PORTLAND – The United States sees daily benefits to drug prevention policies that former President Ronald Reagan implemented two decades ago in response to drug abuse among teenagers, the nation’s drug czar said Monday.

During the Reagan administration, drug abuse in the United States fell drastically from all-time highs, said John Walters, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

People also began to recognize the inherent problem of drug use among a growing cross-section of the American public, he said.

“Not only President Reagan, but his wife, took on this issue when people didn’t want to take it on,” said Walters, who led development of anti-drug programs in the 1980s for the U.S. Department of Education. “He understood that we had to lead. And the country’s better off for it.”

During Reagan’s administration, first lady Nancy Reagan led a national campaign called “Just Say No” that took her to schools across the nation to bring public awareness to what was considered a sweeping problem in the nation.

It was one of the beginning moments in the federal government’s efforts to quell rising numbers of drug users. Her efforts put the problem on the national stage, Walters said.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy was established by the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 as Reagan finished his second term in the White House.

Walters’ speech before the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors focused mostly on the importance of expanding drug treatment to help the growing numbers of drug abusers addicted to prescription drugs.

The irony is that while Reagan understood government’s limited ability to solve social problems, the drug policy of his administration led to the escalation of the war on drugs, said Bill Piper, director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance, which allocates the reformation of drug laws.

“Reagan was very much focused on expanding democracy and freedom around the world and saving taxpayer money,” Piper said. “But when it came to the war on drugs – this is where he strayed from that commitment.”

Walters was scheduled to appear in New Hampshire and Boston to discuss such issues as medicinal marijuana and the Bush administration’s drug treatment voucher program called Access to Recovery.

Under the program, states can apply for part of $100 million to help state agencies treat drug users currently without care.

Walters said Reagan’s legacy in the war on drugs still affects drug enforcement and treatment policy the office advocates today.

“It was a kind of courage and a kind of clarity that has built the foundation for the other things that we do today,” he said.