Chapter III.
United States Efforts to Reduce Demand for Drugs
E. Building International Cooperation in Demand Reduction
Drug abuse is a serious international problem requiring multi-disciplinary prevention. The United States supports demand reduction efforts by the United Nations International Drug Control Programs, the European Union, the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission of the Organization of American States, and other multilateral institutions.
Expansion of Multilateral Cooperation: The United States expanded multilateral cooperation through participation in summits on drug abuse issues in Central and South America and through collaboration with CARICOM nations, OAS/CICAD, UNDCP, and the European Commission. For example, the United States participated in the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Drugs in June. At that meeting, member states agreed that reducing demand for drugs is a key element of the global drug control strategy, and drafted the first international agreement to counter drug abuse.
The United States hosted anti-drug leaders from 23 nations at the Caribbean Regional Drug Control Conference (CRDCC) in Miami, Florida, from October 12-14. That conference fulfilled commitments made at the Caribbean/US Summit in Bridgetown, Barbados that was held on May 10, 1997, and responded to the document adopted there, the Bridgetown Declaration of Principles. In the spirit of partnership and mutual respect, that document pledged to strengthen cooperation in responding to the challenges of the coming millennium and noted the provision of technical assistance and information exchange on demand reduction and supply reduction issues by the United States. Attendees at the CRDCC conference included participants from the Caribbean, observers from Latin America and Europe, and officials from law enforcement, criminal justice, drug prevention and treatment communities. The conference focused on regional cooperation with anti-drug officials, and assessed and promoted further narcotics cooperation between the US and Caribbean countries.
Development of a Hemispheric Anti-Drug Alliance: The U.S. has continued to play a prominent role in establishing a unified hemispheric alliance that incorporates a global and multi-disciplinary perspective. The alliance will strengthen and promote citizen participation, disseminate information on the deleterious effects of drug use support and strengthen organizational capacity, and create and support a multi disciplinary team of experts to assist participating countries in their demand reduction efforts. In April 1998, the President and other heads of state participated in the Second Summit of the Americas, which was held in Chile. Participants agreed to further meetings in order to forge an alliance against drugs and apply the Hemispheric Anti-Drug Strategy. Formal negotiations were begun in May, when OAS/CICAD was charged with establishing a procedure for multilateral cooperation to prevent and combat all aspects of the drug problem and related crimes based on the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity of states, and shared responsibility, with a comprehensive and balanced approach.
U.S.-Mexico Bi-National Alliance/Conference: In May 1997, President Clinton and President Zedillo signed the Joint Alliance Against Drugs. The alliance formed between the two countries is expressed in the form of a 16-point framework for a U.S.- Mexico Common Drug Control Strategy. Alliance Point 1 seeks to Areduce the demand for illicit drugs through the intensification of anti-drug information and educational efforts, particularly those directed at young people, and through rehabilitative programs". At present, work is underway to develop performance measures of effectiveness to evaluate Alliance Point 1.
In March 1998, the first U.S.-Mexico Bi-National Demand Reduction Conference was held in El Paso, Texas. More than 300 experts in drug prevention, treatment, and research, as well as government officials, educators and other community leaders from both sides of the border met for two and a half days to address the root causes of the drug problem. During the conference, participants from both countries developed explicit strategies in eight areas to reduce the demand for drugs: research cooperation and the exchange of technical information; public information and awareness; community participation; youth; special populations; the workplace; HIV/AIDS; and violence and drug-related problems. Teams of experts from the U.S. and Mexico cooperated in drafting a Bi-National Strategy for reducing the demand for drugs in both countries, as well as performance measures of effectiveness for assessing the outcomes of the steps taken.
Development and Expansion of Prevention Alliances: Thirty-eight civic, service, fraternal, womens, and other organizations with national and international memberships representing more than 62 million volunteers have resolved to work together as part of the civic alliance APrevention Through Service". These organizations have pledged to volunteer one million hours to prevent drug abuse among youth. In Lima, Peru, for example, the Lions International has formed an alliance with the American Embassy, and the groups are working together to expand prevention efforts in Peru. The prevention alliance continues to conduct outreach to other international and national organizations to ensure that all youth have the opportunity to grow up drug free.
International Cooperation on Drug Abuse Research and Analysis: In collaboration with other nations, ONDCP is exploring how data sets gathered by various countries on drug abuse can be used in assessing the effectiveness of regional demand reduction efforts. It will also be used to analyze regional drug abuse and trafficking trends, implications for future research, and the development and implementation of effective prevention efforts. Research and surveillance of drug abuse on an international basis will be enhanced through extensive networking with other countries in the hemisphere and beyond. An important component will be strengthening the research and surveillance capacity of participating countries and sharing the latest research findings on demand reduction. NIDA is working with countries in Central America and the Caribbean to collaborate on drug research.
