NCJ Number
171332
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 25 Issue: 5 Dated: (May 1998) Pages: 54-55
Date Published
1998
Length
2 pages
Annotation
This interview with Barry McCaffrey, the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), focuses on the current extent of drug problems in the United States and the efforts of the ONDCP to assist police agencies in drug law enforcement.
Abstract
An introduction notes that the ONDCP's goals are to educate and enable youth to reject illegal drugs, alcohol, and tobacco; to reduce drug-related crime and violence; to reduce illegal drug use's health and social costs to the public; to shield the country from the drug threat; and to break foreign and domestic sources of supply. McCaffrey notes that the 2 percent of the population who are addicted are the major source of crime and that treatment and prevention will not be effective unless the country keeps a high social disapproval rate of drugs. ONDCP is trying to provide law enforcement with a variety of technology, including communications, command and control systems, improved methods to detect drug smuggling, and automation to allow rapid movement of data among police agencies. More than half of the proposed budget of $17.1 billion is for law enforcement and prisons. ONDCP will also help law enforcement form integrated task forces of local, State, and Federal authorities. Police agencies cannot solve the drug problem. However, they need to hold the line against drug trafficking and drug crime, and ONDCP will support them with prevention and treatment. Photograph