National Drug Control Strategy - 2010

President Obama's 2010 National Drug Control Strategy reflects a comprehensive approach to reducing drug use and its consequences. Endorsing a balance of prevention, treatment, and law enforcement, the Strategy calls for a 15-percent reduction in the rate of youth drug use over five years and similar reductions in chronic drug use and drug-related consequences such as drug deaths and drugged driving. The following are some brief highlights of the Strategy, which harnesses the collaborative strength of local, State, tribal, and Federal agencies, community-based organizations, and other nongovernmental partners: Strengthen Efforts to Prevent Drug Use in Communities - Preventing drug use before it begins is a cost-effective, common-sense way to build safe and healthy communities. Research on adolescent brain development shows the value of focusing prevention on young people: those who reach the age of 21 without developing an addiction are very unlikely to do so afterward; Seek Early Intervention Opportunities in Health Care - Studies indicate that most healthcare spending related to substance abuse goes to the avoidable, catastrophic consequences of addiction rather than to its treatment. The healthcare system can avert enormous human and economic cost if care providers consistently screen and intervene with early-stage substance abuse before it becomes acutely life threatening; Integrate Treatment for Substance Use Disorders into Health Care, and Expand Support for Recovery - For millions of Americans, substance use progresses to a point where brief interventions are not sufficient to promote recovery. Addiction treatment can be a critical-even lifesaving-resource in such situations, but only if it is readily available and of high quality; Break the Cycle of Drug Use, Crime, Delinquency, and Incarceration - Drug use is often interwoven with criminal and delinquent behavior that disrupts family, neighborhood, and community life in fundamental and long-lasting ways; Disrupt Domestic Drug Trafficking and Production - Drug-trafficking organizations move large quantities of illicit drugs into the United States and distribute these drugs throughout the Nation. These same groups, at times working through street and prison gangs, employ criminal networks that return the illicit proceeds of the drug trade-along with an array of weapons-across our borders. This trade imposes enormous negative consequences on the safety, health, and security of our citizens; Strengthen International Partnerships - The United States is one of the world's most lucrative markets for illegal drugs. It is in our interest to work collaboratively with international partners to reduce the global drug trade because such actions protect the health and safety of our citizens. The United States also shares responsibility with drug-producing and transit nations for the existence of this dangerous, destabilizing, and violent criminal enterprise. Shared responsibility for the origin of a problem implies shared responsibility to solve it; Improve Information Systems for Analysis, Assessment, and Local Management - Science should help inform policy and rigorously evaluate its effects. This can be possible only with near real-time information on drug use patterns, associated problems, and the results of previously implemented policies.