In the District of Columbia, from January 1984 to December 1984, the Medical Examiner's Office reported a total of 140 heroin-related overdoses. Education is essential to create awareness of the enormous costs that illicit drug use inflicts upon society both in terms of real monetary losses, and human costs. The aim of the Law Enforcement Coordinating Commitees is to create a network covering the entire Nation focusing on the destruction of the major drug trafficking rings. The National Narcotics Border Interdiction System has been designed to intercept drugs along the entire U.S. border. In addition, in the District of Columbia, defendants who manufacture, distribute or dispense narcotics are prosecuted under 33 D.C. Code, Section 541 (a)(1) or (b)(1) requiring the imposition of mandatory minimum sentences for particular violations of the Uniformed Controlled Substances Act. Further support for the Task Force operations to combat narcotics trafficking is recommended. Recommendations are made to implement the new investigative and prosecutive tools provided in the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984.