A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the role of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) in shaping the national drug control budget that the President ultimately proposes to Congress to implement the National Drug Control Strategy, focusing on: (1) whether the process ONDCP followed to certify federal agencies' drug control budgets for fiscal year (FY) 1999 was consistent with statutory requirements; and (2) the system ONDCP has developed to assess the extent to which drug control agencies and programs achieve intended results."
Federalism issues have been neglected in the scholarship on drug control policy. This Article addresses both empirical and normative questions relating to federal-state-local relations in the "war on drugs." Contrary to common views of federal domination and national uniformity, drug control policy actually varies considerably from state to state. State diversity has increased since the mid- 1990s, when drug reformers began to use the ballot initiative to change state laws. While the federal government has contested these reforms, it has not sought to use its preemption powers to enforce federal preferences. The Article employs public choice models to explain the current federal role, giving particular attention to the unusual degree of "in-kind" assistance given by federal law enforcement officials to local police agencies. While such in-kind assistance helps to decentralize drug policymaking and reduce agency costs, it also undercuts legislative control and public accountability. Leading theoretical models of federalism support the ideal of decentralized decision making in drug policy. Decentralization encourages policy innovation and enhances overall citizen satisfaction. While prior commentators have not fully appreciated the present degree of decentralization in drug policy, federal-state-local relations are nonetheless in need of reform, particularly to enhance legislative control and public accountability. Accordingly, the Article proposes reforms that are intended to reduce the federal distortion of drug policy debates at the state and local level, subject federal drug enforcement decisions to a greater degree of local political control, and increase the accountability of local law enforcement to local political institutions.
Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the role of the Department of Defense (DOD) in reducing the supply of illegal drugs entering the United States, focusing on: (1) the decline in DOD's aerial and maritime support allocated to counterdrug activities from fiscal years 1992 through 1999 and some of the consequences and reasons for the decline; (2) the obstacles DOD faces in helping foreign governments counter illegal drug activities; and (3) DOD's counterdrug strategy and the need for performance measures to judge its counterdrug program effectiveness."
This book presents a comprehensive examination of the drug control policy process in the United States. How are policy choices identified, debated and selected? How are the consequences of governmental policy measured and evaluated? How, if at all, do we learn from our mistakes. The first section deals with four different ways of understanding American drug policy: drug control as ideology, drugs as an issue of definition and measurement, an historical analysis of drug control, and finally, drug control as an occasion for debating the proper role of the criminal law. Zimring and Hawkins also discuss priority problems for drug control and provide a foundation for an improved policy process. They argue that protection of children and youth should shape policy toward illicit crime, with attention to the fact that youth protection objectives may limit the effectiveness of some drug controls
In: World development: the multi-disciplinary international journal devoted to the study and promotion of world development, Band 11, Heft 3, S. 223-228
Virtually all known human groups have devised and regularly used techniques for altering consciousness, among which alcohol and drugs are prominent. James B. Bakalar and Lester Grinspoon offer a provocative analysis of the philosophical and historical foundations for efforts to control these techniques in industrial societies. What are the rights of individuals to diversity and enrich their experience? What, conversely, are the obligations of governments to protect their citizens? The authors explore the relevance to drug control of traditional doctrines of political liberty. They discuss the ideas of addiction, dependence, and compulsive drug use, central in both medical and legal definitions of drug abuse. They consider the history and sociology of modern drug control, and go on to present a useful typology of the forms of drug control. After assessing each point, they examine alternative ways of looking at what is usually called the drug problem. The book will be of interest to all those concerned with drugs and social control, in a wide range of fields
Intro -- INTERNATIONAL DRUG CONTROL AND TRAFFICKING ISSUES -- INTERNATIONAL DRUG CONTROL AND TRAFFICKING ISSUES -- CONTENTS -- PREFACE -- Chapter 1 INTERNATIONAL DRUG CONTROL POLICY -- SUMMARY -- INTRODUCTION -- U.S. Policy Context -- International Policy Context -- U.S. NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL STRATEGY -- Funding -- Agency Roles -- INTERNATIONAL DRUG CONTROL TOOLBOX -- Multilateral Cooperation -- Foreign Assistance Sanctions -- The FY2010 "Drug Majors" -- Drug Certification Procedures -- Methamphetamine Precursor Chemicals -- Other Drug-Related Foreign Aid Certification Requirements -- Crop Eradication -- Alternative Development -- Interdiction -- Anti-money Laundering Efforts -- Extradition -- Institutional Capacity Building -- MILITARY ROLE IN COUNTERDRUG TRAINING AND EQUIPPING92 -- SELECTED LEGISLATIVE ISSUES FOR THE 111TH CONGRESS -- Counternarcotics Aid to U.S. Transit Zone Countries: Mérida Initiative and Beyond -- Beyond Mérida: The Four Pillar Strategy -- The Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI) and the Central American Regional Security Initiative (CARSI) -- Plan Colombia, the Andean Counterdrug Program, and the Future of Counternarcotics Aid to South America -- Afghanistan Counterdrug Programs -- West Africa -- ALTERNATIVE POLICY APPROACHES -- Rebalance Current Drug Policy Tools -- Emphasize "Hard-Side" of Counternarcotics Policy -- Emphasize "Soft-Side" of Counternarcotics Policy -- Emphasize Drug Demand Reduction -- Reevaluate Prohibitionist Drug Regime -- Legalize Illegal Drugs -- Decriminalize Illegal Drugs -- Allow Government-Supervised Drug Use for Addicts -- APPENDIX. CRS REPORTS ON INTERNATIONAL DRUG POLICY -- End Notes -- Chapter 2 LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN: ILLICIT DRUG TRAFFICKING AND U.S. COUNTERDRUG PROGRAMS -- SUMMARY -- AN OVERVIEW OF ILLICIT DRUGS IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN1
Introduction -- The sources and actors of the international drug control system -- The emergence of the international drug control system -- The objective of the international drug control system : limitation of drugs to medical and scientific purposes -- The material scope of the international drug control system -- Challenges to the implementation of the international drug control system -- Concluding remarks and outlook