IV. Agency Budget Summaries

OFFICE OF NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL POLICY: OPERATIONS

1. RESOURCE SUMMARY

   

2. METHODOLOGY
   • All resources are 100 percent drug-related.

3. PROGRAM SUMMARY
   • The ONDCP provides the President's primary Executive Branch support for drug policy development and program oversight. ONDCP advises the President on national and international drug control policies and strategies, and works to ensure the effective coordination of drug programs within the Federal Agencies and Departments.

   • ONDCP responsibilities include:
     • Developing an annual National Drug Control Strategy.

     • Developing a consolidated National Drug Control Budget for presentation to the President and the Congress (including budget certifications and quarterly reprogramming reports).

     • Certifying the budgets of programs, bureaus, Agencies, and Departments.

     • Issuing Funds Control Notices -- ONDCP may direct that all or part of an amount appropriated to a national drug control agency be obligated by months, fiscal year quarters, or other time periods, as well as activities, functions, projects, or object classes. This authority is discretionary.

     • Evaluating Program Effectiveness -- ONDCP is required to include in each National Drug Control Strategy an evaluation of the effectiveness of Federal drug control during the preceding year. This assessment must include the following elements:
       1. changes in drug use, including estimates of drug prevalence and frequency of use in Federal, state, and local surveys, as well as special studies of high-risk populations and drug use in the workplace;

       2. changes in drug availability as measured by the quantities of illicit drugs available and the amounts entering the United States, in addition to the interdiction efforts and their effectiveness;

       3. changes in drug use consequences, which must encompass ONDCP's estimation of the burdens drug users place on national and other social services, including the resulting drug-related crimes and criminal activity, in addition to the contribution of drugs to the underground economy; and

       4. drug treatment capacity by assessing total public and private treatment slots' efficiency and effectiveness within each state.

     • Coordinating and overseeing Federal anti-drug policies and programs involving approximately 50 Federal agencies and the programs they administer.

     • Encouraging private-sector, state, and local drug prevention and control programs.

     • Conducting policy analysis and research to determine the effectiveness of drug programs and policies in addressing the Strategy's goals, priorities, and objectives.

     • Designating High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTAs) and providing overall policy guidance and oversight for the award of resources to Federal, state, and local law enforcement partnerships in these areas.

     • Developing and overseeing a National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign that will be a multi-faceted communications campaign that harnesses the energies of parents, mass media, corporate America, and community anti-drug coalitions. This campaign will emphasize that prevention can work and will seek to empower parents to discuss this critical subject with their children.

     • Operating CTAC to serve as the central counterdrug enforcement research and development center for the Federal Government.

     • Overseeing the Drug-Free Communities Program which will serve as a catalyst for increased citizen participation in our efforts to reduce substance abuse among our youth and provide community anti-drug coalitions with much needed funds to carry out their important missions.

     • Funds for the HIDTA program and the Special Forfeiture Fund (SFF) are reflected as Other Independent Agencies, Federal Drug Control Programs. A review of these programs is discussed elsewhere in this document.

   

4. BUDGET SUMMARY

   1998 Program

   • The FY 1998 program includes $49.216 million which supports all five goals of the National Drug Control Strategy.

   • The Office of Supply Reduction is responsible for advising the Director on policies and programs to reduce the supply of drugs and ensuring the implementation of the supply reduction programs in support of the goals and objectives of the National Drug Control Strategy. The Office of Supply Reduction supports the interdiction and international functions.

   • The Office of Demand Reduction is responsible for advising the Director of ONDCP on policies and programs to reduce the demand for drugs and ensuring the implementation of the demand-related portions of the National Drug Control Strategy. The Office of Demand Reduction supports the prevention and treatment functions.

   • The Bureau of State and Local Affairs (BSLA) coordinates ONDCP relationship and outreach efforts with state and local government agencies as well as public interest groups. In addition, BSLA promotes coordination among federal programs in cooperation with state and local counter-drug programs, including overseeing the HIDTA Program. Specifically, the Bureau of State and Local Affairs supports the state and local assistance function.

   • The Office of Programs, Budget, Research, and Evaluation is responsible for coordinating the Performance Measurement System and conducting research and analysis on drug-related program and policy issues. OPBRE is also responsible for developing and monitoring implementation of government-wide consolidated Drug Control Budget and presenting the Drug Control Budget to the President, the Congress, and the public.

   • Counter-Drug Technology Assessment (CTAC) provides new technology to improve Federal agency counter-drug enforcement operations, as well as drug abuse treatment and rehabilitation research missions. CTAC supports the research and development function.

   • Other offices within ONDCP which support the counter-drug efforts include: the Office of Administration; the Office of Financial Management (FMO); the Office of Public Affairs (OPA); the Office of Legal Affairs (OLA); the Office of Strategic Planning; the Office of Legislative Affairs; and the Office of Intelligence. The Office of Administration provides administrative support for ONDCP. The Office of Financial Management is responsible for the oversight of all ONDCP financial related areas. The Office of Public Affairs serves as a liaison between ONDCP and the media. The Office of Legal Affairs is responsible for advising the Director and ONDCP staff regarding the scope and effect of the legal authority of the Director and the agency. The Office of Strategic Planning coordinates the Strategy, develops or reviews all significant public policy statements, prepares the Director's briefings and supports his public speaking engagements. The Office of Legislative Affairs is ONDCP's liaison with the Congress, the White House Office of Legislative Affairs, and the legislative offices of more than fifty Federal agencies involved in implementing the National Drug Control Strategy.

   1999 Request
   • The total FY 1999 ONDCP budget request is $36.442 million, a decrease of $12.774 million from the FY 1998 enacted level. This decrease is a result of the $13 million for CTAC's technology transfer program in FY 1998 which is not being requested in FY 1999.

   • Operations. The request includes sufficient resources to enable ONDCP to maintain its operations at approximately the FY 1998 program level.

   • ONDCP Policy Research. ONDCP's policy research will continue to emphasize issues related to knowledge development, drug use trends, emerging drugs, drug availability, and program evaluation. Greater attention will be given to developing measures of effectiveness to link strategy programs with overall strategy goals.

   • CTAC Research and Development. The request for CTAC will emphasize science and technology development, and research into drug abuse addiction and rehabilitation.

5. PROGRAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS
   • ONDCP has developed and implemented a comprehensive long-term national drug control strategy.

   • ONDCP is working with other Federal agencies to develop supporting five-year budget plans for this ten year strategy.

   • Ongoing ONDCP initiatives that support the objective of reversing negative youth drug use trends include:
     • National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign. ONDCP will continue the initiative begun in FY 1998 that uses paid media messages to change youth attitudes about drug use and its consequences. Targeted, high impact, paid media ads -- at both the national and local levels -- are the most cost effective, quickest means of changing drug use behavior through changes in adolescent perceptions of the danger and social disapproval of drugs.

     • Drug-Free Communities Act. ONDCP will award grants to community coalitions of representatives of youth, parents, businesses, the media, schools, youth organizations, law enforcement, religious or fraternal organizations, civic groups, health care professionals, State, local, or tribal government agencies, and other organizations. In carrying out the Program, the Director of ONDCP will: (1) make and track grants to grant recipients; (2) provide for technical assistance and training, data collection and dissemination of information on state-of-the-art practices that the Director determines to be effective in reducing substance abuse; and, (3) provide for the general administration of the Program.

   • Ongoing ONDCP initiatives that support the initiative of shielding our air, land, and sea borders include:
     • ONDCP began a comprehensive review of the Federal effort to counter drug smuggling at the Southwest Border.

     • The High Level Contact Group established between the U.S. and Mexico has provided a useful framework for addressing drug-related issues.

   • The Counter-Drug Technology Assessment Center (CTAC) provides new technology to improve Federal agency counter-drug enforcement operations, as well as drug abuse treatment and rehabilitation research missions. Current projects include:
     • CTAC has developed and provided to the Customs Service for evaluation prototype systems for detecting contraband in liquid transport containers and empty trucks with gamma rays, and detecting trace vapors using gas chromatography.

     • CTAC has also developed and is testing a new generation of navigation, surveillance, and command system for use by law enforcement officers to detect and track illegal drug trafficking.

     • CTAC has developed a research program designed to increase our knowledge of addiction causes. In the past year, two modern, state-of-the art brain imaging centers have been completed: the Brookhaven National Laboratories and the Addiction Research Center in Baltimore, Maryland. Research scientists are now identifying those preaddiction physiological, as well as, psychological characteristics that will identify "at risk" subjects who are most susceptible to substance abuse.

     • Under CTAC funding, several research efforts are investigating candidate compounds which could lead to the production of therapeutic medicine to treat cocaine addiction.

     • CTAC has also developed projects to support reducing drug related crime and violence. CTAC-sponsored technology testbeds were used to test, evaluate and improve the ability to track and locate both field units and drug trafficking suspects, conduct telephone surveillance, create more effective interoperable communications, and to detect suspicious financial transactions by identifying the underlying temporal patterns and trends associated with money laundering drug crimes.

     • A CTAC sponsored prototype system using gamma-rays to detect drugs hidden in tanker trucks was successfully tested and employed operationally by U.S. Customs Service along the Southwest Border.

     • Development projects to support breaking foreign and domestic drug sources sponsored by CTAC and led by DEA, provided reliable estimates of cocaine production in the Andean region.

     • Counterdrug R&D projects and the transfer of successful technology are supported by a support program of test and evaluation. The program includes a variety of technical assessments, support to science and technology initiatives, and an outreach program to promote the exchange of relevant information throughout the scientific and technical community. CTAC also uses the test and evaluation program to support a pilot program to transfer successful results to Federal, state and local law enforcement organizations.

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