Setting Priorities: Budget and Program Choices for Drug Control

• NCJ Number: 160357
• Author(s): P Reuter
• Date Published: 1995
• Length: 31 pages
• Corporate Author: Rand Corporation
• Sale Source: Rand Corporation
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Reprinted from the University of Chicago Legal Forum.

Annotation

This article enters the fray over the allocation of the Federal drug control budget.

Abstract

The author argues that the debate over budget priorities should be focused on the national drug control budget, of which the Federal drug control budget is only one component. Budgets are driven by laws and programs, and the debate should focus on the appropriateness of those laws and programs, rather than on the budgets that emerge from them. The second half of the article analyzes the stated Federal drug law enforcement objective of reducing the number of people who use drugs and the ways in which that goal affects policy. Budget priorities can be set by matching major classes of drug control programs to drug problem elements and finding an optimal mix of programs that addresses current problems. The article questions the effectiveness of a punitive approach to drug law enforcement, and suggests that Federal policy should focus on providing treatment to people who are already drug dependent. 3 tables, 1 figure, and 105 notes