President Bush Releases National Drug Control Strategy: Treatment and Prevention Highlighted as a Key Components

This week, President Bush and John Walters, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, jointly released the National Drug Control Strategy at an event held in the East Room of the White House. In his remarks, President Bush outlined three core principles as the basis of this year's strategy: 1) Stopping drug use before it starts. 2) Healing America's drug users. 3) Disrupting the [drug] market. The first two principles look to prevention and treatment as ways to successfully reduce drug abuse and addiction in America. Additionally, President Bush announced that a key goal for the Strategy will be to reduce the use of illegal drugs by 10% over the next 2 years and by 25% over the next 5 years. This goal will apply to drug use among adolescents and adults.

President Bush also stated that the best way to affect supply is to reduce the demand for drugs, and that the most effective way to do that is community-based treatment and prevention. He then highlighted some of the Strategy's initiatives, including the Drug-Free Community Support Program, that supports local community anti-drug coalitions that provide community-based prevention activities. The President's budget request recommends a $9 million increase for this program, bringing the FY 2003 funding level to $60 million. The President also announced $5 million for a new prevention program, Parents Corps, which would be administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service, and which would encourage parents to help children stay drug-free by training them in prevention skills. The President also mentioned the new $50 million Targeted Capacity Expansion Initiative at the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment that would support innovative treatment expansion efforts in twelve states.

Additional key FY 2003 Strategy and budgetary initiatives included funding increases for alcohol and drug treatment services in the criminal justice system. Specifically, the President's budget proposes $77 million for the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) program, a $7 million increase over the FY 2002 funding level. RSAT funds drug and alcohol treatment in state prisons across the nation. The budget also proposes $52 million for the Drug Court Program, a $2 million increase over the FY 2002 funding level.

Several Democratic and Republican Congressman attended the White House event to show their support for the Drug Control Strategy, including Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Bob Graham (D-FL), and Congressmen Sander Levin (D-MI), Rob Portman (R-OH), Elijah Cummings (D-MD), John Mica (R-FL), and Mark Sounder (R-ID). Additionally, key Administration officials for drug and alcohol treatment and prevention were present, including Andrea Barthwell, Deputy Director of Demand Reduction at the Office of National Drug Control Policy, and Charles Curie, Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Several national drug and alcohol treatment and prevention organizations also attended.