Text: White House Announces Anti-Drug Strategy

usinfo.state.gov Washington File 12 February 2003

(Priorities stress prevention, recovery programs, disruption of drug markets) (1140)

The White House Office on National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) rolled out the Bush administration's plan for countering drug trafficking and substance abuse February 12. The top priorities identified in an ONDCP press release are stopping substance abuse before it starts, healing the nation's drug abusers and disrupting the profit flow in drug trafficking.

The goal of disrupting the market is based on the belief that drug traffickers will get out of the business if governments can make it very difficult for them to earn profits. In another statement released by ONDCP, Director John Walters said, "We must make drugs scarce, expensive, and of unreliable quality. Reducing the availability of dangerous substances will keep our children healthy and complement our efforts to reduce the demand for drugs. We look forward to working with our international partners and domestic law enforcement agencies to eliminate the misery for which the illegal drug industry is responsible."

The Bush administration is proposing $731 million in funding for the Andean Counterdrug Initiative to be applied in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru and Venezuela.

The $11,700 million budget identified by the Bush administration for implementation of the National Drug Control Strategy also increases funding for the Drug Free Communities Support Program and recovery programs for drug abusers.

The National Drug Control Strategy is available at www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov

Following is the text of the ONDCP press release:

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White House Office on National Drug Control Policy February 12, 2003

THE NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL STRATEGY

One year ago today, the President's new Strategy announced the ambitious goals of reducing drug use by 10 percent over two years, and 25 percent over five years. Today, ONDCP Director John Walters will unveil the President's new National Drug Control Strategy for 2003, which reports initial progress toward meeting those goals, highlighted by reductions in drug use among young people that are on track for meeting the Strategy's two-year objectives. The Strategy also announces Recovery Now, a new initiative funded with $600 million over three years that will expand access to substance abuse treatment while at the same time driving accountability into the treatment system.

Background on the National Drug Control Strategy: The Strategy proposes a fiscal year 2004 budget of $11.7 billion for drug control. That budget will serve the Strategy's three core priorities:

-- Stopping drug use before it starts -- Healing America's drug users -- Disrupting the market

-- Stopping Drug Use Before It Starts: Consolidating the initial reductions in drug use by young people will require action by all Americans through education and community engagement. In homes, schools, places of worship, the workplace, and civic and social organizations, Americans must set norms that reaffirm the values of responsibility and good citizenship while dismissing the notion that drug use is consistent with individual freedom. Our children especially must learn from an early age that avoiding drug use is a lifelong responsibility.

-- The Strategy ties national leadership with community-level action to help recreate the formula that helped America succeed against drugs in the past. The President's budget backs up this goal with a $10 million increase in funding for the expanded Drug-Free Communities Support Program, along with providing $5 million for a new Parents Drug Corps.

-- The Strategy proposes that tools such as student drug testing be available in communities where parents and educators deem them appropriate, and funds them with $8 million in fiscal year 2004.

-- Healing America's Drug Users: Despite our substantial drug prevention efforts, some 16 million Americans still use drugs on a monthly basis, and roughly six million meet the clinical criteria for needing drug treatment. Yet the overwhelming majority of users in need of drug treatment fail to recognize their need. Priority II of the Strategy emphasizes the crucial need for family, friends, and people with shared experiences to intercede with and support those fighting to overcome substance abuse. Drug users also need the support of institutions and the people who run them-employers, law enforcement agencies, faith communities, and health care providers, among others-to help them recognize their drug use and direct those who need it into drug treatment.

-- Overall, for 2004, the Administration proposes $3.6 billion for drug treatment, an increase of 8.2 percent over 2003.

-- The fiscal year 2004 request includes new funding of $200 million ($600 million over three years) for Recovery Now, a program to provide drug treatment to individuals otherwise unable to obtain access to services. People in need of treatment, no matter where they are-emergency rooms, health clinics, the criminal justice system, schools, or the faith community-will receive an evidence-based assessment of their treatment need and will be issued vouchers for the cost of providing that treatment.

-- Disrupting the Market: Priority III of the Strategy, Disrupting the Market, seeks to capitalize on the engagement of producer and transit countries like Colombia and Mexico in order to address the drug trade as a business-one that faces numerous and often overlooked obstacles that may be used as pressure points. The drug trade is not an unstoppable force of nature but rather a profit-making enterprise where costs and rewards exist in an equilibrium that can be disrupted. Every action that makes the drug trade more costly and less profitable is a step toward "breaking" the market. As the Strategy explains, drug traffickers are in business to make money. We intend to deny them that revenue.

-- To help secure our borders, the President's budget includes $2.1 billion for drug interdiction, an increase of 7.3 percent from 2003. Internationally, the Bush Administration will continue to target the supply of illegal drugs in the source countries.

-- The Administration is requesting $731 million in dedicated funds in 2004 for the Andean Counterdrug Initiative to be applied in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela.

-- To ensure unity of effort, the Strategy advocates the use of a single list identifying high-level targets (the Consolidated Priority Organization Targeting list) among the various agencies involved in domestic drug law enforcement.

Progress Toward Two- and Five-Year Goals: Only the first year of the two-year goal period has elapsed, yet already the goal of reducing current use by 10 percent among 8th, 10th, and 12th graders, as measured by the Monitoring the Future survey, is well on the way to being met (with reductions of 11.1, 8.4, and 1.2 percent respectively). Adjustments to the measuring baseline for the goals have been prompted by discontinuities in the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA). As a result, the goal of reducing drug use among adults will still be measured by the NHSDA, but the baseline has been reset to the 2002 survey, which is not released until mid-year 2003.

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