Chaffetz joins GOP's fight against drugs

Rep. Jason Chaffetz worries that Democrats are surrendering the war on drugs. So Thursday, he joined a newly resurrected House Drug Task Force designed to keep the fight alive.

"Drug abuse and problems affect every community," he said at a Capitol press conference. "If you look at your own family, you can find people who have been touched and hurt by drug abuse. It affects all of us."

He is one of eight GOP House members on the newly re-created group. Former GOP House Speaker Dennis Hastert created the original version of the group back in 1998 to focus on solutions to illegal drugs, and he appeared Thursday with the eight members now serving on the new version of it.

They chose as their new leader Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., who complained that the Obama administration "seeks to shut down the war on drugs."

Mica said, "The record to date is dismal with the demotion of the Drug Czar's Office to a sub-Cabinet position, the announced support for needle exchange programs, the decriminalization of illegal narcotics and other measures that would weaken current national anti-drug efforts."

The group pushes four core initiatives: stopping drug use before it starts through education and community action; healing drug users; disrupting the narcotics market; and stringent narcotics enforcement.

Chaffetz said he plans "to spend a significant amount of time and effort" on work by the group.

"To dive deep into what we can do in terms of prevention, enforcement and ultimately treatment is something that is very worthy of Congress' time," he said. "We need to be more united in sending the right signals to our youth."

He complained that the White House "is lessening the role of responsibility" against drugs, but, "We want to raise the bar because this is important public policy that our country ought to be focused on."

Other members of the task force are Reps. Dan Burton and Mark Souder, R-Ind.; Darrell Issa, R-Calif; Jim Jordan, R-Ohio; Aaron Schock, R-Ill.; and Michael Turner, R-Ohio.

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