Podcast and analysis: The National Drug Control Strategy
In our latest "Just the Facts" podcast, Adam talks with John Walsh, senior associate on the Washington Office on Latin America's Drug Policy Program, about the Obama administration's newly announced anti-drug strategy, made public on May 11.
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The Obama administration released its first National Drug Control Strategy on Tuesday. According to President Obama, it presents a "balanced approach to confronting the complex challenge of drug use and its consequences." An annual report developed by the President and the Director of the White House's Office for National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), the National Drug Control Strategy includes the government's goals and objectives for both international and domestic drug-control activities. The 2010 report attempts to move away from the drug war rhetoric of the past, as Gil Kerlikowske, director of the ONDCP, told reporters, "calling it a war really limits your resources. Looking at this as both a public safety problem and a public health problem seems to make a lot more sense." Even critics like John Walsh, from the Washington Office on Latin America, saw some improvement in the new strategy, which "marks a modest but real improvement over past ONDCP strategies ... [and] at least opens the door to the serious debate over drug policy that has been stifled for decades by the din of 'drug war' zealotry." Walsh warns, however, that "the new Strategy is by no means a clean break with that past," as it "continues to dedicate the lion's share of federal spending to domestic and overseas enforcement activities for which there is scant, if any, evidence of success in achieving their basic aim of suppressing illicit drug availability." The 2010 Strategy establishes five-year goals to reduce drug use and its consequences, including reducing the rate of youth drug use by 15 percent, reducing the number of chronic drug users by 15 percent and reducing the prevalence of drugged driving by 10 percent. The White House press release notes that the new strategy is " a collaborative and balanced approach that emphasizes community-based prevention, integration of evidence-based treatment into the mainstream health care system, innovations in the criminal justice system to break the cycle of drug use and crime, and international partnerships to disrupt transnational drug trafficking organizations." The majority of the National Drug Control Strategy focuses on domestic policies and initiatives. However, chapters 5 and 6 of the report address drug trafficking and production and international partnerships, largely focusing on initiatives in the Western Hemisphere and on the U.S.-Mexico border. Below are excerpts from and summaries of the longer report on how the United States plans to work in and with Latin America and the Caribbean on eliminating drug-related violence, stopping production, and decreasing demand. Read the entire report here (PDF). You can also download the FY2011 budget summary for State Department's International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement (INCLE) program (PDF), which includes details for assistance to various countries in the Western Hemisphere. Chapter Five: Disrupt domestic drug trafficking and production Within this chapter, the report lays out how the United States plans to stem the two-way trade across its borders - as drugs move north from Mexico and illicit proceeds of the drug trade and weapons move south from the United States. Securing the United States' borders and developing a national plan for the southbound interdiction of currency and weapons are two of the chapter's main principles. The Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy, first released in June 2009, aims to "stem the flow of illegal drugs and their illicit proceeds across the southwest border and reduce associated crime and violence in the region. It directs Federal agencies to increase coordination and information sharing with State and local law enforcement agencies, intensifies national efforts to interdict the south-bound flow of weapons and bulk currency, and calls for continued close collaboration with the Government of Mexico in their efforts against the drug cartels." According to the report, "the enormous amount of money generated by drug sales in the United States fuels the expansion of violent drug-trafficking organizations. Similarly, the weapons acquired by traffickers also enable them to wreak havoc within Mexico and the United States." Some actions that will be implemented include increasing inspection at the border and employing automated license plate readers to identify likely currency and weapons smugglers. Preface to Chapter Six The Strategy report includes a preface to chapter six, "A Colombian Success Story - Looking for and Finding a Better Life." This brief section describes a "success story" about a Colombian woman who was displaced by "violence generated by the illegal armed groups" in 2003, joined the paramilitaries as a nurse, demobilized in 2006 and then joined a USAID initiative that "employs demobilized paramilitary combatants and former coca growers to establish 1300 acres of palm plants." Due to the USAID program, this woman, according to the report, now "has a job that allows her to enjoy her big passions: life and agriculture." Chapter Six: Strengthen International Partnerships This chapter begins with this: "Shared responsibility for the origin of a problem implies shared responsibility to solve it" and continues to acknowledge that the United States' counternarcotics programs "must be updated to reflect a changing world."
Our counternarcotics efforts must apply all available tools to ensure improvements are permanent and sustainable by regional allies. These efforts must include complementary assistance programs, such as those focused on sustainable alternative development and strengthened prevention, treatment, and law enforcement and judicial capacities. This comprehensive approach promises to permanently wean farmers off illicit crops while eliminating the space in which cartels, criminal bands, and narcoterrorists operate and disrupting the symbiotic relationship of narcotics, insurgency, and corruption.
This section of the Obama administration's strategy focuses on:
- Conducting joint counterdrug law enforcement operations with international partners to cause major disruptions in the flow of drugs, money, and chemicals;
- Intensifying counterdrug engagement internationally, particularly in the Western Hemisphere, including through training and technical assistance to help our international partners build stronger judicial, civic, and health institutions;
- Promoting alternative livelihoods for coca and opium farmers to reduce drug production;
- Improving our understanding of the vulnerabilities of drug trafficking organizations by pooling the knowledge of our intelligence and law enforcement agencies;
- Targeting the illicit finances of drug trafficking organizations by engaging the international community in major anti-money laundering initiatives;
- Expanding support for international prevention and treatment initiatives in partnership with the United Nations and the Organization of American States;
- Increasing medication-assisted treatment for drug addiction through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the largest effort in history to treat a single disease.
Some excerpts from this chapter include:
- Well-funded and violent drug-trafficking organizations pose serious threats to the security of major drug source and transit nations. Drug-trafficking organizations throughout the Western Hemisphere have garnered huge financial returns from the illicit drug trade, which they use to undermine government institutions through bribery and coercion When they cannot buy loyalty, these criminals do not hesitate to murder government officials, law enforcement officers, and military personnel who oppose them. Both Colombia and Mexico have benefited from decisive leaders who insist on bringing the traffickers to justice and regaining full control of their territory. In addition to the direct assistance that the United States must provide to these and other illicit drug-producing nations, it is important to also work with partners in every area of the world to develop a complementary regional approach to illegal drug consumption, production, and transit issues.
- The Strategy strongly supports the continuation of the Merida Initiative—primarily a United States-Mexico partnership initiated in 2007. This intensified bilateral collaboration incorporates an array of activities and programs, including the United States-Mexico Demand Reduction Bi-National Conference held on February 23–25, 2010, in Washington DC, which fostered collaboration on prevention and treatment initiatives. As a result of the Merida Initiative, the United States and Mexico are engaged in unprecedented levels of two-way information sharing, collaboration on sensitive cases, and joint planning. Bilateral mechanisms already in place to address challenges such as weapons trafficking and bulk cash smuggling also will be used to dismantle the drug-trafficking organizations that continually exploit the border.
- Colombia and Peru have experienced significant success (see update on Plan Colombia) due primarily to their own historic efforts, but assisted by resources and expertise provided by the United States. With the latest data showing a significant disruption of the cocaine market in the United States and a notable decrease in Andean coca and opium poppy cultivation, these successful efforts in reducing the production and trafficking of Andean cocaine must be maintained. Although United States interdiction programs with Bolivia have been largely suspended at the request of their government, the State Department is maintaining some alternative development efforts and remains open to resuming broader anti-drug cooperation at a later date.
- Consolidate the Gains Made in Colombia: Voluntary and manual eradication will be emphasized, but aerial eradication will also remain an important tool, especially in remote and insecure areas where manual eradication is cost prohibitive or too dangerous. ... Ultimately, the most effective way of reducing the production of illicit drugs is through the expansion of governance into conflict areas so that all Colombians have access to government services, protection from terrorist or criminal groups,and a licit manner in which to earn a living. This expansion of governance is the natural evolution of Plan Colombia efforts.