NCJ Number
233463
Date Published
February 2011
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This issue of the newsletter of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) addresses the following topics: the challenge of countering the abuse of prescription drugs while ensuring legitimate access to them; the Associated Press' (AP's) correction of an article that misrepresented the ONDCP Director's view on Portugal's drug policy; an interview with Joseph Rannazzisi of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); ONDCP staff interactions with local communities; and improved cooperation among drug directors for the United States and Russia.
Abstract
According to the 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, among people age 12 or older who reported using pain relievers nonmedically in the past year, 55 percent got the drug they most recently abused from a friend or relative for free. This article presents a step-by step approach for how persons who obtained drugs by prescription should dispose of prescription drugs they no longer need so as to prevent them from falling into the hands of potential abusers. Joseph Rannazzisi, DEA Deputy Assistant Administrator for Diversion Control, discusses the diversion and abuse of prescription drugs and how the agency is responding to these problems. Regarding the AP's correction of its story on Portugal's drug policy, the original story claimed that the United States was "looking for answers in tiny Portugal" after that country decriminalized drugs in 2000. The ONDCP, objecting to both the premise of the story and its headline, requested a correction, which the AP issued the same day. The correction is quoted in the newsletter. ONDCP staff are meeting with local stakeholders and community groups in order to interpret the features and rationale of the national drug control strategy, and U.S. and Russian representatives signed a joint statement of commitment to closer cooperation on the prevention and treatment of drug abuse.