NCJ Number
208669
Date Published
February 2005
Length
80 pages
Annotation
The national drug control strategy presented in this report focuses on stopping use before it starts (prevention), healing drug users (treatment), and disrupting the market (law enforcement intervention).
Abstract
The section on stopping drug use before it starts examines the distinctive roles of schools, communities, and the media in instructing parents in how to be more effective in guiding youth to avoid drug and alcohol use. It promotes tools such as student drug testing and community efforts to reduce underage drinking and summarizes new research on the development of the adolescent brain. The section on healing America's drug users profiles the Nation's first voucher recipient under the Access to Recovery program. It also describes a treatment facility that has been effective in serving addicted mothers, as well as a faith-based program in Harlem that helps former inmates cope with life after release. Another treatment effort profiled uses physicians to target drug users on the pathway to addiction, screening them in emergency rooms for evidence of drug dependence, and referring them to treatment as needed. The role of drug courts is also explained, as the sentencing and monitoring functions of the court are used to enhance commitment to and progress in substance abuse treatment. The section on disrupting the market presents a progress report on efforts, both foreign and domestic, to disrupt the availability and purity of illegal drugs through cooperation with source-country efforts, interdiction programs, and investigative operations. The 2-year goals of the national strategy are a 10-percent reduction in current use of illegal drugs by 8th, 10th, and 12th graders, as well as by adults age 18 and older. Five-year goals are a 25-percent reduction in current use by these age groups. Data are presented on progress to date toward these goals. 20 figures and appended national drug control budget summary for fiscal years 2004-2006