by Bill Clinton and Janet Reno

About the authors: Bill Clinton was elected the forty-second U.S. president in 1992 and reelected in 1996. He appointed Janet Reno as attorney general of the United States in 1993.

Editor’s note: The following statements were given at a press conference on December 18, 1995, the day Bill Clinton signed a presidential directive calling for drug testing of federal arrestees.

Bill Clinton: The criminal justice systems of our country are overburdened with drug-abusing defendants who cycle through the system while continuing to use drugs. Far too many criminals brought into our system have a substance abuse problem. In fact, a 1993 study by the Justice Department found that more than half of the arrestees tested positive for an illicit substance. Unless we break the cycle of drugs and crime, criminal addicts will end up...