Drug Control: Reauthorization of the Office of National Drug Control Policy
GGD-93-144
Published: Sep 29, 1993. Publicly Released: Oct 07, 1993.
Skip to Highlights
Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Office of National Drug Control Policy's (ONDCP) implementation of its statutory responsibilities, focusing on: (1) the progress reported under the national drug control strategies and the methodology ONDCP used to evaluate its progress; (2) ONDCP efforts to coordinate implementation of national drug control strategies; (3) ONDCP involvement in the collection of data used to direct policy and measure the progress in the war on drugs; and (4) the drug budget certification process.
Recommendations
Matter for Congressional Consideration
| Matter | Status | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Congress should reauthorize ONDCP for an additional finite period of time and include in reauthorization legislation a direction that ONDCP in consultation with the drug control agencies: (1) develop additional measures to assess progress in reducing drug use (particularly among hard-core users); (2) develop performance measures to evaluate the contributions made by major components of current antidrug efforts and significant new initiatives; and (3) incorporate these measures into future drug control strategies. | Recently, Congress passed legislation (P.L. 103-322) reauthorizing ONDCP until September 30, 1997. A section of that law entitled "National Drug Control Strategy Outcomes Measures": (1) provides details that relate to the recommendations; and (2) directs that each year's national drug control strategy include an evaluation of the effectiveness of federal drug control efforts (i.e. interdiction, treatment, prevention, law enforcement, and international programs) during the preceding year. | |
| If ONDCP is reauthorized, Congress should replace the current statutory language requiring review and certification of budget submissions from all program managers, agencies, and departments with a simple mandate that ONDCP review and certify drug control budgets at such stages and times as it considers appropriate. Affording ONDCP greater flexibility in its budget certification reviews is particularly important if ONDCP staff is to be greatly reduced. | Congress passed reauthorization legislation for ONDCP (P.L. 103-322), which provided some flexibility to ONDCP in certifying the adequacy of program, agency, and department drug budgets. However, it appears that Congress will not implement GAO's recommendation, because it was not included in the reauthorization legislation. |
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | Without a preliminary DOD drug budget received by August of each year, ONDCP ability to thoroughly review the DOD drug budget and make budget comparisons among agencies is impaired. If ONDCP is reauthorized and continues to have drug budget certification authority, the Secretary of Defense should direct that ONDCP be given a preliminary DOD drug budget by August of each year. |
The DOD Acting Drug Coordinator informed GAO in a letter dated December 22, 1993, that "DOD will provide draft budget data to ONDCP by August of each year." This year DOD provided its drug budget to ONDCP on September 2, 1994, and plans to submit its budget to ONDCP in mid-August next year. (No accomplishment report will be prepared because this was not a key recommendation).
|
Full Report
Public Inquiries
Topics
Budget administrationControlled substancesData collectionSubstance abuseDrug traffickingInteragency relationsLaw enforcementNarcoticsNational policiesDrugs