NCJ Number
150788
Date Published
1994
Length
173 pages
Annotation
Witnesses before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Crime and Criminal Justice discuss the effectiveness of strategies to reduce the supply of drugs in the United States and the wisdom of readjusting the proportion of funds given to supply and demand efforts to combat illegal drug use.
Abstract
Witnesses represent various Federal agencies involved in drug interdiction efforts, as well as researchers who have examined the effectiveness of current drug policy. Representatives of Federal agencies such as the U.S. Coast Guard, the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the U.S. Customs Service, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics Matters recount the strategies, achievements and needs of their agencies. Activities reviewed are in the general areas of eradication of illegal drugs, destruction or undermining of major drug trafficking organizations, and interdiction of drugs as they come into the United States. A researcher from the Rand Corporation notes that interdiction programs have failed to prevent the rapid growth of cocaine imports in the 1980's. In the last few years, imports seem to have stabilized at historically high levels, notwithstanding a significant growth in late 1980's interdiction expenditures. He also advises that cocaine is more expensive than it would otherwise be because of seizures and arrests made by interdiction agencies. He concludes that the cost- effectiveness of interdiction strategies compares favorably with the cost of drug investigations after drugs have entered the country. Subcommittee members and witnesses discuss the wisdom of taking funding from interdiction efforts to apply to demand-side drug prevention and treatment efforts.