NCJ Number
174609
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 60 Issue: 6 Dated: October 1998 Pages: 90-93
Date Published
1998
Length
4 pages
Annotation
An interview with the Associate Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy's Bureau of State and Local Affairs covers the evolution of the drug problem in the United States and goals of the 1998 National Drug Control Strategy.
Abstract
Drugs cost society about $110 billion a year and kill 16,000 people a year. Drug abuse is a serious problem, especially because people use drugs to deal with other issues in their lives. To deal with the drug problem, the National Drug Control Strategy has five goals: (1) educate and enable youth to reject illegal drugs, alcohol, and tobacco; (2) increase the safety of citizens by substantially reducing drug-related crime and violence; (3) reduce health and social costs to the public of illegal drug use; (4) shield air, land, and sea frontiers from the drug threat; and (5) break foreign and domestic drug sources of supply. The issue of how society combines the goals of helping drug addicts get treatment and avoid incarceration and still uphold the law is considered, and the need for adequate resources to provide drug treatment in prisons is stressed.