and early 1990s. However, Bennett notes, the nation’s drug policy was neglected during Bill Clinton’s presidency, when little support was given to the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Bennett maintains that a renewed war on drugs—one that combines prevention campaigns and effective treatment programs—will meet with the success of earlier decades. Bennett is cochairman of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America and was the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy under President George H.W. Bush.

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