The National Drug Control Strategy: 1996.

To the Congress of the United States

I am pleased to transmit to the Congress the 1996
National Drug Control Strategy. This Strategy
carries forward the policies and principles of the
1994 and 1995 Strategies. It describes new
directions and initiatives to confront the
ever-changing challenges of drug abuse and
trafficking.

This past March I convened the White House
Leadership Conference on Youth, Drug Use, and
Violence in order to focus the Nation's attention
on two major health problems faced by young people
today -- drug use and violence. The conference
brought together over 300 young people, parents,
clergy, community and business leaders, judges,
prosecutors, police, entertainers, media
executives, researchers, and treatment and
prevention specialists from across America to
examine solutions and keep us moving forward with
proven strategies. The Vice President, General
Barry McCaffrey, and I met with the participants in
a series of roundtable discussions, discussing how
to strengthen the efforts of families, the media,
communities, schools, businesses, and government to
reduce drug use and violence. Participants left
with new energy and new ideas, determined to return
home and begin implementing the solutions and
strategies discussed that day.

This conference took place at an important juncture
in America's ongoing fight against drug abuse.  In
the last few years our Nation has made significant
progress against drug use and related crime. The
number of Americans who use cocaine has been
reduced by 30 percent since 1992. The amount of
money Americans spend on illicit drugs has declined
from an estimated $64 billion five years ago to
about $49 billion in 1993 -- a 23 percent drop. We
are finally gaining ground against overall crime:
drug-related murders are down 12 percent since
1989; robberies are down 10 percent since 1991.

At the same time, we have dealt serious blows to
the international criminal networks that import
drugs into America. Many powerful drug lords,
including leaders of Colombia's notorious Cali
cartel, have been arrested. A multinational air
interdiction program has disrupted the principal
air route for smugglers between Peru and Colombia.
The close cooperation between the United States,
Peru, and other governments in the region has
disrupted the cocaine economy in several areas. Our
efforts have decreased overall cocaine production
and have made coca planting less attractive to the
farmers who initiate the cocaine production
process. And I have taken the serious step of
cutting off all non-humanitarian aid to certain
drug producing and trafficking nations that have
not cooperated with the United States in narcotics
control. Further, I have ordered that we vote
against their requests for loans from the World
Bank and other multi-lateral development banks.
This clearly underscores the unwavering commitment
of the United States to stand against drug
production and trafficking.

Here at home, we have achieved major successes in
arresting, prosecuting, and dismantling criminal
drug networks. In Miami, the High Intensity Drug
Trafficking Program, through its operational task
forces, successfully concluded a major operation
that resulted in the indictments of 252 individuals
for drug trafficking and other drug-related crimes.
Operations conducted by the Drug Enforcement
Administration's Mobile Enforcement Teams program
(MET), a highly successful federal tool for
assisting local law enforcement, have resulted in
more than 1,500 arrests of violent and predatory
drug criminals in more than 50 communities across
the nation.

But as the White House Leadership Conference on
Youth, Drug Use, and Violence showed, now is the
time to press forward. We must not let up for a
moment in our efforts against drug abuse, and
drug-abuse by young people, particularly.

There are many reasons why young people do continue
to use drugs. Chief among these are ignorance of
the facts about addiction and the potency of drugs,
and complacency about the danger of drugs.
Unfortunately, all too often we see signs of
complacency about the dangers of drug use:
diminished attention to the drug problem by the
national media; the glamorization and
legitimization of drug use in the entertainment
industry; the coddling of professional athletes who
are habitual drug users; avoidance of the issue by
parents and other adults; calls for
drug-legalization; and the marketing of products to
young people that legitimize and elevate the use of
alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs.

All Americans must accept responsibility to teach
young people that drugs are illegal and they are
deadly. They may land you in jail; they may cost
you your life. We must renew our commitment to the
drug prevention strategies that deter first-time
drug use and stop the progression from alcohol and
tobacco use to marijuana and harder drugs.

The National Drug Control Strategy is designed to
prevent a new drug use epidemic through an
aggressive and comprehensive full-court press that
harnesses the energies of committed individuals
from every sector of our society. As I said in the
State of the Union, we must step up our attack
against criminal youth gangs that deal in illicit
drugs. We will improve the effectiveness of our
cooperative efforts among U.S. defense and law
enforcement agencies, as well as with other
nations, to disrupt the flow of drugs coming into
this country. We will seek to expand the
availability and improve the quality of drug
treatment. And we will continue to oppose
resolutely calls for the legalization of illicit
drugs. We will increase efforts to prevent drug use
by all Americans, particularly young people.

The tragedy of drug abuse and drug-related crime
affects us all. The National Drug Control Strategy
requires commitment and resources from many
individuals and organizations, and from all levels
of government. For the Strategy to succeed, each of
us must do our part.

We ask the Congress to be a bipartisan partner and
provide the resources we need at the Federal level
to get the job done. I challenge State and local
governments to focus on drug abuse as a top
priority. We ask the media and the advertising and
entertainment industries to work with us to educate
our youth, and all Americans, about the dangers of
drug use. Finally, we invite every American --
every parent, every teacher, every law enforcement
officer, every faith leader, every young person,
and every community leader -- to join our national
campaign to save our youth.

THE WHITE HOUSE

------------------------------

The National Drug Control Strategy

I. The purposes of this Strategy

The National Drug Control Strategy organizes a
collective American effort to achieve a common
purpose. The Strategy provides general guidance and
specific direction to the efforts of the more than
fifty Federal agencies involved in the struggle
against illegal drugs and substance abuse. Further,
this Strategy offers a common framework to State
and local government agencies, to educators and
health care professionals, to law enforcement
officials and community groups, and to religious
organizations, mass media, and American business to
build a unified American counterdrug effort. The
common purpose of that collective effort is to
reduce illegal drug use and its consequences in
America. 

------------------------------

II. Why we must respond to the drug problem in
America today

Drugs affect the lives of millions of Americans.
According to a recent Gallup Poll, almost one half
(45%) of Americans report that either they, someone
in their family, or a close friend has used illegal
drugs. Of these, 28 percent characterized the drug
use as moderate, while 29 percent described it as a
serious addiction. More than half of those who
reported knowing someone with a moderate or serious
drug problem were living in households with incomes
of $35,000 or more, and most were white. Clearly,
drugs are not a problem just for inner-city
residents, or the poor, or members of some minority
group -- they affect all Americans from every
social, ethnic, racial, and economic background. 

Americans are especially concerned about the
increased use of drugs by youth. In 1991, after
several years of decline, the number of people
trying marijuana for the first time showed a marked
increase. The majority of these "initiates" to drug
use were young people. Several recent surveys
confirm that the rate of drug use among youth has
continued to climb. Past-month use of all drugs
among youth aged 12 to 17 increased by the rate of
50 percent between 1992 and 1994. With the
exception of alcohol, drugs of all kinds are being
used increasingly by youth. However, it is
marijuana that is used most often. Among youth aged
12 to 17, the use of marijuana almost doubled
between 1992 and 1994.

Americans are also troubled by hardcore drug use
and its devastating consequences to society. Fewer
individuals are using drugs on an occasional or
non-addicted basis. In fact, this number has
declined dramatically from its peak 17 years ago.
However, the insidious nature of addiction has been
realized as many of these formerly occasional users
have progressed to chronic, hardcore drug use.
Families and neighborhoods are being torn apart by
the crime and health consequences that so often
accompany addiction. While only one in four drug
users is a hardcore drug abuser, this minority
consumes the majority of the illegal drugs and
commits a disproportionate number of drug-related
crimes. About two thirds of these hardcore users
come in contact with the criminal justice system
each year. We can and must reduce the number of
hardcore drug users.

The numbers underscore the unacceptable costs of
illegal drug use to our society:

America has suffered 100,000 drug-related deaths in
the 1990s alone -- over 20,000 of our citizens die
every year because of illicit drugs.

o In 1993, the year from which the most recent data
is available, Americans spent an estimated $49
billion on illegal drugs: $31 billion on cocaine,
$7 billion on heroin, $9 billion on marijuana, and
$2 billion on other illegal drugs.

o Federal, State, and local governments
collectively spend about $30 billion a year to
reduce illegal drug use and trafficking and deal
with their consequences.

o The annual social cost of illicit drug use is $67
billion, mostly from the consequences of
drug-related crime.

o Drug-related hospital emergency department visits
continue to be at record levels -- over one half
million annually -- owing in large part to the
consequences of drug addiction.

o Drug use contributes significantly to property
and violent crimes. Of nearly 712,000 prison
inmates interviewed in June 1991, 62 percent
reported they had used drugs regularly at some time
in their lives, 50 percent reported drug use in the
month before committing the offense that had sent
them to prison, 31 percent said they were under the
influence of drugs when they committed their crime,
and 17 percent said they were trying to get money
for drugs when they committed the crime. Of more
than 20,000 adult, male arrestees tested in 1994
under the Drug Use Forecasting program, 66 percent
were positive for use of at least one drug at the
time of arrest.

o Each year over one million persons are arrested
on drug-related charges. 

Other drugs are now beginning to emerge that
further threaten all Americans. Heroin presents a
particularly grave threat to the American people.
The surveys that track heroin use patterns are
discouraging. In 1993, the rate of heroin-related
emergency room episodes was 64 per 100,000
population among persons ages 35 to 44, almost
double of what it was in 1988 for this age group.
The users of heroin are also initiating use of the
drug at a younger age (the Monitoring the Future
(MTF) study reports increased heroin use by 10th
and 12th graders) and they are beginning to rely on
routes of administration such as smoking and
snorting, rather than injecting. This may make
heroin use more accessible to a wider range of
users, particularly those users of other drugs that
were unwilling to inject drugs. 

The continued rise in popularity of methamphetamine
(also know as speed, crystal, crank, and ice) is
also of increasing concern. For many years,
methamphetamine use has been confined to certain
areas of the country (the West and Southwest) and
to certain distinct groups of users (motorcycle
gangs and older polydrug users). The drug is now
becoming more attractive to young users, and its
use is expanding into other areas of the country
such as Denver, Des Moines, Dallas, Atlanta,
Philadelphia, and Minneapolis/St. Paul.
Methamphetamine, used for its stimulant effect, is
often combined in use with alcohol, heroin, and
cocaine. An estimated 4 million persons in the
United States have used methamphetamine at least
once in their lives. 

A third emerging drug, Rohypnol, presents a new
challenge. Rohypnol is manufactured in Colombia,
Mexico, and Switzerland, but is not legally
marketed or sold in the United States. It has a
sedative effect and is reported to be 7 to 10 times
more potent than Valium.þ Chronic use produces
heavy sedation, psychomotor impairment, headaches,
tremors, and amnesia. As with other sedatives and
tranquilizers, long-term use can lead to physical
dependence and the need for medically supervised
withdrawal. Rohypnol, a drug legally available by
prescription in Europe and many other parts of the
world, is reported to be increasingly popular among
some groups of young people in the United States.
It is frequently used in conjunction with alcohol,
marijuana, and cocaine and has achieved a dubious
reputation as a "date rape" drug because of its
effects on memory loss, especially when combined
with alcohol. On March 5, 1996, Customs began
seizing all quantities of Rohypnol at U.S. borders
based upon the advice of DEA and the Food and Drug
Administration.

The National Office of Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)
is also monitoring two additional emerging drugs:
LSD and PCP. The distribution pattern for LSD,
which is now available in nearly every State, is
unique within the drug culture. A proliferation of
mail order sales has created a marketplace where
the LSD sellers are generally unknown to the
buyers, providing the highest-level traffickers
with considerable insulation from drug law
enforcement operations. The vast majority of users
are white, middle-class high school and college
students attracted by low prices, who perceive the
drug as harmless.

PCP production appears to be centered in the
greater Los Angeles, California, metropolitan area.
PCP use peaked in the early to mid-1980s and was
supplanted by the use of crack-cocaine. However,
there are recent indications that PCP use has
increased somewhat in a limited number of cities.

And finally, due to the serious problems posed by
the increased use of marijuana, it must logically
be included in any discussion of emerging drugs.
While marijuana has been a problem in the United
States for many years, the recent increases in use
among young people and its rise in potency also
warrant our concern as an emerging drug of abuse.

The drug trade is a growing threat to America's
interests abroad. Drug-related corruption,
intimidation, and dirty money undermine democratic
governments and free-market economies around the
world. This jeopardizes important political and
commercial relationships the United States has with
many countries.

------------------------------

III. There is cause for guarded optimism

Despite the recent upturn in casual drug use by our
youth, we have made real progress in the past
decade as a result of a principled, long-term
effort. Thanks to the bipartisan efforts of the
Congress and three successive Administrations,
along with the broad-based efforts of citizens and
communities throughout the United States, we have
made substantial progress since the 1970s when drug
use was at its peak. We have moved from widespread
social tolerance of drug abuse to a current
environment in which the vast majority of Americans
strongly disapprove of substance abuse and do not
use illegal drugs. Consider how far we have
progressed:

o While 72 million Americans have experimented with
illegal drugs, the overwhelming majority quit of
their own accord and oppose the use of illicit
drugs.

o As a result of aggressive prevention efforts, the
number of illegal drug users has fallen by half
since 1985, from 22.3 million to 12.2 million
"past-month" users.

o The number of new cocaine users plummeted from a
million and a half in 1980 to about half a million
in 1992. Overall, cocaine use has fallen 30 percent
in the last three years alone.

o Between 1975 and the early 1990s, the number of
new heroin users dropped by 25 percent.

o Homicides have decreased by 5 percent, and those
that are judged to be drug-related are down
approximately 25 percent.

o Workplaces are safer and more productive: drug
use among U.S. workers decreased from 19 percent in
1979 to 8.1 percent in 1993, and three out of four
companies with more than 250 employees have formal
antidrug programs and policies in place.

o Since the late 1980s, U.S. Government seizures of
drug trafficker assets have been about $700 million
a year.

o Drug treatment programs have improved
dramatically and are better linked with offender
management and drug court programs, creating a
mutually supporting dynamic between law enforcement
and rehabilitation. Progress is being made in
helping those who want help.

o Internationally, we moved from a standing start
to a web of increasingly effective alliances,
partnerships, and cooperative agreements:

-- We essentially blocked the free flow of cocaine
through the western Caribbean into Florida and the
Southeast.

-- Our interdiction efforts in South America have
disrupted the trafficking patterns of cocaine
traffickers in Peru, causing them to change flight
routes and modes of transportation.

-- Six of the seven ringleaders of the Cali Cartel
were arrested in 1995, and one recently was killed
by the Colombian police while resisting arrest.
Continued pressure on Colombian drug lords has
resulted in a recent flurry of surrenders and
arrests of "next generation" traffickers, causing
further disruption of cartel operations.

-- A third of the cocaine produced in South America
is intercepted before it hits our streets or those
of other countries.

-- Due to increased enforcement activity and
greater international focus and cooperation, money
laundering has become tougher for traffickers and
their front businesses.

-- Key Asian countries have begun to arrest
kingpins involved in heroin trafficking and to
extradite them to the United States. Such efforts
to attack these drug trafficking organizations are
being intensified.

------------------------------

IV. Recent drug control initiatives

Recent drug control initiatives by the U.S.
Government have helped to maintain the overall
progress of the last decade. Highlights of current
efforts to address the problems of illicit drug use
and trafficking include:

o A Reaffirmation of Anti-Legalization Sentiments.
ONDCP helped to reaffirm the sentiment of millions
of Americans who oppose the legalization of drugs.
In May 1995, the Office, in coordination with other
Federal agencies, co-sponsored the 1995 "American
Cities Against Drugs" conference in Atlanta,
Georgia. Officials representing dozens of American
cities, large and small, signed a declaration of
resolute opposition to the legalization of illicit
drugs.

o A Comprehensive Marijuana Strategy Targeting
Youth. The Marijuana Strategy is targeted primarily
at the Nation's youth. It coordinates efforts at
the Federal, State, and local level and includes
both supply and demand reduction components. A 1995
highlight of the Marijuana Strategy was the
Department of Health and Human Services National
Conference on Marijuana Use Prevention, Treatment
and Research. Also in 1995, the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services launched a national
anti-marijuana information campaign.

o A Methamphetamine Strategy. To more effectively
address the emerging methamphetamine problem, a
comprehensive law enforcement, prevention, and
treatment strategy coordinating the efforts at the
Federal, State, and local levels has been
developed. This project, begun at the request of
the President, brings ONDCP, the Department of
Justice, the Department of Health and Human
Services, and other concerned Federal agencies
together to lay the ground work for a response to
the serious threat posed by methamphetamine use and
trafficking. In conjunction with this effort, the
Substance Abuse Mental Health Administration's
Center for Substance Abuse Prevention and the
National Institute on Drug Abuse will be developing
a methamphetamine information awareness and
prevention initiative. 

o Regulations to Reduce Children's Use of Tobacco
Products. In August 1995, the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) proposed (i) restricting youth
access to tobacco products, (ii) reducing the
advertising, and promotional activities that make
these products appealing to young persons, and
(iii) an educational campaign, funded by the
tobacco industry, aimed at teaching children the
real health risks of tobacco products. Also, the
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration (SAMHSA) recently published
regulations to implement the Public Health Services
Act, requiring as a condition of receiving Federal
substance abuse block grant funds, that each State
enact and enforce laws banning the sale and
distribution of tobacco products to people under
18. Further, each State is required to perform
annual, random, unannounced inspections of outlets
that sell and distribute tobacco products, with the
outcome of these inspections to be used as a
measure of State success in enforcing their laws.

o Progress Against the Illegal Use of Alcohol by
Underage Users. President Clinton signed into law
the "National Highway System Designation Act of
1995," which requires States to adopt a Zero
Tolerance standard for drivers under the age of
twenty-one. This law makes it illegal for young
people who have been drinking to drive an
automobile. Alcohol-related crashes involving
teenage drivers are down as much as 20 percent in
those States which have Zero Tolerance laws on the
books.

o A National Media Literacy Campaign for Parents,
Youth, and Communities. ONDCP has initiated a
national effort to empower youth, parents, and
communities with critical cognitive skills needed
to challenge and resist the powerful media messages
that glamorize or condone the use of alcohol,
tobacco, and other illegal substances. The Media
Literacy campaign is part of an overall increased
emphasis on empowering youth to recognize the true
risks associated with the use of illegal
substances.

o Public-Private Prevention Partnership with
Pharmaceutical Companies. Fourteen major
pharmaceutical companies have agreed to participate
in a Federal-private sector prevention partnership.
The goal will be the development and dissemination
of prevention information to physicians throughout
the Nation for distribution to their patients. 

o A Presidential Initiative to Improve Community
Oriented Policing Services (COPS). The Department
of Justice has provided resources to State, local,
and Indian tribal governments to put an additional
34,000 police officers on the streets to keep
Americans safe from drugs and crime. Employing
community policing strategies, these new officers
will work in partnership with communities to tackle
drug trafficking, drug use, and related crime.

o High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA).
The HIDTA program takes a strategic approach to
drug trafficking in those areas of the country most
impacted by drugs. It focuses on the major
retailers and wholesalers of illicit drugs through
efforts to coordinate better the drug enforcement
efforts of Federal, State, and local law
enforcement agencies. In addition, the HIDTA
Executive Committee works to facilitate the flow of
intelligence information among member agencies. In
each HIDTA, the Executive Committee, upon the
release of this new Strategy, is required to update
its threat assessment and strategy annually, select
co-chairpersons who serve, and select a full-time
Director, approved by the Director, ONDCP.  Section
IV provides detailed information on the HIDTA
program.

o DEA's Mobile Enforcement Team (MET) Initiative.
This project has been successful in reducing
drug-related crime and violence in over 50
locations where such teams have been deployed.
After approving a request from a Chief or Sheriff
who is facing escalating drug-related violence,
Federal agents work with State and local officers
to target local drug organizations and their
leaders. These Federal, State and local law
enforcement teams reduce the influence of drug
gangs and restore public confidence in the
government; this is crucial in order to find
witnesses who will come forward and cooperate to
ensure that proper convictions are obtained, making
streets and neighborhoods safe from those who would
continue to perpetrate violent, drug-related
crimes.

o Safe Streets Violent Crimes Initiative. The
Federal Bureau of Investigation has established the
Safe Streets Violent Crimes Initiative, designed to
allow the Special Agent in Charge of each FBI field
office to address the problems of street, gang, and
drug-related violence. Through Safe Streets Task
Forces (SSTFs) -- FBI-sponsored long-term task
forces manned by Federal, State, and local law
enforcement officers and prosecutors -- the FBI is
able to better focus enforcement and investigative
efforts on violent gangs, crimes of violence, and
the apprehension of violent fugitives. As of
January 30, 1996, 138 SSTFs have been established
in 53 field offices. SSTFs involve the coordinated
efforts of 708 FBI Special Agents, 1,033 State and
local officers, and 183 Federal law enforcement
officers from other agencies. Currently there are
32 Fugitive Task Forces, 64 Violent Crimes Task
Forces, 33 Violent Crimes/Fugitive Task Forces, and
9 Major Offenders (property crime/carjacking) Task
Forces in operation under this initiative.  

o Drug Testing Accountability for Federal
Arrestees. The Department of Justice is developing
a systematic multi-year approach to end drug abuse
among offenders who cycle through the Federal,
State, and local criminal justice systems, called:
Operation Drug TEST(Testing, Effective Sanctions,
and Treatment). Under this initiative, defendants
are tested for drugs as soon as possible after
their arrest; judges use the test results in making
pretrial detention determinations and in setting
conditions of continued testing, sanctions, and
treatment for defendants released into the
community; and appropriate treatment and other drug
abuse deterrence programs are made available to
defendants, using the levers of criminal justice
supervision to break the cycle of drug abuse and
crime. The first steps of Operation Drug TEST
include establishing a program providing for
universal pretrial drug testing throughout the
Federal system and implementing related
prosecutorial guidelines. Simultaneously, linkages
will be established between the testing program,
sanctions, and treatment, both in correctional
institutions and the community. Operation Drug TEST
also calls for implementation of a coordinated
program of Federal assistance to State and local
jurisdictions to help them develop their own
parallel systematic accountability programs of
testing, effective sanctions, and treatment.

o Investigation, Apprehension, and Removal of
Criminal Aliens Involved in Narcotics Violations.
During Fiscal Year 1995, efforts by the Immigration
and Naturalization Service (INS), in cooperation
with other Federal, State, and local law
enforcement agencies, have resulted in the joint
investigation, apprehension, and removal from the
United States of 17,555 illegal aliens who either
possessed, imported, transported, or manufactured
controlled substances.

o Research Breakthrough in the Treatment of Cocaine
Addiction. Researchers from the National Institute
on Drug Abuse and Columbia University, bolstered by
ONDCP support, have made progress in the "Cocaine
Treatment Discovery Program." They have discovered
compounds that show promise in blocking the effects
of cocaine without interfering with the normal
mood-modulating effects of dopamine, one of the
brain's essential neurotransmitters. This finding
removes a major obstacle in the development of
medications to address cocaine addiction.

o Increased Border Security Against Smuggling. U.S.
Customs "Operation Hard Line" has reduced instances
of port running along the Southwest border by 42
percent. Since Operation Hard Line was instituted,
smuggling has shifted away from passenger vehicles
into commercial cargo. The success against
smuggling has continued with a 125 percent increase
in narcotics seizures in commercial cargo along the
Southwest border in Fiscal Year 1995.

o Presidential Directive Against International
Organized Crime. The President in October 1995
used, for the first time ever, the authority
provided him in the International Emergency
Economic Powers Act for counternarcotics purposes.
The President signed Executive Order Number 12978,
directing the Secretary of the Treasury, in
consultation with the Secretary of State and the
Attorney General, to identify the leaders, cohorts,
and front companies of the Cali organizations and
to block their assets in the United States. The
Executive Order also bars individuals and companies
in the United States from trading with those
identified individuals and their front companies. 

o An International Cocaine Strategy. Drug
trafficking organizations continue to target the
U.S. drug market effectively, despite the
unprecedented international and U.S. domestic law
enforcement pressure that they face. Latin American
producers are the sole suppliers of cocaine to the
United States. They remain intent on meeting the
demands of their most profitable market. The
Cocaine Strategy focuses on the growing and
processing areas of the source countries. This
strategy reflects the need to target the available
resources on areas where they can have the greatest
effect. This approach responds to evidence that
patterns of drug production and flow are changing
and that a comprehensive regional approach is
essential. From a tactical standpoint, antidrug
efforts in the source countries should provide us
with the best opportunities to eradicate
production, arrest drug kingpins and destroy their
organizations, and interdict drug flow. This
Cocaine Strategy has already led to substantial
success:

-- Disruption in the Cocaine Production and
Distribution Network. A regional air interdiction
program has disrupted the major air route for
smugglers between Peru and Colombia. The
cooperative effort between the United States, Peru,
and other governments in the region has disrupted
the coca markets on the ground, making coca
cultivation financially less attractive to the
farmers who initiate the cocaine production
process.

-- Arrests of Colombian Drug Cartel Leadership.
Colombian law enforcement authorities, with U.S.
assistance, arrested six of the seven Cali Drug
Cartel leaders in 1995. One suspect subsequently
escaped and was killed by Colombian National
Police, while resisting arrest.

-- Arrest of a Major Mexican Drug Trafficker. In
January 1996, the leader of one of Mexico's four
major cocaine smuggling organizations was arrested
in Mexico and expelled to face U.S. charges.

-- Largest maritime cocaine seizure in U.S.
history. A multi-agency operation, comprised of
elements of both the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy,
seized more than 12 tons of cocaine from the NATALY
I, a 112-foot Panamanian fishing vessel boarded in
the Pacific Ocean 780 miles west of Peru. This
action exemplifies interagency cooperation and the
importance of maintaining a strong transit zone
presence and flexible interdiction capability.

o An International Heroin Strategy. The President
recently developed a new international heroin
strategy to blunt the impact of the growing
potential heroin problem. It reflects the need for
a significantly different approach than that
prescribed for cocaine. The heroin industry is more
decentralized, more diversified, and more resistant
to law enforcement operations. International
criminal groups, attracted by huge profits, are
moving larger quantities of heroin to the United
States. With the increased availability of heroin
and a drastic increase in the purity of heroin on
the street, consumption is increasing, even among
adolescents. If left unchecked, these factors could
lead to an epidemic of heroin use. 

o Disruption of Money Laundering Operations. The
Departments of the Treasury, Justice, and State
have been actively engaged in carrying out
anti-money laundering efforts, both nationally and
internationally. At the Summit of the Americas
hosted by the President in 1994, the leaders of 34
nations in the Western Hemisphere agreed to a set
of principles that included a commitment to fight
drug trafficking and money laundering. The U.S.
subsequently coordinated the development of a
Communiqu‚ on Money Laundering which was adopted by
the international community in 1995 and which laid
out a series of steps for countries to take to
implement an effective anti-money laundering
program. 

o Aggressive Use of the Annual Certification
Process. Certification involves evaluating the
counternarcotics performance of countries that have
been defined as major drug-producing or
drug-transit countries. That performance is judged
on the basis of their meeting the antidrug
objectives enunciated in the 1988 United Nations
Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic
Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. For countries
that are not certified, the United States cuts off
most forms of assistance and votes against loans by
six multilateral development banks.

o Successful Attacks on Major Drug Traffickers.
Efforts of one component of the Miami HIDTA;
principally U.S. Customs, the DEA and FBI, and the
U.S. Attorney, resulted in the Operation
Cornerstone indictments of 252 major drug
traffickers. The Miami HIDTA task forces include
all major Federal, State, and local law enforcement
agencies.

------------------------------

V. Strategic goals and objectives of the 1996
National Drug Control Strategy

These goals: 

o Facilitate objective measurement of the nation's
progress towards reducing illicit drug use and its
consequences; 

o Are in accordance with Section 1005 of Public Law
100-690, as amended, which states that the National
Drug Control Strategy must include "comprehensive,
research-based, long-range goals for reducing drug
abuse"; and 

o Represent a strategic approach to solving the
current major aspects of the drug problem.

Despite past strides in addressing drug use and
trafficking, tough challenges must be faced. An
upsurge in drug use by teens reflects the need to
refocus and reinvigorate prevention efforts. We
have yet to substantially influence either the
availability or the purity of cocaine and heroin
within the United States. Nor have we yet been able
to reduce the number of hardcore drug users who
sustain the criminal infrastructure of drug
traffickers and fuel drug-related violence.
International criminal organizations are building
momentum along the Southwest border with Mexico and
in the eastern Caribbean and Puerto Rico. Finally,
emerging drugs threaten to spur new drug
"epidemics" and accompanying waves of crime and
violence.

The five goals and their supporting objectives
underscore our central purpose and mission --
reducing illicit drug use and its consequences.
They acknowledge that antidrug efforts do not occur
in isolation and must be long-term in focus. Our
efforts must also be linked with efforts to curb
the use of alcohol and tobacco by those who are
underage and the illicit use of other controlled
substances. We must also recognize the need for
prevention programs to deter first-time drug use
among adolescents and other high-risk populations
and to reduce the progression from casual use to
addiction. We must uphold the belief that those who
have started using drugs may need a hand in
stopping. We also reaffirm that those who seek to
profit from the drug trade must face the certainty
of punishment. The smaller number of strategic
goals does not imply a rejection of past goals or
existing programs. Rather, the smaller number
ensures that our message is unambiguous and that
our commitment is clear. All Americans must
understand our central purposes if this strategy is
to be a worthwhile guide for action. 

This Strategy is founded in a firm belief that
America can no longer tolerate the negative effects
of drug use on the lives of our citizens -- the
personal tragedies of millions of Americans whose
children have been seduced by the glamour and
availability of dangerous and illicit drugs and
substances; the members of our families who have
been killed, wounded, or assaulted by drug users
and traffickers; and our schools, neighborhoods,
and workplaces that have been ravaged by drugs. We
cannot be satisfied with managing the drug problem
so that its consequences are acceptable to the
majority. Our task must be to break the cycle of
addiction so that we can significantly reduce both
illicit drug use and its consequences. 

Goal 1: Motivate America's youth to reject illegal
drugs and substance abuse.

Objective 1: Increase the number of State
governments and community organizations
participating in the development of national
prevention standards and a national prevention
infrastructure. 

Objective 2: Increase the number of schools with
comprehensive drug prevention and early
intervention strategies with a focus on family
involvement. 

Objective 3: Increase the number of community drug
coalitions through a focus on the need for public
support of local drug prevention empowerment
efforts.

Objective 4: Increase, through public education,
the public's awareness of the consequences of
illicit drug use and the use of alcohol and tobacco
by underage populations.

Objective 5: Reverse the upward trend in marijuana
use among young people and raise the average age of
initial users of all illicit drugs. 

This Strategy goal targets the increased prevalence
of drug use and substance abuse by our youth. It
directly confronts teen tolerance of drug use, teen
use of marijuana and other illicit drugs, and the
illegal use of licit substances by minors, e.g.,
alcohol, tobacco, and inhalants.

Several well-established drug indicators, including
the Monitoring the Future (MTF) study, PRIDE, and
the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse
(NHSDA), reveal increased drug use among youth. The
1995 MTF, for example, provides information on drug
use trends and patterns among 8th, 10th, and 12th
grade students. Between 1994 and 1995, use of most
illicit drugs increased among students in all three
grade levels. In the 1995 MTF Report, investigators
found that while marijuana use has shown the
sharpest increase, the use of other illicit drugs -- 
including LSD, other hallucinogens, amphetamines,
and inhalants -- has also continued on an upward
trend. In most instances, these increases began in
the early 1990s and reversed a decade or more of
decreases in drug use. 

Increases in specific drug categories were
significant. The use of marijuana, in particular,
has increased steadily among 8th, 10th, and 12th
graders. The upswing in marijuana use rates from
1994 to 1995 represents an increase for the third
consecutive year among 10th and 12th graders, and
an increase for the fourth consecutive year among
8th graders. Past year use of hallucinogens,
including LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide),
increased among 8th, 10th, and 12th graders.
Past-month use of cocaine increased for 10th
graders, primarily due to crack-cocaine use. Even
heroin use is on the rise, with past-month heroin
use having increased significantly among 10th and
12th graders.

Trends among youth in "perceived harmfulness and
availability" of illicit drugs are equally
disturbing. The MTF survey reveals a decrease among
the percentage of 8th, 10th, and 12th grade
students who say that trying marijuana or smoking
it occasionally is a "great risk." The perceived
risk of marijuana use among seniors has decreased
steadily from 1991 through 1995.

The National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA)
indicates that for youth aged 12 to 17, there has
been a notable deterioration of attitudes about the
perceived risk from using marijuana, crack cocaine,
and anabolic steroids. The NHSDA also found notable
increases in the perceived availability of
marijuana, LSD, PCP, cocaine, and heroin.

The data from these surveys present a consistent
and a disturbing picture: more kids are using drugs
and feeling less concerned about doing so. In
response, this Strategy elevates prevention
initiatives to a more central role to effectively
target the newest risk group: young casual users.
Throughout the past year, in fact, the White House
demonstrated leadership on drug prevention programs
for youth. First, the Office of National Drug
Control Policy launched the National Drug
Prevention System, a long-range strategy to
strengthen relations between private sector groups
and community prevention partnerships. Second, our
government has strongly and consistently supported
the Safe and Drug-Free Schools program. Third,
President Clinton, ever mindful of the media's
powerful role in shaping the attitudes of our
Nation's youth, recently launched a national "media
literacy" campaign designed to teach youth to "see
through" the seductive media images that glamorize
or condone the use of drugs and other substances.

This National leadership will continue to support
initiatives to protect our youth against drug use.
The White House Conference on Youth, Drug Use, and
Violence was held March 7, 1996, in Greenbelt,
Maryland to recognize positive role models among
youth in order to counteract negative influences on
our young people. In addition, the "Marijuana
Strategy" is an ONDCP initiative that includes both
demand and supply reduction components (discussed
in detail elsewhere in this document). This
initiative will continue in 1996 augmented by new
efforts undertaken by the Departments of Justice,
Health and Human Services, and Transportation.

The need to reverse drug abuse trends among
adolescents is underscored by a recent demographic
analysis. This analysis was conducted by
Northeastern University Professor James Alan Fox
and Carnegie Mellon University Professor Alfred
Blumstein. The results of the study warn that a new
demographic bulge -- children of the baby boom
generation -- are beginning to approach a time of
great vulnerability to crime, drug use, and other
social pathologies. Currently, an estimated 39
million Americans are under the age of 10, the
greatest number in this age group since the 1960s.
If, ten years from now, this group abuses drugs at
the same rate as today's youth, drug use will
increase by alarming proportions. And if drug use
increases by the same rate that it has for the past
five years, by the year 2000, 1.4 million high
school seniors will be using illicit drugs monthly.

The study also highlights the impact that increased
drug use among today's youth could have on
tomorrow's crime rates.  There is a striking array
of changes in juvenile crime since 1985 -- a
doubling of the homicide rate, a doubling of the
number of homicides committed with guns, and a
doubling of the arrest rate of nonwhites for drug
offenses, all after a period of relative stability
in these rates. These changes can be linked to the
rapid growth of the crack-cocaine markets in the
mid-1980s. To service that growth, juveniles were
recruited by drug dealers and armed with guns. 
Many of the guns were subsequently diffused into
the larger community of juveniles. The recklessness
and bravado that often characterize teenagers
behavior, combined with their lack of skill in
settling disputes by methods other than physical
force, have transformed what once would have been
fist fights into shootings with lethal
consequences. Specific strategies to diffuse gang
activities and other drug-related violence among
youth are discussed in detail under the next goal.

Attacking teen marijuana use is a high priority.
Several Federal agencies are working in tandem with
ONDCP on an anti-marijuana initiative. The
Department of Health and Human Services has mounted
an agency-wide campaign which has produced
booklets, fact sheets, and a video for parents and
teens. The Department of Transportation's
successful "National Drunk and Drugged Driving
Awareness" campaign has also created a heightened
emphasis on the dangers of marijuana use.

These anti-marijuana media efforts are also
supported by ONDCP's media literacy campaign, as
well as public service announcements using sports
and entertainment stars. ONDCP is coordinating with
other Federal agencies -- including the Departments
of Education, Health and Human Services, and the
Partnership for a Drug Free America -- to produce
an entire series of public service announcements on
marijuana aimed at young people.

Goal 2: Increase the safety of America's citizens
by substantially reducing drug-related crime and
violence.

Objective 1: Increase the effectiveness of local
police through the implementation of community and
problem-oriented policing with a focus on youth and
gang violence, drug-related homicides, and domestic
violence.

Objective 2: Break the cycle of drug abuse and
crime by integrating drug testing, court-authorized
graduated sanctions, treatment, offender tracking
and rehabilitation, and aftercare through drug
courts and other offender management programs,
prison rehabilitation and education, and supervised
transition to the community.

Objective 3: Increase the effectiveness of Federal,
State, and local law enforcement task forces that
target all levels of trafficking to reduce the flow
of drugs to neighborhoods and make our streets safe
for the public.

Objective 4: Improve the efficiency of Federal drug
law enforcement investigative and intelligence
programs to apprehend drug traffickers, seize their
drugs, and forfeit their assets.

Objective 5: Increase the number of schools that
are free of drugs and violence.

One of the major drug challenges facing our nation
is protecting our citizens from drug-related crime
and violence. Such violence is rampant in many
areas of the country, with gang violence literally
destroying entire neighborhoods. The drug-related
violence is committed by a small portion of drug
users. Hardcore drug users, while a minority of the
total drug-using population, account for most of
the demand for illicit drugs and commit a
disproportionate number of crimes to support their
drug habits. Reducing the number of hardcore drug
users through linked treatment and enforcement
programs can substantially reduce drug-related
crime and violence. So too can efforts directed
against open air drug markets and drug trafficking
organizations. We must help our local authorities
reclaim their streets and neighborhoods from drug
dealers.

Community policing is a critical part of the
Nation's antidrug effort. Community policing is not
simply a local law enforcement program; it is an
operational philosophy for neighborhood problem
solving in which police officers interact with all
residents of a specific neighborhood. The police
patrol an area regularly and in such a manner as to
establish a recognized and positive presence,
maintain open communications, and create a trusting
relationship. 

Reduce adolescent violence. The Executive Branch
has proposed legislation amending the Federal
juvenile delinquency statutes to facilitate the
vigorous prosecution of serious juvenile offenders.
While rehabilitation must remain the primary focus
response to most juvenile offenders, some criminal
offenses are so serious that juveniles perpetrating
them must forfeit the more lenient treatment
generally afforded juvenile offenders. This
proposed legislation would afford prosecutors the
discretion to determine whether a juvenile offender
should be prosecuted as an adult or a juvenile.

Drug-related violence continues to be a major
problem. However, there has been an upturn in
gang-related violence. Gangs -- including the
Crips, Bloods, Dominicans, Gangster Disciples,
Jamaican "Posses," and others -- are responsible
for widespread cocaine- and crack-related violence,
which they use to establish and maintain drug
distribution monopolies. The migration of gang and
posse members to smaller cities and rural areas has
also resulted in a dramatic increase in homicides,
armed robberies, and assaults in many previously
tranquil areas of the country.

A highly successful method for reducing
drug-related crime and violence at the local level
has been DEA's Mobile Enforcement Teams (METs).
Since April of 1995, DEA has deployed 24 METs to
neighborhoods around the country. The DEA teams
provide trained personnel to do intelligence
appraisals; money to make undercover buys and to
pay informants to penetrate criminal organizations;
sophisticated investigative and technical tools;
and money to relocate witnesses to avoid reprisals
from violent drug traffickers. 

Another effort to reduce drug-related crime and
violence is the FBI's Safe Streets Violent Crimes
Initiative. Safe Streets Task Forces (SSTFs)
sponsored by the FBI and manned by Federal, State,
and local law enforcement officers and prosecutors,
allow a better focus on enforcement and
investigative efforts against violent gangs and
crimes of violence.

To enhance information sharing between the DEA and
the FBI, the two agencies created DRUGX. This is a
fully integrated and automated drug intelligence
data base that provides DEA and FBI personnel
access to drug-related information from both DEA
and FBI investigations. DRUGX includes information
from active and closed cases. The U. S. Customs
Service and the U. S. Marshals Service are expected
to contribute their drug-related information to the
DRUGX system in 1996.

Hardcore drug users are at the heart of the
nation's drug problem. Two-thirds of the nation's
supply of cocaine is consumed by about one-quarter
of the total number of cocaine users. In order to
get money for drugs, they commit crimes. Hardcore
drug users frequently are "vectors" for the spread
of infectious diseases such as hepatitis,
tuberculosis, and HIV. Tragically, hardcore drug
users are often part of an intergenerational
pattern of addiction.

The adequacy of the drug treatment system is only
one aspect of solving the problem of hardcore drug
use.  Drug treatment services must also be
effectively linked with criminal justice services.
Hardcore addicts must be held accountable by the
criminal justice system for their illegal behavior
and they must receive support from the treatment
system to change their behavior and end their drug
use. Effective linkage between criminal justice and
treatment systems also empowers judges to use a
valuable range of treatment and punishment options.
The passage of Public Law 103-322, the Violent
Crime Control Act of 1994, did a great deal to
foster the coordination of the treatment and
criminal justice systems, supporting drug courts
and other nonviolent offender management programs,
at the State and local level. 

For hardcore users who have perpetrated serious
crimes, we must insist on treatment in jail or
prison. While rehabilitation of a drug offender is
a long-term process, it is a logical investment
because most drug offenders will eventually be
returned to our communities. Effective correctional
treatment includes accurate initial assessment of
rehabilitative needs, appropriate programming
within the correctional walls, and, most
importantly, extensive transitional supervision and
support as the offender is gradually reintegrated
into the community.

Prison-based drug treatment has been shown to be an
effective means of controlling drug use and
recidivism to criminal behavior. Intensive
treatment programs such as therapeutic communities
(TCs) and aftercare are especially effective for
serious offenders who are serving long-term jail
and prison sentences.

Studies show that Drug Courts can function as an
alternative to prison and effectively coerce
offenders into treatment. Offender management
programs, such as Drug Courts and Treatment
Alternatives to Street Crime (TASC), have linked
drug-addicted individuals to appropriate forms of
treatment.  Progress has been made by drug court
programs in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Miami,
Florida; Oakland, California; Portland, Oregon; New
York City; and the District of Columbia. These
programs have demonstrated that closely supervised,
court-ordered rehabilitation can be successful in
reducing drug use, and freeing prison space for
more serious and violent offenders. 

Goal 3: Reduce health, welfare, and crime costs
resulting from illegal drug use. 

Objective 1: Increase treatment efficiency and
effectiveness.

Objective 2: Use effective outreach, referral, and
case management efforts to facilitate early access
to treatment.

Objective 3: Reduce the spread of infectious
diseases and other illnesses related to drug use.

Objective 4: Expand and enhance drug education and
prevention strategies in the workplace. 

U.S. health care costs related to drug use have
been growing steadily. The Nation's hospitals
report considerable increases in drug-related
emergency department (ED) episodes. In 1994,
cocaine-related episodes reached an all-time high,
with a total of 142,000 episodes reported, a 15
percent increase from 1993. Drug epidemiology and
treatment specialists believe that a possible
explanation for the current large number of ED
episodes is that many chronic, hardcore cocaine
users are now experiencing the consequences of
long-term addiction. Because it is unlikely that
drug-related ED visits and other health care costs
can be reduced without first reducing the number of
chronic, hardcore drug users, we have targeted the
Strategy's focus on this population and increased
efforts to get them into drug treatment. 

Drug users are at high risk of contracting certain
infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS (Human
Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency
Syndrome), hepatitis, tuberculosis, and sexually
transmitted diseases. In addition, drug users are
more likely to give birth to drug-exposed babies,
and, as a consequence of their drug use, to be more
prone to chronic illnesses such as cancer and some
forms of mental illness. Drug users are also
responsible for a disproportionate share of serious
child abuse and neglect. In addition, drug users
suffer a more frequent incidence of violent injury
and are involved in more domestic violence. 

Numerous studies support the logic and rationale of
providing treatment to reduce drug use and its
consequences. The research reveals that the
societal costs of untreated addiction -- e.g,
violence, crime, poor health, and family breakup --
far exceed the costs of providing treatment. A 1995
report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS) highlighted findings of seven
research projects that supported the effectiveness
of drug treatment. One research effort in
particular -- Evaluating Recovery Services: The
California Drug and Alcohol Treatment Assessment --
clearly demonstrates the benefits of treatment as
it relates to criminal activity. The study shows
that the level of criminal activity declined by
two-thirds as a result of drug treatment. The
longer hardcore users stay in treatment, the
greater the reduction in their criminal activity
and the costs associated with it. The same study,
corroborated by other research, demonstrated that
each dollar spent on drug treatment can save the
taxpayers seven dollars by reducing or avoiding
costs relating to criminal justice, health care,
and welfare. 

Action must be taken to both expand the treatment
system's capacity and increase its efficiency and
effectiveness. According to HHS, in 1994
approximately 3.6 million people had drug problems
severe enough to be likely to need drug treatment
services. Of the 3.6 million, about 1.85 million
actually received treatment in 1994. The difference
between estimates of the number needing treatment
and the number receiving treatment left a "gap" of
about 1.7 million persons likely to need treatment
in 1994. Of the 1.7 million persons, approximately
1 million may be in need of publicly supported
treatment.

While the lack of treatment services continues to
be significant, some progress has been achieved.
According to HHS, the percentage of those who
needed and received treatment increased from 38
percent in 1990 to 52 percent in 1994. According to
a recent survey of drug treatment facilities, the
number of clients in treatment has increased
steadily since 1980. We must build on this success,
and forge ahead with new and innovative efforts to
make more effective treatment available for those
who need it. 

Effective and timely treatment will allow us to
intervene early in the cycle of addiction. Early
intervention is critical in order to reach youth,
many of whom would benefit most readily from
treatment. This is also the most efficient way to
do business. Intervention as early as is possible
in the drug use continuum simplifies the task of
the treatment provider and makes treatment less
expensive and more successful. The drug user has
had less time for the more insidious effects of
drug use to take hold. Criminal behaviors are less
entrenched, other high risk behaviors are less
ingrained, general health is better, and recovery
and rehabilitation are less problematic. 

Past efforts to reduce drug use in the Nation have
had a positive impact on drug use in the workplace.
According to the Household Survey, the number of
drug users employed full-time or part-time declined
from 15 million in 1985 (13% of employed adults) to
7 million in 1993 (6% of employed adults). This
decline in drug use means increases in workplace
safety and productivity. The U.S. business
community has provided an invaluable boost to
efforts to prevent drug use and to respond to it
when it does occur. We are convinced that providing
those in the workforce with information about drug
use and its consequences, emerging trends in drug
use, and the signs and symptoms of the use of
specific drugs, can do much to assist in achieving
the overall goal of reducing drug use. 

Since the signing of Executive Order 12564 over ten
years ago, the Federal Drug Free Workplace Program
has been effective in dealing with employee drug
abuse. Over the past decade, 130 Federal
departments, agencies, and commissions have
developed and implemented programs to discover drug
use by Federal employees, and to assist those who
desire to overcome their drug use or addiction.
This program provides for applicant testing, random
testing, accident testing, and reasonable suspicion
testing, and all have been upheld by the courts.
The Federal Drug-Free Workplace Program continues
to set the "gold standard" for American businesses
and non-Federal organizations.

Goal 4: Shield America's air, land, and sea
frontiers from the drug threat.

Objective 1: Identify and implement options,
including science and technology options, to
improve the effectiveness of law enforcement to
stop the flow of drugs into the United States,
especially along the Southwest Border.

Objective 2: Lead efforts to develop stronger
bilateral and multilateral intelligence sharing to
thwart the use of international commercial air,
maritime, and land cargo shipments for smuggling.

Objective 3: Conduct flexible interdiction in the
transit zone to ensure effective use of maritime
and aerial interdiction capabilities.

Interdiction, a visible sign of our Nation's
commitment to fight drugs, has both symbolic value
as a demonstration of national will and real value
as a deterrent to the flow of drugs. In addition to
intercepting and seizing illicit drug shipments and
apprehending smugglers, interdiction creates a
deterrent effect by raising the perceived risks
faced by traffickers and smugglers. Interdiction
efforts increase drug organizations' cost of doing
business by forcing them to take expensive
counter-measures and to replace seized assets.
However interdiction is difficult, especially along
our borders. The Strategy calls for a comprehensive
intelligence-based approach to Federal air,
maritime, and land interdiction, and for enhanced
border systems, operations, and activities. The
United States Interdiction Coordinator (USIC),
appointed by the Director, ONDCP, coordinates the
efforts of U.S. agencies involved in international
interdiction programs.

Most of the illicit drugs consumed in the United
States are produced in other countries. Traffickers
must smuggle them across the Nation's borders to
get them to their ultimate destination: the
American drug abuser. Of particular concern is the
flow of drugs across the Southwest Border, nearly
2,000 miles in length. Current estimates indicate
that as much as 70 percent of all cocaine coming
into the United States is trans-shipped through
Mexico and then across the U.S.-Mexico border. We
will identify smuggling organizations through
investigative activity, intensified cargo
inspections, controlled deliveries, undercover
operations, and effective analysis of drug-related
intelligence. The country's principal border
control agencies have expanded and enhanced their
capabilities to manage the threat posed by the
large numbers of people and vehicles that cross the
border daily, both through the legitimate ports of
entry and across the vast, unpopulated areas
between ports.

Because protecting the Southwest Border is so
important in the fight against drug trafficking,
the Government will continue to improve Federal
efforts in this region. Focused, intelligence-based
interdiction that concentrates on the
transportation and storage smuggling functions of
major organizations involved in the importation of
drugs must be a fundamental part of this Nation's
domestic law enforcement effort. The response to
the threat of drug smuggling must extend beyond
simply seizing drugs as they enter the United
States. Each seizure must be seen as part of an
overall goal to prosecute those criminal
organizations that pose the greatest threat to this
country.

Successfully coordinated, intelligence-based
investigations of trafficking organizations that
transport drugs across international borders almost
always will have important interdictive effects,
most notably a decrease in the amount of drugs
reaching the streets. To this end, Federal law
enforcement, military, and intelligence agencies
must continue to work to enhance and better
coordinate their efforts to investigate, disrupt,
dismantle, and destroy trafficking organizations
responsible for moving substantial quantities of
drugs across this Nation's borders.

Federal investigative and prosecutorial resources
must continue to be directed toward drug
trafficking organizations. By curtailing or
interrupting their trafficking activities, even for
a short time, a difference can be made in the
overall availability of drugs. And every temporary
shortage of drugs prevents some fraction of our
Nation's youth from beginning to use drugs.

Cocaine trafficking has increasingly shifted to
movement through Mexico and into the United States
across the Southwest Border. The drug traffickers
are reacting to our successes against smuggling via
air transit and other law enforcement success in
the Eastern Caribbean. Traffickers continue to use
varied means of transport. Larger shipments are
frequently concealed in commercial maritime
containerized or bulk cargo. General aviation
aircraft and large-capacity cargo planes, including
in a few instances the use of large-capacity cargo
planes such as 727-type jets, were used throughout
1995 to convey cocaine from South America to Mexico
and various other staging points for further
transport to the United States.

Interdiction must continue to be an important
component of the drug strategy. First, interdiction
results in drug seizures which reduce the amount of
heroin and cocaine available internationally to
supply the U.S. markets. Second, interdiction also
disrupts the production and distribution pipeline,
making smuggling operations more risky and costly,
cutting the profits of established traffickers, and
deterring potential traffickers from entering the
trade. Interdiction can be successful regardless of
whether or not drugs are seized, if they are not
delivered to the next link in the traffickers'
distribution chain. Third, interdiction helps law
enforcement agencies attack narcotics trafficking
organizations, arrest traffickers, and seize
assets. Fourth, interdiction efforts provide
critical intelligence. Fifth, interdiction disrupts
trafficking patterns, making the work of smuggling
money, drugs, and precursor/essential chemicals
more difficult. Finally, interdiction helps to keep
the availability and price of drugs at a level
beyond the means of our Nation's youth, thus
promoting an environment in which demand reduction
efforts may have a greater impact.

We are taking meaningful steps to protect our
Southern border. The Departments of Justice and the
Treasury have markedly improved law enforcement
capabilities along the U.S. border. Indicative of
this increased focus is Treasury's sizeable
increase in the number of U.S. Customs agents and
DOJ's significant increase in Border Patrol and
other Immigration Officer representation along the
Southwest Border. In addition, the Department of
Justice and the U.S. Attorneys along the border
have initiated the Southwest Border Project to
specifically target the major drug trafficking
organizations operating along the entire length of
that border, from the Gulf of Mexico to Baja,
California. These polydrug organizations dealing in
cocaine, Mexican heroin, marijuana, and
methamphetamine, attempt to corrupt law enforcement
officials on both sides of the border to facilitate
their smuggling operations.  The intent of the
Project is to coordinate DEA, FBI, Customs, the
National Guard, and State and local police
agencies' technical resources, intelligence
capabilities, investigative, and prosecutive
expertise to disrupt the operations of those
trafficking organizations and, eventually,
dismantle their infrastructures. U.S.-Mexican
Binational Task Forces are also being established
to enhance cooperative law enforcement efforts on
both sides of the border. The Southwest Border
HIDTA has reorganized into five Federal, State, and
local partnerships which are developing systemic
approaches to coordinating intelligence,
interdiction, investigation, and prosecution
efforts. These and other cooperative efforts
clearly illustrate a new approach which holds
promise for severely impacting the flow of drugs
into the United States over the long term.

During 1995 the U.S. Customs Service implemented
"Operation Hard Line" to stop drug smugglers from
funneling their illicit drug cargo through U.S.
ports. As a result, the number of port runners
declined by 42 percent. Operation Hard Line also
resulted in dismantling a major port-running
organization in El Paso, Texas, which was reputed
to have smuggled drugs in more than 2,000
instances. In addition, the U.S. Customs Service
has since 1992 been supplying interceptor aircraft
in a cooperative effort with the Mexican government
to support Mexican aviation drug smuggling
initiatives. This cross-border effort resulted in
the seizure of more than ten tons of cocaine during
Fiscal Year 1995.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service,
primarily through the U.S. Border Patrol, has
increased its efforts along the Southwest Border.
Their efforts are primarily focused on illegal
immigration, and their increased activities between
the ports of entry make a significant contribution
to the effort to reduce the flow of drugs.
Likewise, the Drug Enforcement Administration and
the FBI, along with the five U.S. Attorneys along
the border, have combined resources for a
coordinated investigative effort to dismantle the
major Mexican and Colombian trafficking
organizations operating in this region.

Goal 5: Break foreign and domestic drug sources of
supply.

Objective 1: Destroy major trafficking
organizations by arresting, convicting, and
incarcerating their leaders and top associates, and
seizing their drugs and assets.

Objective 2: Reduce the foreign availability of
drugs through eradication and other programs that
reduce drug crop cultivation and through
enforcement efforts to attack chemical, money
laundering, and transportation networks that
support trafficking organizations.

Objective 3: Reduce all domestic drug production
and availability and continue to target for
investigation and prosecution those who illegally
divert pharmaceuticals and listed chemicals.

Objective 4: Increase the political will of
countries to cooperate with the United States on
drug control efforts through aggressive diplomacy,
certification, and carefully targeted foreign
assistance.

Objective 5: Strengthen host nation institutions so
that they can conduct more effective drug control
efforts on their own and withstand the threat that
narcotics trafficking poses to sovereignty,
democracy, and free-market economies. In the source
countries, aggressively support the full range of
host nation interdiction efforts by providing
training and operational support.

Objective 6: Make greater use of multilateral
organizations to share the burdens and costs of
international narcotics control to complement the
efforts of the United States and to institute
programs where the United States has limited or no
access.

Another critical challenge is to reduce the
availability of drugs by reducing their cultivation
and production and destroying the trafficking
organizations that bring drugs to the United States
or distribute them within our Nation. Because of
our concern about drug use among our youth,
additional efforts must be made to identify and
attack the criminal groups and individuals that
supply marijuana to young people, both
internationally and domestically. Federal
investigative and prosecutive efforts can play a
significant role in attacking the major wholesale
distributors. By curtailing or interrupting drug
trafficking activities a reduction can be made in
the overall availability of drugs. Every temporary
shortage of drugs prevents some fraction of our
Nation's youth from possibly beginning to use and
later abuse drugs.

The international narcotics control policy
objectives of the United States remain clear and
straightforward: reduce drug flows and create a
hostile international environment for narcotics
trafficking. We must also increase the risks and
costs to the most senior traffickers, and
facilitate international cooperation. In addition,
we need to create a receptive environment through
international media outlets for the implementation
of the U.S. and host country counternarcotics
programs. Continued U.S. leadership in
international narcotics control and the U.S.
support of and cooperation with other nations is
critical to efforts to stem the flow of illicit
drugs across our borders.

The long-term objective of the United States is for
all countries, especially major drug producing and
drug transit countries, to meet their antidrug
obligations under the 1988 United Nations
Convention. The Government has made it clear that
the United States sees international criminal
narcotics organizations as a threat to our national
security. Consequently the Strategy directs support
to those countries that have the political will to
battle major drug trafficking organizations. We
seek the destruction of those organizations as well
as a reduction in the flow of drugs to the United
States through a number of law enforcement,
interdiction, crop control, and other initiatives.

To assist in the achievement of this goal, the
United States will continue to assist countries
that demonstrate the political will to attack
illegal drug production and trafficking. We will
continue to use diplomacy and other measures to
motivate countries that do not cooperate fully with
the United States in combating international
narcotics trafficking.

The ability of the United States to reach its
counternarcotics objectives depends on
strengthening the ability of narcotics producer and
transit countries to attack the drug traffickers.
If we are to demand increasing cooperation from
foreign governments, then we must stand ready to
assist them with programs to dismantle trafficking
and production infrastructure. In conjunction with
bilateral assistance programs, U.S. policy is also
to encourage greater involvement from the United
Nations, the Organization of American States, the
Financial Action Task Force, the World Bank, and
other international financial institutions. We must
increasingly focus on cooperative narcotics control
efforts between nations.

Significant and sustained progress in attacking
drug trafficking organizations cannot occur unless
the United States continues to take strong steps to
prevent, detect, and enforce laws against money
laundering. Unfortunately, multilateral efforts to
eliminate money laundering "safe havens" around the
world have been hampered in many respects. More
than 100 nations have ratified the 1988 United
Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in
Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. Many of
these countries have successfully adopted
legislation to curb drug-related money laundering.
However, the implementation of these laws has
proceeded slowly. Several governments have failed
to criminalize money laundering. Some lack
sufficient regulatory authority to address the
problem. Many do not have adequate data systems for
monitoring trends within their territories.

Money laundering methods vary by country and region
of the world. A number of factors cause this,
including variations in the sophistication of
banking and financial centers, the existence of
underground banking systems that operate largely
along the lines of ethnic ties, and, perhaps most
importantly, enforcement pressure. Furthermore, the
continuing evolution in money laundering
legislation and economic developments worldwide
have spawned a new generation of money laundering
methods. Money laundering legislation is effective
only when there is adequate legislation in other
critical areas related to money laundering, such as
asset forfeiture and conspiracy. Unfortunately,
many countries have introduced financial laws in a
piecemeal fashion. Some governments lack the legal
groundwork that allows them to "package"
legislation in such a way as to create a stronghold
against money laundering.

In the coming year, considerable attention will be
directed to establishing international standards,
obtaining cooperative agreements concerning
exchanges of information, establishing linkages for
cooperative investigations, and overcoming
political resistance in various key countries.
Beginning with the Presidential Directive on
International Organized Crime signed on October 21,
1995, we have initiated a full-scale attack on the
"nerve centers" of money laundering organizations. 
U.S. international counterdrug policy supports
eradication and alternative development programs to
eliminate the illegal production of drug crops.
Alternative development is a necessary component
because it creates alternative income and
employment opportunities for drug crop cultivators.
In so doing, it helps governments move toward
prohibiting and, if necessary, eradicating drug
crops. Further, it backstops crop control gains by
reducing the urge of former or potential growers to
cultivate new crops. Finally, alternative
development and crop control also reduce the
adverse environmental impact that results when
growers destroy rain forest areas to plant their
illicit crops.

Denial of the precursor and/or essential chemicals
needed to produce narcotics is another means of
reducing the supply of illicit drugs. The
effectiveness of the 1988 U.N. Convention in
denying precursor and essential chemicals to
illicit drug producers depends upon diligent and
effective monitoring and notification programs
being established by all member nations, worldwide.
As part of the International Strategy, the United
States will assist source nations in developing
methods of detecting and interdicting diversion of
chemicals for the production of narcotics.

It has been estimated that as much as 25 percent of
the marijuana consumed in the United States is
domestically grown. Much of this marijuana is
cultivated in remote locations, particularly in
Alabama, Hawaii, Kentucky, Tennessee, and
California. Significant quantities of the highest
quality marijuana are also now being grown indoors,
in sophisticated and efficient operations that
generate considerable profit. To assist in better
addressing the increasing marijuana problem, ONDCP
will establish a policy and strategy working group
made up of representatives from appropriate Federal
law enforcement and land management agencies, as
well as the Departments of Defense, Interior, and
Agriculture. This working group will provide a
forum to review the domestic marijuana-growing
situation and make recommendations concerning
changes in focus or efforts. The group's mission
will be to decrease the availability of
domestically produced marijuana through
eradication.

------------------------------ 

VI. Resources to meet the strategic goals

This Nation's drug problem cannot be solved
overnight. This Strategy presents for the first
time a long-term planning commitment extending to
the year 2000 to pursue the necessary resources for
key drug program areas. Future National Drug
Control Strategies will be modified in response to
emerging drug trends and related developments. Our
Strategy's goals and objectives require long-term
planning to ensure that resources are brought to
bear against the drug problem in the most efficient
way. We must focus on a sufficient span of time to
properly develop and implement programs. 

To ensure that Federal counterdrug efforts are
coordinated most effectively, each of the nearly 50
Federal drug control agencies' strategic planning
processes and budget submissions will be guided by
the goals and objectives of this Strategy. ONDCP
will use an annual certification process of Federal
drug control agencies' budgets to help ensure that
agencies fully achieve the Administration's
strategic goals. The result of this coordination
and review process is the FY 1997 Federal Drug
Control budget request. In light of the changing
drug situation, the President has directed ONDCP to
review the FY 1997 budget request to develop
recommendations for improvement through a
reallocation.

The President's drug control budget request totals
$15.1 billion for FY 1997. These resources are
grouped into four major categories: domestic law
enforcement, demand reduction, drug interdiction,
and international programs. In each of these
general program areas there is an increase in the
level of funding requested for FY 1997:

1. Resources for Domestic Law Enforcement increase
by 9.3 percent in FY 1997 from $7.6 billion in FY
1996 to $8.3 billion in FY 1997. These resources
support activities such as investigations,
prosecutions, corrections, State and local law
enforcement assistance, regulatory and compliance
programs, and other law enforcement efforts. Some
examples of programs the Administration will fund
in FY 1997 in this area are:

-- $644 million in drug-related funding for
community-oriented policing grants.

-- $535 million for the Edward Byrne Memorial State
and Local Enforcement Assistance Program to provide
assistance to State and local governments involved
in reducing drug use and violent crime.

-- $103 million for the HIDTA program, which
targets the seven most critical drug trafficking
areas of the country.

These resources are directed toward achieving the
Strategy goal of increasing the Safety of America's
Citizens by Substantially Reducing Drug-Related
Crime and Violence.

2. Resources for Demand Reduction increase by 8.7
percent, from $4.6 billion in FY 1996 to $5 billion
in FY 1997. Demand reduction includes resources for
treatment, prevention, education, and research.
Some of the major funding initiatives for this area
include:

-- $540 million for the Safe and Drug Free Schools
and Communities Program, which serves 40 million
students in 97 percent of the Nation's school
districts.

-- $371 million for drug prevention activities
within SAMHSA. In addition, $904 million in
drug-related treatment resources is requested
through SAMHSA's Substance Abuse Performance
Partnership Grant.

-- $100 million for DRUG Courts to provide
court-mandated drug treatment and related services
to nonviolent offenders.

These resources support two Strategy goals:
Motivating America's Youth to Reject Illegal Drugs
and Substance Abuse, and Reducing Health, Welfare,
and Crime Costs Resulting From Illegal Drug Use. 

3. Resources for Interdiction increase by 7.3
percent, from the FY 1996 estimated enacted level
of $1.3 billion to $1.4 billion in FY 1997. These
resources fund enhanced efforts to stop the flow of
drugs in source and transit nations and along the
U.S. border.

-- $504 million for the U.S. Customs Service's
interdiction efforts, which include the Southwest
Border Initiative.

-- $307 million for the INS to support drug-related
activities, including $107 million in drug-related
resources for the Border Patrol, which is an
increase of 23 percent over the estimated level for
FY 1996.

-- $432 million for the Department of Defense's
interdiction efforts in support of the counterdrug
objective of the President's International Action
Plan -- to "reduce the flow of illegal drugs into
the United States by encouraging reduction in
foreign production, combating international
traffickers and reducing demand at home."

-- These resources are directed toward achieving
the Strategy goal of Shielding America's Air, Land,
and Sea Frontiers From the Drug Threat.

4. Resources for International programs increase by
25.4 percent, from $320 million in FY 1996 to $401
million in FY 1997. Most of the resources for
international programs support two agencies: the
Department of State's Bureau of International
Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) and the
Justice Department's Drug Enforcement
Administration.

-- $193 million for international narcotics control
for the INL, an increase of $78 million over the FY
1996 enacted level of $115 million. In FY 1997 this
program will continue the implementation of the
President's directive to place more emphasis on
source countries, focus on programs that promote
alternative development, dismantle narcotics
trafficking organizations, and interdict drugs. It
will also strengthen democratic institutions in
source countries, enabling them to fight
international drug trafficking organizations more
effectively. Further, it will place greater
emphasis on multilateral efforts that can
complement our programs.

-- $175 million for DEA's international drug
control efforts to support activities such as the
Foreign Cooperative Investigations program, which
establishes diplomatic liaison, collect
intelligence, and provides investigative assistance
and training to host country officials. In
addition, DEA cooperative with international
organizations on matters related to global supply
and trafficking, and demand reduction issues.

These resources are directed toward achieving the
Strategy goal of Breaking Foreign and Domestic Drug
Sources of Supply.