NCJ Number
162846
Date Published
1996
Length
0 pages
Annotation
This video of a C-SPAN broadcast presents the testimony of Barry McCaffrey, the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), before the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee regarding the fiscal year 1996 appropriation for the ONDCP.
Abstract
The Senate Appropriations Committee's chairman gives an opening statement that questions the commitment of the Clinton Administration to the drug problem and notes its tendency to focus on the drug issue only at election times. Barry McCaffrey's testimony focuses on funding for a five-pronged national drug policy. The policy encompasses drug prevention and education, drug treatment, drug law enforcement, drug shipment interdiction, and international cooperation in attacking drug supplies at their source. In emphasizing drug prevention and education, McCaffrey advises that the drug problem must finally be solved at the grass-roots level through parents, families, schools, churches, and civic organizations committed to the welfare of children and youth. In documenting trends in drug use in the United States, he states that youth drug use has increased in recent years after several years of decline; marijuana use by youth has almost doubled, and the marijuana being currently used has a higher potency than in the past, thus making it a dangerous "gateway" drug toward use of hard drugs. McCaffrey provides a breakdown of how the appropriations request will be used for the five-pronged policy. Overall, a 94.3-percent increase in appropriation is requested. Committee members question McCaffrey about the effectiveness of demand-reduction programs and steps that are being taken in international cooperation, notably with Peru, a primary source country for cocaine.