ENCYCLOPEDIA OF Espionage, Intelligence, and Security Volume ...

Drug Control Policy, United States Office of NationalELECTRONIC:“Traitorous Actions”: FBI Agent Charged With Spyingfor Moscow. (February 1, 2003).SEE ALSOCambridge University Spy RingDead Drop SpikeHanssen (Robert) Espionage CaseWalker Family Spy Ring❚ JUDSON KNIGHTDrug Control Policy, UnitedStates Office of NationalThe White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, orONDCP, is an independent office of the executive branchof the United States government, and reports directly tothe president. Established by the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of1988, ONDCP is the principal architect of national drugcontrol strategy. It directs anti-drug efforts, and establishesa gameplan for achieving goals, along with a budgetand guidelines for cooperation between federal, state,local, and private entities.Enabling legislation. The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988,which set a policy goal of creating a “drug-free America,”included as one of its key provisions the establishment ofONDCP. It is charged with setting priorities for anti-drugpolicy, implementing a national strategy for fighting drugs,and certifying federal drug-control budgets. The drugfightingstrategy, as specified by the statute, must becomprehensive and founded in research; must containmeasurable objectives and long-range goals; and mustseek reductions in drug abuse, trafficking, and the consequencesthereof. Specific aims include the discouragementof drug abuse among young people, a reduction inthe number of drug users, and decrease in the availabilityof drugs.A series of executive orders in 1993 (E.O. 12880) and1996 (12992 and 13023) collectively placed ONDCP in thelead role for drug policymaking entities within the executivebranch of the federal government. In 1994, the ViolentCrime Control and Law Enforcement Act added to ONDCP’sresponsibilities the assessment of budgets and resourcesrelated to the overall national drug control strategy.The 1997 Drug-Free Communities Act empoweredONDCP to undertake a national initiative whereby federalgrants would go to community coalitions with a demonstratedrecord of reducing substance abuse among localpopulations, encouraging cooperation between the privateand public sectors, and involving citizens in anti-drugefforts. In 1998, the ONDCP Reauthorization Act expandedONDCP’s role and established additional requirementsfor the office, including the development of a long-termnational strategy for combating illegal drug use anddistribution.Anti-drug advertising. Also in 1998, the Media CampaignAct charged ONDCP with leading a national media campaigndirected toward young people. This placed theoffice in collaboration with the Partnership for a Drug-FreeAmerica (PDFA), a private organization to which advertisersdonate resources as a means of discouraging drug useamong America’s youth. ONDCP in 1998 initiated theNational Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, which mobilizedboth the private and public sectors to fight drug useamong young people.Four years later, a private survey commissioned byONDCP found that advertising had done little to discouragedrug use among adolescents. However, PDFA chairmanJim Burke asserted in a Washington Post editorialthat this assessment was too pessimistic: not only haddrug use among teens not increased, but the advertisinghad helped to raise awareness among parents.An ONDCP-sponsored campaign that established aconnection between drugs and terrorism drew fire fromsome critics when it debuted at the 2002 Superbowl. Whilethe connection between the heroin trade and terroristgroups such as al-Qaeda has been established, criticsmaintained the link between terrorism and drugs is lessobvious for marijuana, some of which is grown in theUnited States. Furthermore, in the view of some detractors,the introduction of the terrorism theme complicatedwhat should have been a simple message discouragingdrug use for health and social reasons. Nevertheless, thecampaign sparked debate and awareness for personalresponsibility issues regarding the global implications forillegal drug purchase and use.❚ FURTHER READING:BOOKS:Ojeda, Auriana. Drug Trafficking. San Diego, CA: GreenhavenPress, 2002.Thompson, Stephen P. The War on Drugs: Opposing Viewpoints.San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1998.PERIODICALS:Burke, Jim. “Kids, Drugs, and Bureaucrats.” WashingtonPost. (May 21, 2002): A17.Grimm, Matthew. “A Dubious Pitch.” American Demographics24, no. 5 (May 2002): 44–46.“ONDCP Says Anti-Drug Ads Are Ineffective.” Crime ControlDigest 36, no. 20 (May 17, 2002): 4.362 Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Security