Transcript: Drug Czar on National Drug Control Strategy

(Annual report shows progress in anti-drug efforts) (1600)

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)
reported steady progress in the war on drugs in 1999, with reduced
rates of use appearing among both adults and youngsters. At the same
time, the report acknowledged the consequences of drug abuse and the
need for social vigilance to overcome them.

The annual report is mandated by Congress, and updates the ten-year
anti-drug strategy drawn up by ONDCP about a year ago.

ONDCP Director Barry McCaffrey presented some excerpts and highlights
of the report in an appearance before a Congressional committee March
23, as he began the discussion about funding for his office in the
next fiscal year. Major points in his testimony:

-- Drug usage rates remain steadily below the high rate of usage
documented in the late 1970s.

-- Adolescent drug use is down from higher rates in the early 90's.

-- The dangers of drug abuse are devastating to public health.

-- Drug usage remains a serious problem among the criminal element.

-- Drug use on the job is estimated to cost more than $14,000 million
in lost productivity per year.

The report can be viewed in its entirety at
http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/policy/ndcs.html

Following are excerpts of McCaffrey's testimony to Congress:

(begin transcript)

STATEMENT OF BARRY R. MCCAFFREY,
Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy
Before the House Committee on Appropriations
Subcommittee on Treasury, Postal Service and General Government

ONDCP's Fiscal Year 2001 Budget

March 23, 2000

I. OVERVIEW OF THE NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL STRATEGY 

The Office of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 1998
(P. L. 105-277) required the President to submit to Congress a
comprehensive, long-term strategy for reducing drug abuse and the
consequences of drug abuse in the United States by limiting the
availability of and reducing the demand for illegal drugs. The
operative five year strategy was submitted in February 1999. The five
goals and thirty-one supporting objectives first established in the
1996 National Drug Control Strategy that serve as the basis for a
coherent, long-term national effort remain the heart of the Strategy
and will guide federal drug control agencies over the five-year
period.

The Strategy takes a long-term, holistic view of the nation's drug
problem and recognizes the devastating effect drug abuse has on the
nation's public health and safety. The Strategy maintains that no
single solution can suffice to deal with this multifaceted challenge.
The Strategy focuses on prevention, treatment, research, law
enforcement, protection of our borders, drug supply reduction, and
international cooperation. Through a balanced array of
demand-reduction and supply-reduction actions, the nation's goal is to
achieve a 50 percent decrease in drug use and availability and at
least a 25 percent decrease in the consequences of drug abuse by 2007.
If this goal is achieved, just 3 percent of the household population
aged twelve and over would use illegal drugs. This level would be the
lowest documented drug-use rate in American history.

The Strategy's five goals are:

1. Educate and enable America's youth to reject illegal drugs as well
as alcohol and tobacco.

2. Increase the safety of America's citizens by substantially reducing
drug-related crime and violence.

3. Reduce health and social costs to the public of illegal drug use.

4. Shield America's air, land, and sea frontiers from the drug threat.

5. Break foreign and domestic drug sources of supply.

The five goals organize thirty-one objectives that are narrowly
focused and stipulate the specific ways in which the goals will be
attained. Under the prevention goal (Goal 1), for example, nine
supporting objectives articulate the specific ways that illegal drug
use and underage consumption of alcohol and tobacco products will be
reduced. Programmatic initiatives are tied directly to one or more of
these objectives. The National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, for
example, supports Goal 1, Objective 2 - pursue a vigorous advertising
and public communications program. It also supports Goal 1, Objective
7 - create partnerships with the media, entertainment industry, and
professional sports organizations.

Progress towards the Strategy's goals and objectives is gauged through
the supporting Performance Measurement of Effectiveness (PME) system.
The PME system fulfills 3 congressional guidelines that the Strategy
contain measurable objectives and specific targets to accomplish
long-term quantifiable goals. The nucleus of the PME system consists
of twelve "impact targets" that define measurable results to be
achieved by the Strategy's five goals. There are five impact targets
for demand reduction, five for supply reduction, and two for reducing
the adverse health and criminal consequences associated with drug use
and trafficking. Eighty-seven additional targets further delineate
mid- (2002) and long-term (2007) targets for the Strategy's thirty-one
objectives. A number of these are stretch targets in that they require
progress above that attained in previous years. This system is in
accordance with recommendations from the National Academy of Public
Administration, the General Accounting Office, and other organizations
advocating good government practices. The overall performance system
is described in detail within a companion volume to this Strategy --
Performance Measures of Effectiveness: 2000 Report.

II. HIGHLIGHTS OF ONDCP'S 2000 ANNUAL REPORT 

Public Law 105-277 also requires the President to submit to Congress
an Annual Report on the progress in implementing the Strategy. General
reporting requirements for the Annual Report include:

1. Assessment of federal success in achieving the National Drug
Control Strategy goals and objectives (using the Strategy's
Performance Measures of Effectiveness system). This analysis includes
an assessment of drug use and availability in the United States as
well as prevention, treatment, law enforcement, interdiction, and
international programs.

2. Modifications during the preceding year of the National Drug
Control Strategy or national drug control performance measurement
system. 3. An explanation of how the Administration's budget proposal
is intended to implement the National Drug Control Strategy and how
proposed funding levels will help do so.

4. Measurable data from the annual performance measures.

5. An assessment of private-sector initiatives and cooperative efforts
dealing with drug control among federal, state, and local governments.

ONDCP has prepared the following documents in compliance with these
requirements:

--The National Drug Control Strategy Annual Report
--Drug Control Budget: FY 2001
--Performance Measures of Effectiveness: Implementation and Findings
--Counterdrug Research and Development Blueprint 

--National Drug Use Rates Are Steady At Half Peak Rate Of 1979:
Overall drug use rates remained steady in the 1990s. An estimated 13.6
million Americans (6.2%) twelve years of age and older were current
users of any illegal drug in 1998. This number is slightly less than
the 13.9 million estimate for 1997. Drug use reached peak levels in
1979 when 14.1 percent of the population age twelve and over were
current users. Since 1996 the number of current users remained steady,
with statistically insignificant changes occurring each year.

--1991-1995 Trend of Increasing Drug Use by Adolescents Has Been
Halted: In 1998, 9.9 percent of youth age twelve to seventeen reported
current use of an illegal drug - a 13 percent decrease from 11.4
percent in 1997. This decline was the first statistically significant
drop in four years. Teen attitudes toward drugs are improving - the
percentage of teens who strongly agreed with the statement, "kids who
are really cool don't use drugs," increased from 35 percent in 1998 to
40 percent in 1999.

--The Consequences of Drug Abuse are Devastating: Using a methodology
that incorporates deaths from other drug-related causes, ONDCP
estimates that in 1995 there were 52,624 drug-related deaths. This
figure includes 14,218 drug-induced deaths for that year, plus
mortalities from drug-related causes. In 1998, there were an estimated
542,544 drug-related emergency department episodes and 982,856
emergency department drug mentions in the coterminous United States.
These figures have remained relatively stable from 1997. Illegal drugs
accounted for an estimated $110 billion in expenses and lost revenue.

--The Tragic Cycle of Drugs and Crime must be Broken: While national
crime rates have declined dramatically, more than 1.6 million
Americans were arrested for drug-law violations in 1998 - a decrease
of one percent from 1997. More than two-thirds of adult male arrestees
and half of juvenile male arrestees tested positive for at least one
drug in fifteen of thirty-five sites in 1998. 22 percent of inmates in
state prisons are incarcerated for drug-law violations; 60 percent of
inmates in federal prison are incarcerated for drug-law violations.

--Illegal Drugs Impair Workplace Productivity. Almost 75 percent of
current drug users aged 18-49 are employed full or part-time - more
than 8 million workers. As national unemployment rates decreased,
rates of drug use among the unemployed have risen. In 1998, 18.2
percent of unemployed adults aged eighteen or older were current
illicit drug users, compared to 13.8 percent in 1997. Drug use is
estimated to cost $14 billion a year in decreased productivity. In
1997, those who reported current illegal drug use were more likely
than those who reported no drug use to have worked for three or more
employers in the past year (9.3 percent versus 4.3 percent), to have
skipped one or more days of work in the past month (12.9 percent
versus 5 percent), or to have voluntarily left an employer in the past
year (24.8 percent versus 15.4 percent).

(end transcript)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)