Drug War: Observations on U.S. International Drug Control Efforts

GAO discussed U.S. efforts to stop the production and trafficking of cocaine and heroin destined for the United States. GAO noted that: (1) the executive branch has refocused its international cocaine strategy from law enforcement and drug seizures in the transit zone to stopping drugs in the source countries, but it has had difficulties in shifting its resources; (2) a proposed heroin strategy was submitted to the President in June 1995 and is awaiting his approval; (3) the United States must make tough choices as to which objectives to pursue most vigorously, since it has important policy objectives other than combatting drugs that compete for resources; (4) U.S. agencies involved in counternarcotics efforts must coordinate their efforts and improve their leadership; (5) U.S. agencies must better manage their counternarcotics assistance funds and establish specific measures of how programs are contributing to overall counternarcotics goals; and (6) foreign governments are often not willing or able to combat their own drug trade, impeding U.S. efforts to combat drugs.