by William J. Bennett and John P. Walters

About the authors: William J. Bennett is a codirector of Empower America, a conservative public policy research organization in Washington, D.C. John P. Walters is the president of the Philanthropic Roundtable, a Washington, D.C., organization of grantmakers and corporate foundations.

Today’s addicts are the most visible casualties of the permissive culture and the drug fad of the late 1960s, the 1970s and the early 1980s. These addicts have moved up in the ranks from casual users. They are largely aging, never married and predominantly male. Most commit crimes—including selling drugs—as a means of income to purchase drugs. They also are concentrated largely among blacks and live in our inner cities. While these addicts constitute the single-largest demand for heroin and cocaine in the...