- Chapter 1 summarizes the National Drug Control Strategy.
- Chapter 2 provides information on abuse, availability, and health and social consequences of illicit drugs. This information is based on the most recent national, state, and local surveys, among other studies. Given that these data instruments sometimes cover different timeframes, consistent comparisons of data over the same period are not always possible. The National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (released in August 2000), for example, provides information about drug use in 1999 while the Monitoring the Future Survey (released in December 2000) contains 2000 data. The Data Appendix summarizes the instruments used to prepare this Annual Report and outlines steps being taken to improve the information that supports national drug policy.
- Chapter 3 outlines accomplishments of (and modifications to) prevention, treatment, law enforcement, interdiction, and international programs (including private-sector and governmental initiatives and cooperative efforts).
- Chapter 4 reviews drug-control budget trends from FY 1992 to FY 2000. It also summarizes drug-control funding priorities established by ONDCP for FY 2002 to FY 2006.
- Chapter 5 summarizes the consultation process followed by the Office of National Drug Control Policy during 2000 in implementing the drug strategy.
- The National Drug Control Strategy also includes a Classified Annex, which is transmitted to Congress separately. This document is the president’s interagency plan for countering international drug cultivation, production, and trafficking.
Two companion volumes provide information about ONDCP’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Program
and ONDCP’s Counter-Drug Technology Assessment Center:
- Counterdrug Research and Development Blueprint Update—reviews the research agenda of
ONDCP’s Counter-Drug Technology Assessment Center and contains the Annual Report on Development
and Deployment of Narcotics Detection Technology required by 21USC/505a.
- 2001 Annual Report: The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program—provides an overview of the program and information about the drug threat in each of twenty-six HIDTA regions and
actions taken to address these threats.
Mandate for a National Drug Control Strategy
The development of the
National Drug Control Strategy has responded to the following laws and executive orders:
- The Controlled Substances Act, Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 provided an effective approach to the regulation, manufacture, and distribution of narcotics, stimulants, depressants, hallucinogens, anabolic steroids, and chemicals used in the production of controlled substances.
- The Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984 and other statutes passed by the 98th Congress reformed the bail and sentencing laws applicable to drug trafficking and other crimes, created a new offense with an enhanced penalty for distributing drugs near schools, and revised civil and criminal forfeiture laws.
- The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 enhanced penalties for drug trafficking. It also created a new offense with a greater penalty for using a juvenile to commit a drug offense, amended the forfeiture laws, proscribed trafficking in controlled substance “analogues” (sometimes referred to as “designer” drugs), created money-laundering offenses, and proscribed use of interstate commerce to distribute drug paraphernalia.
- Executive Order No. 12564 (1986) made refraining from illegal drug use a condition of employment for all federal employees. This order requires every federal agency to develop a comprehensive drug-free workplace program.
- The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 established as a policy goal the creation of a drug-free America. A key provision of that act was the establishment of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to set priorities, implement a national strategy, and certify federal drug-control budgets. The law specified that the strategy must be comprehensive and research-based; contain long-range goals and measurable objectives; and seek to reduce drug abuse, trafficking, and their consequences. Specifically, drug abuse is to be curbed by preventing young people from using illegal drugs, reducing the number of users, and decreasing drug availability.
- The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 extended ONDCP’s mission to assessing budgets and resources related to the National Drug Control Strategy. It also established specific reporting requirements in the areas of drug use, availability, consequences,
and treatment.
- Executive Order No. 12880 (1993) and Executive Orders Nos. 12992 and 13023 (1996) assigned
ONDCP responsibility within the executive branch of government for leading drug-control policy and developing an outcome-measurement system. The executive orders also chartered the President’s Drug Policy Council and established the ONDCP director as the president’s chief spokesman for drug control.
- The Drug-Free Communities Act of 1997 authorized the Office of National Drug Control Policy to carry out a national initiative that awards federal grants directly to community coalitions in the United States. Such coalitions work to reduce substance abuse among adolescents, strengthen collaboration among organizations and agencies in both the private and public sectors, and serve as catalysts for increased citizen participation in strategic planning to reduce drug use over time.
- The Media Campaign Act of 1998 directed ONDCP to conduct a national media campaign for the purpose of reducing and preventing drug abuse among young people in the United States.
- The Office of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 1998 expanded ONDCP’s
mandate and authority. It set forth additional reporting requirements and expectations, including:
- Development of a long-term national drug strategy
- Implementation of a robust performance-measurement system
- Commitment to a five-year national drug-control program budget
- Permanent authority granted to the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program along
with improvements in HIDTA management
- Greater demand-reduction responsibilities given to the Counter-Drug Technology Assessment Center
(CTAC)
- Statutory authority for the President’s Council on Counter-Narcotics
- Increased reporting to Congress on drug-control activities
- Reorganization of ONDCP to allow more effective national leadership
- Improved coordination among national drug control program agencies
- Establishment of a Parents’ Advisory Council on Drug Abuse
Evolution and Overview of the National Drug Control Strategy
National drug-control strategies were produced annually between 1989 and 1999. These strategies increasingly recognized the importance of preventing drug use by young people and a recognition that no single approach can rescue the nation from drug abuse. Consensus was reached that drug prevention, education, treatment, and research must be complemented by supply-reduction abroad, on our borders, and within the United States. Each strategy expressed a commitment to maintain and enforce anti-drug laws. All the strategies, with growing success, tied policy to a scientific body of knowledge about the nation’s drug problems. The 1996 Strategy established five goals and thirty-two supporting objectives as the basis for a coherent, long-term national effort. These goals remain the heart of the current Strategy and will guide federal drug-control agencies over the next five years. These goals are useful for state and local governments as well as the private sector.
Drug abuse and related crime permeate every corner of our society, afflicting inner cities, affluent suburbs, and rural communities. Drugs affect rich and poor, educated and uneducated, professionals and blue-collar workers, young and old. Seventy-seven percent of drug users in America are employed.1 Some of the elderly suffer from addiction as do people in the prime of their lives. Drug abuse is prevalent among the young although it is not as widespread as many
children and adolescents think.
The history of drug abuse in America indicates that this blight is cyclic in nature. When the nation fails to pay attention and take precautions, drug abuse spreads. The introduction of cocaine in the late nineteenth century exemplifies how attitudes affect the incidence of drug abuse. Cocaine use skyrocketed, in part because the psycho-pharmacological effects of this drug were poorly understood.
The alleged benefits of cocaine were touted by health authorities whose unproven claims were the basis for commercial advertising. Only when the negative consequences of cocaine addiction were recognized and publicized did perceptions change. Drug abuse was condemned, and new laws were passed producing a healthier nation with a lower crime rate.
When people forgot, ignored, or denied the problem of drug abuse, it resurfaced. Cultural amnesia allowed new drugs to be introduced, some of which were more potent than their predecessors. Associated with these new drugs were subcultures with special appeal for the young and impressionable. Once again, drug abuse increased as did its deleterious consequences. Twice in this century drug use rose and then fell. Illegal drugs never disappeared entirely although the percentage of Americans who used them declined dramatically.
If we aren’t careful, the number of drug abusers could rise again. Drug use among children is a particularly urgent concern. Beginning around 1990, teens and preteens adopted more permissive attitudes toward drugs. Soon thereafter, actions followed perceptions, and use of illegal drugs increased among young people. This trend continued through 1996 before stabilizing in 1997. In 1999, 6.7 percent (14.8 million) of Americans twelve and older were current users of illicit drugs. This figure is down from the
14.1 percent of the U.S. population twelve and older who were current users in 1979.
Drug abuse and its consequences can be reduced. By historical standards, present rates of drug use are relatively low. With the concerted effort outlined in the National Drug Control Strategy and this Annual Report, we can lower them further. Indeed, the will of the American people is such that we aim to slash rates of drug use by half over the next several years.
The National Response to Drug Abuse: Protecting Public Health and Safety
The National Drug Control Strategy takes a long-term, holistic view of the drug problem and recognizes the devastating effect drug abuse has on the country’s public health and safety. The Strategy maintains that no single solution can solve this multifaceted challenge. The Strategy focuses on prevention, treatment, research, law enforcement, shielding our borders, drug-supply reduction, and international cooperation. It provides general guidance while identifying specific initiatives. Through a balanced array of demand-reduction and supply-reduction actions, we strive to reduce drug use and availability by half and the consequences of drug abuse by at least 25 percent by 2007. If this goal is achieved, just 3 percent of the household population aged twelve and over will be using illegal drugs. This level would be the lowest documented drug-use rate in American history; drug-related health, economic, social, and criminal costs are expected to drop commensurately.
Preventing drug abuse in the first place is preferable to addressing the problem later through treatment and law enforcement. The Strategy focuses on young people, seeking to teach them about the many negative consequences associated with illegal drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. In addition to drug-prevention for children, intervention programs must help young adults as they leave home to start college or join the workforce.
There are approximately five million drug abusers who need immediate treatment and who constitute a major portion of domestic demand. Without help, many of these adults and their families will suffer from the impact of poor physical and mental health, unstable employment and family relations, and possible involvement with the criminal-justice system. Since parental substance abuse is a significant predictor of youth drug use and often contributes to child abuse and neglect, treatment for parents is key to breaking the inter-generational cycle of addiction. Accordingly, the Strategy focuses on treatment. Research clearly demonstrates that treatment works. We must take advantage of all opportunities—in the workplace, the health and social-services system, the criminal-justice system, and our communities—to encourage drug abusers to become drug-free.
Substance abuse by law breakers is another area of concern. A December 1998 Bureau of Justice Statistics study found that 33 percent of state and 22 percent of federal prisoners said they committed their current offense while under the influence of drugs, and about one in six of both state and federal inmates said they committed their offense to get money for drugs.2 Approximately 20 percent of state prisoners and 60 percent of federal prisoners are incarcerated for a drug-related crime. A drug program that includes treatment for substance abuse disorders during and after incarceration is essential for safe reentry into the community. Prisons and detention centers are just a temporary response that address a third of the
offenders under government supervision; the remaining 4.4 million offenders are in community programs. Treatment, in lieu of incarceration, will help large numbers of non-violent, drug-related offenders. Experience proves that drug courts, drug testing, and drug treatment within the criminal-justice system can reduce drug consumption and recidivism. Over time, expanded alternatives to incarceration promise to decrease the addicted population and reduce both crime and the incarceration rate in America. The ultimate goal is to help people with drug problems renounce crime and enter the workforce as productive, self-sufficient, tax-paying members of society. Education, job training, and social skills instruction are important accompaniments to treatment.
Over the years, we have come to understand that drug abuse is a complex phenomenon that affects both public health and safety. We also realize that breaking the cycle of drugs, violence, and crime is an important first step toward securing the health of individuals and communities.
The Public-Health Dimension of Substance Abuse
Drug abuse, whether directly or indirectly, is now a major vector for the transmission of infectious diseases, including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and tuberculosis. Increasing numbers of such cases are being reported among the partners of intravenous drug users. Most HIV-infected newborns have mothers who acquired this disease through their own drug use or sexual activity with a drug user. In addition, research is demonstrating that minority populations may face unique risks that must be addressed. The National Institutes of Health has developed a strategic
plan, for reducing and ultimately eliminating health disparities among minority groups, which currently suffer disproportionately from HIV and AIDS. Because drug abuse causes a complex set of health problems, we must continue addressing it through a variety of educational and other prevention efforts, early intervention, treatment, and research.
To address these health disparities as well as other factors that affect the health of the nation, the Surgeon General developed “Ten Leading Health Indicators”3 intended to elicit wide participation in improving health. These indicators are designed to act as a national health report card for the next decade so communities, counties, states, and the entire country, can assess individual and collective progress. in achieving a nation of healthy people.
As we continue strengthening our efforts to reduce the use of illegal drugs, underage alcohol, and tobacco, while improving overall physical and mental health, we will need to rely on scientific advances consistently.
Particularly over the past decade, science has increased our understanding of addiction and better approaches for dealing with it. Research now defines substance abuse as preventable behavior and addiction as a treatable, chronic, relapsing disease of the brain. Addiction is characterized by compulsive drug-seeking that results from the brain’s prolonged exposure to drugs. Animal and human studies have demonstrated that chronic drug use changes the brain in fundamental ways that persist long after drug use has stopped. By using advanced brain imaging technologies, we can see what we believe to be the biological basis of addiction.
Public-Safety Dimensions of Substance Abuse
Hundreds of thousands of people enter the criminal and juvenile-justice systems each year due to substance-use disorders. Our prisons and jails hold more approximately 2,054,694 persons,4 and 4.4 million offenders are in community programs. On any given day, our jails house more than 25,000 people suffering from both mental illness and substance-use disorders. Over 300,000 are affected by one or the other type of disability. Over half the inmates in state and federal prisons have a mental-health or substance abuse disorder—nearly 700,000 in all.5
A million offenders under criminal justice supervision need, and are not getting, drug treatment. Each year over 550,000 people return to their communities from state and federal prisons; most are untreated, and many are dangerous, unemployable, or sick. Over 350,000 (two-thirds) will be rearrested within three years of release. With treatment during and after incarceration, this level of recidivism can be sharply reduced.6
Drug treatment has been shown to have an immediate impact on the level of drug use and associated crime, and retention in drug treatment is also significant for future behavior. Longitudinal studies have repeatedly shown that drug use and criminal activity decline upon entry into treatment and remain below pre-treatment levels for up to six years. Public safety is the primary beneficiary of drug treatment programs.
Law Enforcement
Effective law enforcement is essential for reducing drug-related crime within the United States. Illegal drug trafficking inflicts violence and corruption on our communities. The criminal activity that accompanies drug trafficking has both a domestic and international component. Domestic traffickers are often linked with international organizations. Federal, state, and local law enforcement organizations, working together through programs like the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) and High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), must share information and resources in order to maximize their impact on criminal drug trafficking organizations.
The
Strategy stresses the need to protect borders from drug incursion and cut the supply of drugs in communities along our borders. Sharing intelligence and making use of the latest technology can make a big difference. The Southwest border is a major gateway for the entry of illegal drugs into the United States. Resources have been allocated to close other avenues of drug entry into the United States, including the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, the Canadian border, and all air terminals and seaports.
International Initiatives
The United States seeks to curtail illegal drug trafficking in the transit zone between source countries and the U.S. Multinational efforts in the Caribbean, Central America, Europe, and the Far East are being coordinated to exert maximum pressure on drug traffickers. The United States supports a number of international efforts against drug trafficking that are being coordinated with the United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU), and the Organization of American States (OAS).
Supply-reduction operations can best be mounted at the source: the Andean Ridge for cocaine and heroin; Mexico for methamphetamine, heroin, and marijuana; and Southeast Asia and South Central Asia for heroin. Where access to source regions is limited by political complications, we support international efforts to curtail the drug trade.
Research-Based Policy
The National Drug Control Strategy is based on sound research, technology, and intelligence. The Strategy will be adjusted according to feedback from ONDCP’s Performance Measures of Effectiveness system. Conditions are fluid, so the Strategy will change to respond to emerging issues. We can measure—target by target—how successful we are in achieving goals and objectives. The
Strategy receives input from a wide range of organizations, individuals, and government branches.
The overriding objective of our drug-control strategy is to keep Americans safe from the threats posed by illegal drugs. We hope to create a healthier, less violent, more stable nation unfettered by drugs and drug traffickers as well as the corruption they perpetrate.
Goals of the National Drug Control Strategy
Goal 1: Educate and enable America’s youth to reject illegal drugs as well as alcohol and tobacco.
Drug use is preventable. If children reach adulthood without using illegal drugs, alcohol, or tobacco, they are unlikely to develop a chemical-dependency problem later in life. To this end, the Strategy fosters initiatives to educate children about the dangers associated with drugs. ONDCP involves parents, coaches, mentors, teachers, clergy, and other role models in a broad prevention campaign. ONDCP encourages businesses, communities, schools, the entertainment industry, universities, and sports organizations to join these national anti-drug efforts.
Goal 2: Increase the safety of America’s citizens by substantially reducing drug-related crime and violence.
Researchers have identified important factors that place youth at risk for drug abuse or protect them against such behavior. Risk factors are associated with greater potential for drug problems while protective factors reduce the chances of drug involvement. Risk factors include a chaotic home environment, ineffective parenting, anti-social behavior, drug-using peers, general approval of drug use, and the misperception that an overwhelming majority of peers are substance users. Protective factors include, but are not limited to, parental involvement; success in school; strong bonds with family, school, and religious organizations; knowledge of dangers posed by drug use; and the recognition by young people that substance use is unacceptable.
Goal 3: Reduce health and social costs to the public of illegal drug use by reducing the treatment gap.
Drug addiction is a chronic, relapsing disorder that exacts an enormous cost on individuals, families, businesses, communities, and nations. Addicted individuals may engage in self-destructive and criminal behavior. Treatment programs have been found to reduce the consequences of addiction for the individual and society. The ultimate goal of treatment is to help people stop using drugs and maintain drug-free lifestyles while achieving productive functioning within families, at work, and in society. Providing access to treatment for America’s chronic drug abusers is a worthwhile endeavor. It is both
compassionate public policy and a sound investment.
Goal 4: Shield America’s air, land, and sea frontiers from the drug threat.
The United States is obligated to protect its citizens from threats posed by illegal drugs crossing our borders. Interdiction in the transit and arrival zones disrupts drug flow, increases risks to traffickers, drives them to less efficient routes and methods, and prevents significant quantities of drugs from reaching the United States. Interdiction operations also produce information that can be used by domestic law-enforcement agencies against trafficking organizations.
Goal 5: Break foreign and domestic drug sources of supply.
The rule of law, human rights, and democratic institutions are threatened by drug trafficking and consumption. International supply-reduction programs not only reduce the volume of illegal drugs reaching our shores, they also attack international criminal organizations, strengthen democratic institutions, and honor our international drug-control commitments. The U.S. supply-reduction strategy seeks to:
- Eliminate illegal drug cultivation and production.
- Destroy drug-trafficking organizations.
- Interdict drug shipments.
- Encourage international cooperation.
- Safeguard democracy and human rights. Additional information about international drug-control programs is contained in the Classified Annex to this Strategy. The United States continues to focus international drug-control efforts on source countries. Drug-trafficking organizations and their production and trafficking infrastructures are most concentrated, detectable, and vulnerable to law enforcement in source countries. In addition, cultivation and production of coca and opium poppy into cocaine and heroin are labor-intensive activities. Consequently, cultivation and processing are relatively easier to disrupt than other aspects of the trade. The international drug-control strategy seeks to bolster source-country resources, capabilities, and political will to reduce cultivation, attack production, interdict drug shipments, and dismantle trafficking organizations, including their command and control structure along with its financial underpinnings.
Drug Control is a Continuous Challenge
The metaphor of a “war on drugs” is misleading. Although wars are expected to end, drug education—like all schooling—is a continuous process. The moment we believe ourselves victorious and drop our guard, drug abuse will resurface in the next generation. To reduce the demand for drugs, prevention must be ongoing. Addicted individuals should be held accountable for their actions and offered treatment to help change destructive behavior.
Cancer is a more appropriate metaphor for the nation’s drug problem. Dealing with cancer is a long-term proposition. It requires the mobilization of support mechanisms—medical, educational, social, and financial—to check the spread of the disease and improve the patient’s prognosis. Symptoms of the illness must be managed while the root cause is attacked. The key to reducing the incidence of drug abuse and cancer is prevention coupled with treatment and accompanied by research.
Click here to see the image of How to Write an Obituary for Your Teenager
rior to 1999, Congress required the Administration
to submit a National Drug Control Strategy each year. The most recent Strategy was submitted in February 1999. Public Law 105-277 now requires the president to submit an Annual Report to Congress on the progress made in implementing the Strategy.