Office of National Drug Control Policy

Office of National Drug Control and the Present Threat Over the last decade, Southwest border violence has elevated into a national security concern. Much of the violence appears to stem from the competing growth and distribution networks that many powerful Mexican drug cartels exercise today. The unfortunate byproduct of this criminality reaches many citizens of the Mexican border communities in the form of indiscriminate street gang shootings, stabbings, and hangings which equated to approximately 6,500 deaths in 2009 alone (AllGov, 2012). That same danger which now extends across the border regions of New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, and California has the potential for alarming escalation. Yet, despite the violence, evermore-brazen behavior continues to grow, as does America’s appetite for drugs. Even though drug-related violence mandates that law enforcement agencies focus on supply reduction, the Office of National Drug Control Policy should shift its present policy formulation efforts to only drug demand reduction because treatment and prevention efforts are inadequate and strategy has evolved little over the last three decades. Role of the ONDCP President Reagan established the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) following the passage of the Anti-Abuse Act of 1988 amidst mounting risk of drug dependence becoming more pervasive in American workplaces and schools. The legislation established the need for the federal government to make a good-faith effort in maintaining drug-free work places, schools, and drug abuse and rehabilitation programs for many users (Eddy, 2005). The early focus for the ONDCP’s was to curb the rising drug threat emanating from the drug cartels operating throughout South America, in... ... middle of paper ... ...ved from http://www.gao.gov/assets/100/97472.pdf Office of National Drug Control Policy. (n.d.).AllGov: Everything Our Government Really Does. Retrieved March 18, 2012, from http://www.allgov.com/Agency/Office_of_National_Drug_Control_Policy Reduce the Threat, Incidence and Prevalence of Violent Crime and Drug Trafficking: FY 2011 Overview. (2011).Intelligence (p. 6). Washington, D. C. Retrieved from http://www.justice.gov/jmd/2011factsheets/pdf/reduce-drug-trafficking.pdf Roberts, M., Trace, M., & Klein, A. (2004). Law Enforcement and Supply Reduction: Report Three (p. 15). Retrieved from http://www.beckleyfoundation.org/pdf/report_lawenforce.pdf White, F. E. (1988). Memorandum from Frank E. White to Donald L. Ashton, Drug Enforcement Agency, on Operation Snowcap dated March 8, 1988 (p. 12). Retrieved from http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB69/part1.html