Refocusing America's Drug Control Strategy: An Evaluation of the Office of National Drug Control Policy's Measures of Performance

摘要

The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) is the coordinating government agency tasked with the mission of reducing illegal drug use and its consequences. As required by law, ONDCP must submit an annual strategy to Congress detailing the supply and demand reduction program activities which provide the optimum means to achieve ONDCP's targeted objectives. One of the primary drawbacks to ONDCP's ability to formulate objectives which are realistic, appropriate, and robust is a lack of understanding about the nation's historical drug use pafterns - particularly the tremendous increase in cocaine use in the mid 1980's. This paper will evaluate ONDCP's 1997 strategy by examining how effective each of the strategy's goals will likely be in reducing drug use based on an evaluation of these historical trends and the relationship between drug use measures and actual drug use and its consequences.