The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) is a component of the Executive Office of the President (EOP) responsible for running the federal government’s anti-drug programs. ONDCP is lead by the “Drug Czar,” a White House position created by President Ronald Reagan as part of his “Just Say No” policy designed to reduce the use of illegal drugs by Americans. ONDCP seeks to reduce illicit drug use, manufacturing and trafficking, drug-related crime and violence, and drug-related health consequences. The agency’s National Drug Control Strategy directs the national anti-drug effort, establishing programs, funding and guidelines to assist federal, state and local government drug enforcement entities. In recent years, the office has come under fire over how it spends its multi-billion-dollar budget and whether federal anti-drug policies are actually effective.
The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) was created by the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988. The new law required that employers contracting with the federal government in any way meet certain requirements for providing a “drug-free workplace.” These included: making a good faith effort to maintain a drug-free workplace; publishing a drug abuse policy statement; distributing to each employee a written copy of the drug abuse policy statement; notifying the granting or contracting federal agency within 10 days of receiving a conviction notice from an employee; imposing sanctions (up to and including employment termination), or requiring convicted employees to participate in a drug abuse assistance or rehabilitation program; and establishing a drug-free awareness program to educate employees on the dangers of drug abuse, available drug counseling and other programs, and the drug abuse policy.
Beginning in March 1989, ONDCP certification of grantees or contractors became a precondition for receiving a federal grant or contract. Penalties for failure to comply with the new law included suspension of federal payments for an undisclosed period, termination of a federal grant or contract or suspension or disbarment of the grantee or contractor from receiving another grant or contract for a period of up to five years.
The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (PDF) 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 12880 (1993) and Executive Orders 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 ONDCP to carry out a national initiative that awards federal grants directly to community coalitions in the United States. Such coalitions are supposed 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 make it more effective; improved coordination among national drug control program agencies; and establishment of a Parents’ Advisory Council on Drug Abuse.
Executive Order 13165 (2000) created the White House Task Force on Drug Use in Sports and authorized the director of ONDCP to serve as the US government’s representative on the Board of the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA).
By 2002 many members of Congress had grown frustrated with a perceived lack of results by ONDCP to curb the drug problem in America. Consequently, the Senate Appropriations Committee recommended that salaries and expenses at the Office of National Drug Control Policy be reduced from $26.6 million to $11.5 million. The committee also requested a study by the Government Accountability Office to study the distribution of agency grants and required the agency’s director to provide quarterly updates on travel, expenditures, staffing and hirings.
According to a 2002 study by a non-partisan research firm hired by ONDCP, teenagers exposed to federal anti-drug ads were no less likely to use drugs as a result of having viewed them, and some young girls said they were even more likely to give drugs a try. In 2005, the same research company reported that the government's ad campaign against marijuana use did not work. However, ONDCP continued with the ad campaign after the report was received, spending more than $220 million in 2005 and 2006.
The Office of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 2006 reauthorized ONDCP through FY 2010, contained several reporting requirements and expanded the mandate of the agency. Some of the changes included creating the position of the US Interdiction Coordinator and the Interdiction Committee (comprised of agency partners who review the National Interdiction Command and Control Plan) within ONDCP, moving it from the Department of Homeland Security; adding faith-based organizations and tribal officials to the National Drug Control Strategy consultation list; requiring the establishment of a HIDTA designation petition process so that local law enforcement agencies can petition to receive a HIDTA designation; granting statutory authority to the Counterdrug Technology Transfer Program, which transfers technology and training directly to state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies; authorizing the ONDCP director to emphasize the prevention of youth marijuana use in campaign advertisements and requiring the director to expend at least 10% of appropriated funds on advertisements to reduce the use of methamphetamine; reauthorizing the Drug Free Communities Support Program through FY 2012 and increasing the maximum annual grant award amount to $125,000; and establishing within the Justice Department a National Methamphetamine Information Clearinghouse.
In 2006, ONDCP released the results of a survey of 67,500 people that found that 8.1% of respondents had used an illegal drug within the previous 30 days. This equated to 19.7 million people nationwide, aged 12 years and older, and an increase from 2004. But drug use among the young decreased for the third year in a row, according to the study, declining from 19.4% to 14.8% among middle and high school students between 2001 and 2007.
According to the University of Michigan’s annual
Monitoring the Future
report (released in December 2006), the number of young people using drugs in the US declined by 23% between 2001 and 2006. But the study said there was no evidence to suggest that government anti-drug programs caused this drop.
Part of the Executive Office of the President, the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) oversees the nation’s anti-drug program. The goals of the program are to reduce illegal drug use, manufacturing and trafficking, as well as drug-related crime and violence and drug-related health consequences. The director of ONDCP (aka “the Drug Czar”) is responsible for creating the National Drug Control Strategy, which directs the nation’s anti-drug efforts and establishes a program, budget and guidelines for cooperation among federal, state and local law enforcement.
ONDCP’s director oversees the international and domestic anti-drug efforts of executive branch agencies. The director is supposed to make sure these efforts sustain and complement state and local anti-drug activities. The director also advises the President on changes in the organization, as well as management, budgeting and personnel of federal agencies that would affect the nation’s anti-drug efforts and compliance with these efforts.
As part of its prevention efforts, ONDCP operates several programs. Drug Free Communities (DFC) supports more than 700 drug-free community coalitions across the United States. As a cornerstone of ONDCP’s National Drug Control Strategy, DFC provides the funding necessary for communities to identify and respond to local substance use problems. Random Student Drug Testing is considered a “powerful public health tool” by ONDCP that discourages students from using dangerous, addictive drugs, and confidentially identifies those who may need help or drug treatment. The National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign is a multi-dimensional effort to sway youth from using drugs. The campaign uses a variety of media to reach parents and youth, including TV ads, educational materials, Web sites, and publications.
As part of its treatment efforts, the agency funds Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral, and Treatment (SBIRT) programs that rely on the health care system to help diagnose and treat drug abuse before it becomes a more serious problem. Another program is Access to Recovery (ATR), which provides vouchers for treatment services as well as recovery support services. For the first time, Access to Recovery expands treatment options by including faith and community-based providers. Congress has appropriated $300 million in funding for ATR over three years.
Drug Endangered Children
programs coordinate the efforts of law enforcement, medical services and child welfare workers to ensure that children found in these environments receive appropriate attention and care. The 2006
Fentanyl-Laced Heroin Demand Reduction Forum
brought together law enforcement and public health officials, prevention specialists, and treatment providers from federal, state and local governments to discuss the public health threat and response techniques arising from deaths related to fentanyl-laced heroin, a powerful synthetic drug that is 80 to 100 times more powerful than morphine and can kill humans in small doses.
According to the President’s FY 2009 budget request, the Office of National Drug Control Policy will spend all of its resources on maintaining its internal operations, including administrative and support services, salaries, benefits and building fees. No information regarding contracts that ONDCP has issued is available on USAspending.gov. However, the agency does contract with private companies and public organizations and universities.
In August 2003, the University of Texas at Austin received a $4.5 million grant from the Office of National Drug Control Policy to obtain and operate a functional MRI machine to study how the brain is affected by drug and alcohol abuse. Substance abuse researchers tried to reveal the brain processes that result in addiction, and what can be done to mitigate or reverse this.
In July 2006, a report for Congress revealed that the Advertising Council had been hired by ONDCP to run its National Media Match Program, which has garnered $447 million in pro bono TV and radio time for public service announcements. ONDCP started to give credit to television networks whose programs contained anti-drug storylines. The networks could then reclaim the credited time it owed to the government and resell it to commercial advertisers. The networks earned additional millions by selling this airtime, which would normally have been donated for anti-drug messages.
In October 2002, the Roskamp Institute and James A. Haley VA Hospital team was awarded a contract from ONDCP’s Counterdrug Technology Assessment Center. Their research is designed to determine the feasibility of genetic typing of drug abusers, and those at risk of drug abuse. The group received $5.85 million to study all 30,000 genes and their protein products simultaneously over the course of five years.
A July 2002 USA Today article reported that the Office of National Drug Control Policy had awarded its $152 million anti-drug ad contract to Ogilvy & Mather, surprising many rival bidders. Earlier that year, Ogilvy & Mather had agreed to a $1.8 million settlement on claims that it had overcharged the drug office for ad work under the last contract. The new contract was a one-year deal, with four years of renewable options, worth $762.1 million over five years. Approximately $130 million was allocated for media planning and buying, while the rest was spent on designing ads.
ONDCP Scolded by GAO for Fake News Ads Before Super Bowl
In January 2005, the Washington Post reported that a story aired before the Super Bowl on numerous local news stations was created by the government’s Office of National Drug Control Policy, not a journalist. The investigative arm of the Congress scolded the Bush Administration for distributing phony news after the Government Accountability Office (GAO) revealed that this practice amounted to illegal “covert propaganda.” The GAO also objected to the use of taxpayer money to produce these ads. Seven of the ads were produced and shown on 770 stations. At least 300 news shows used some or all of the materials for stories or sound bites.
ONDCP Budget Creates Controversy with Congress
Although Congress has repeatedly asked the ONDCP for greater transparency, it released an unclear and confusing budget in February 2008. The agency requested $14.1 billion for drug control efforts, a 3.4% increase. Two-thirds are earmarked for law enforcement, interdiction and programs to destroy drug crops abroad, while one third would fund treatment and prevention efforts. Some lawmakers have complained that the agency has not provided the whole picture and asked the agency to comply with a new way of reporting, which it has not done.
Salon Blogger Calls Drug Czar on the Carpet for Lying
A blog entry, written by Pete Guither and published on Salon.com in 2008, called out the ONDCP’s “Drug Czar,” claiming the position is required by law to lie about drugs. Since the director is bound by law to oppose legalization of any substance on Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act, he or she must oppose the issue of medical marijuana, which has been found to have “currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States” or “accepted safety for use of the drug under medical supervision” by extensive research. (Even the federal government supplies it to patients.) So, Guither concluded, the drug czar is required by law to lie about the facts.
On April 2, 2003, Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) wrote a letter to the General Accounting Office asking for an investigation into ONDCP lobbying activities and its dissemination of “misleading information.” The blog entry also pointed out that the agency’s director was required by law to claim that the anti-drug programs were working, despite evidence to the contrary.
The Drug Czar is required by law to lie
(by Pete Guither, Drug WarRant)
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Founded: 1988
Annual Budget: $14.1 billion
Employees: 111
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Office of National Drug Control Policy
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Kerlikowske, Gil
Director
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President Obama’s nominee to be the nation’s new “drug czar,” Robert Gil Kerlikowske, was confrimed on May 7, 2009. Kerlikowske has spent nearly 30 years in law enforcement, including a stint as a narcotics officer and eight years as Seattle’s police chief, during which he downplayed the importance of arresting individuals for marijuana possession.
Born in Fort Myers, Florida, in 1949, Kerlikowske was raised by his mother and stepfather, who was a judge. As a high school student, Kerlikowske worked as a crime scene photographer on weekends, and he discovered his love for law enforcement while fingerprinting criminals at a Florida jail. Kerlikowske enrolled in St. Petersburg Junior College, but was drafted into the army in 1970, and joined the Army Military Police. He was stationed in Washington, DC, where his duties included saluting then-President Richard Nixon as he boarded the Marine One helicopter.
Kerlikowske married in 1972, and he and his first wife, Carol, had two children. After leaving the military, Kerlikowske began his law enforcement career in 1972 as a street cop for the St. Petersburg Police in Florida. His assignments included work as an undercover narcotics detective, an internal affairs investigator and a police hostage negotiator. By 1985 he had been promoted to head of the department’s criminal investigation division.
He was hired to be the police chief for the town of Port St. Lucie in Florida in March 1987. He later held the same post for Fort Pierce beginning in January 1990, before moving in 1994 to Buffalo, New York, to become police commissioner.
Kerlikowske was the first department outsider to lead the Buffalo police department. He was credited for lowering the crime rate, improving police relations with the community and introducing basic technological advancements in the Buffalo police department, along with instituting random drug testing of officers.
He married his second wife, criminal justice researcher Anna Laszlo, in 1995.
In 1998, Kerlikowske relocated to Washington, DC, to join the US Department of Justice during the Clinton administration. There, he served as a deputy director for the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, where he oversaw community policing grants. During his time at the Justice Department, Kerlikowske established a strong relationship with Eric Holder, who served as deputy attorney general during the Clinton years, and is now US Attorney General.
Kerlikowske was selected to become Seattle’s police chief in 2001. During his tenure in Seattle, Kerlikowske won credit for stabilizing the department after the stormy departure of Norm Stamper as chief in the wake of the 1999 World Trade Organization riots in Seattle. Crimes rates dipped during his time as chief, reaching historic lows in recent years.
But his time as police chief was not without some controversy and drama. Kerlikowske faced criticism over the department’s slow response to the 2001 Seattle Mardi Gras Riots that left one man dead and 70 people with injuries. During the incident, he ordered the police at the scene not to intervene, instead maintaining a perimeter around the violence. The city of Seattle acknowledged that police strategy presented a public safety threat, and settled with the murder victim’s family for just under $2,000,000. The next month, The Seattle Police Officers’ Guild voted no confidence in the chief, citing both the Mardi Gras riot and his public reprimand of an officer for being rude to a group of young jaywalkers.
In 2003, Kerlikowske was asked about his views on a local ballot initiative to make marijuana possession the lowest law enforcement priority. In response, he stated that “arresting people for possessing marijuana for personal use... is not a priority now.”
In 2004, Kerlikowske admitted publicly that he had been recruited to leave Seattle to run police departments in San Francisco and Boston. In September 2004, he allowed himself to be jolted with 50,000 volts of electricity to demonstrate the non-lethal efficiency of Taser guns. And in December, he left a 9-mm Glock semiautomatic handgun underneath the seat of his car while shopping with his wife. The gun was stolen out of his car, and a spokesman for Kerlikowske said the chief was “chagrined.”
In July 2007, a citizen oversight panel accused Kerlikowske of repeatedly interfering in an internal investigation into the actions of a pair of officers accused of beating a suspect.
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Walters, John
Previous Director
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John P. Walters served as the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy from December 7, 2001, until the end of the presidency of George W. Bush. Walters earned a BA from Michigan State University's James Madison College and an MA from the University of Toronto.
Walters taught political science at James Madison College and Boston College before serving as Acting Assistant Director and Program Officer in the Division of Education Programs at the National Endowment for the Humanities from 1982 to 1985. Walters then worked at the Department of Education during the Reagan administration, where he headed the Schools Without Drugs prevention program.
Walters went on to serve as deputy director and acting director of the Office of National Control Policy under William J. Bennett, who was drug czar in the administration of President George H. W. Bush. Walters quit in protest when President Bill Clinton reduced the office’s staff and announced that he was redirecting antinarcotics policy to focus on hard-core users, while de-emphasizing enforcement and interdiction.
In 1996 Walters testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee and was highly critical of what he called Clinton’s “ineffectual policy—the latest manifestation of the liberals commitment to a therapeutic state in which government serves as the agent of personal rehabilitation.”
Walters has been president of the Philanthropy Roundtable, an association that advises more than 600 donors to charities. He has also served as president of the New Citizenship Project which promoted the role of religion in public life.
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