§1504. Development and submission of National Drug Control Strategy

(a) Development and submission of National Drug Control Strategy

(1) Not later than 180 days after the first Director is confirmed by the Senate, and not later than February 1 of each year thereafter, the President shall submit to the Congress a National Drug Control Strategy. Any part of such strategy that involves information properly classified under criteria established by an Executive order shall be presented to the Congress separately.

(2) The National Drug Control Strategy submitted under paragraph (1) shall-

(A) include comprehensive, research-based, long-range goals for reducing drug abuse and the consequences of drug abuse in the United States;

(B) include short-term measurable objectives which the Director determines may be realistically achieved in the 2-year period beginning on the date of the submission of the strategy;

(C) describe the balance between resources devoted to supply reduction and demand reduction; and

(D) review State and local drug control activities to ensure that the United States pursues well-coordinated and effective drug control at all levels of government.

(3)(A) In developing the National Drug Control Strategy, the Director shall consult with-

(i) the heads of the National Drug Control Program agencies;

(ii) the Congress;

(iii) State and local officials;

(iv) private citizens with experience and expertise in demand reduction; and

(v) private citizens with experience and expertise in supply reduction.

(B) At the time the President submits the National Drug Control Strategy to the Congress, the Director shall transmit a report to the Congress indicating the persons consulted under this paragraph.

(4) The Director shall include with each National Drug Control Strategy an evaluation of the effectiveness of Federal drug control during the preceding year. The evaluation shall include an assessment of Federal drug control efforts, including-

(A) assessment of the reduction of drug use, including estimates of drug prevalence and frequency of use as measured by national, State, and local surveys of illicit drug use and by other special studies of-

(i) high-risk populations, including school dropouts, the homeless and transient, arrestees, parolees, and probationers, and juvenile delinquents; and

(ii) drug use in the workplace and the productivity lost by such use;

(B) assessment of the reduction of drug availability, as measured by-

(i) the quantities of cocaine, heroin, and marijuana available for consumption in the United States;

(ii) the amount of cocaine and heroin entering the United States;

(iii) the number of hectares of poppy and coca cultivated and destroyed;

(iv) the number of metric tons of heroin and cocaine seized;

(v) the number of cocaine processing labs destroyed;

(vi) changes in the price and purity of heroin and cocaine;

(vii) the amount and type of controlled substances diverted from legitimate retail and wholesale sources; and

(viii) the effectiveness of Federal technology programs at improving drug detection capabilities at United States ports of entry;

(C) assessment of the reduction of the consequences of drug use and availability, which shall include estimation of-

(i) burdens drug users placed on hospital emergency rooms in the United States, such as the quantity of drug-related services provided;

(ii) the annual national health care costs of drug use, including costs associated with people becoming infected with the human immunodeficiency virus and other communicable diseases as a result of drug use;

(iii) the extent of drug-related crime and criminal activity; and

(iv) the contribution of drugs to the underground economy, as measured by the retail value of drugs sold in the United States; and

(D) determination of the status of drug treatment in the United States, by assessing-

(i) public and private treatment capacity within each State, including information on the number of treatment slots available in relation to the number actually used, including data on intravenous drug users and pregnant women;

(ii) the extent, within each State, to which treatment is available, on demand, to intravenous drug users and pregnant women;

(iii) the number of drug users the Director estimates could benefit from treatment; and

(iv) the success of drug treatment programs, including an assessment of the effectiveness of the mechanisms in place federally, and within each State, to determine the relative quality of substance abuse treatment programs, the qualifications of treatment personnel, and the mechanism by which patients are admitted to the most appropriate and cost effective treatment setting.

(5) The Director shall include with the National Drug Control Strategy required to be submitted not later than February 1, 1995, and with every second such strategy submitted thereafter-

(A) an assessment of the quality of current drug use measurement instruments and techniques to measure supply reduction and demand reduction activities;

(B) an assessment of the adequacy of the coverage of existing national drug use measurement instruments and techniques to measure the casual drug user population and groups at-risk for drug use;

(C) an assessment of the actions the Director shall take to correct any deficiencies and limitations identified pursuant to subparagraphs (A) and (B); and

(D) identification of the specific factors that restrict the availability of treatment services to those seeking it and proposed administrative or legislative remedies to make treatment available to those individuals.

(6) Federal agencies responsible for the collection or estimation of drug-related information required by the Director shall cooperate with the Director, to the fullest extent possible, to enable the Director to satisfy the requirements of sections 4 and 5.¹

(7) With each National Drug Control Strategy, the Director shall report to the President and the Congress on the Director's assessment of drug use and availability in the United States, including an estimate of the effectiveness of interdiction, treatment, prevention, law enforcement, and international programs under the National Drug Control Strategy in effect in the preceding year in reducing drug use and availability.

(b) Goals, objectives, and priorities

Each National Drug Control Strategy shall include-

(1) a complete list of goals, objectives, and priorities for supply reduction and for demand reduction;

(2) private sector initiatives and cooperative efforts between the Federal Government and State and local governments for drug control;

(3) 3-year projections for program and budget priorities and achievable projections for reductions of drug availability and usage;

(4) a complete assessment of how the budget proposal transmitted under section 1502(c) of this title is intended to implement the strategy and whether the funding levels contained in such proposal are sufficient to implement such strategy;

(5) designation of areas of the United States as high intensity drug trafficking areas in accordance with subsection (c) of this section; and

(6) a plan for improving the compatibility of automated information and communication systems to provide Federal agencies with timely and accurate information for purposes of this subtitle.

(c) High intensity drug trafficking areas

(1) The Director, upon consultation with the Attorney General, heads of National Drug Control Program agencies, and the Governors of the several States, may designate any specified area of the United States as a high intensity drug trafficking area. After making such a designation and in order to provide Federal assistance to the area so designated, the Director may-

(A) direct the temporary reassignment of Federal personnel to such area, subject to the approval of the Secretary of the department or head of the agency which employs such personnel;

(B) take any other action authorized under section 1502 of this title to provide increased Federal assistance to such areas; and

(C) coordinate actions under this paragraph with State and local officials.

(2) When considering the designation of an area under this subsection as a high intensity drug trafficking area, the Director shall consider, along with other criteria the Director may deem appropriate-

(A) the extent to which the area is a center of illegal drug production, manufacturing, importation, or distribution;

(B) the extent to which State and local law enforcement agencies have committed resources to respond to the drug trafficking problem in the area, thereby indicating a determination to respond aggressively to the problem;

(C) the extent to which drug-related activities in the area are having a harmful impact in other areas of the country; and

(D) the extent to which a significant increase in allocation of Federal resources is necessary to respond adequately to drug-related activities in the area.

(3) Before March 1, 1991, the Director shall submit a report to the House of Representatives and to the Senate concerning the effectiveness of and need for the designation of areas under this subsection as high intensity drug trafficking areas, along with any comments or recommendations for legislation.

(d) Lead agencies

(1) The President shall designate lead agencies with areas of principal responsibility for carrying out the National Drug Control Strategy.

(2) The Director shall require that any National Drug Control Program agency that conducts a major supply reduction activity which is in the area of principal responsibility of a lead agency designated under paragraph (1) shall-

(A) notify such lead agency in writing of the activity; and

(B) provide such notification prior to conducting such activity, unless exigent circumstances require otherwise.

(3) If a lead agency objects to the conduct of an activity described under paragraph (2), the lead agency and the agency planning to conduct such activity shall notify the Director in writing regarding such objection.

( Pub. L. 100–690, title I, §1005, Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4185 ; Pub. L. 103–322, title IX, §90203, Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 1991 .)

Repeal of Section

For repeal of section on Sept. 30, 1997, see section 1506 of this title.

References in Text

This subtitle, referred to in subsec. (b)(6), is subtitle A of title I of Pub. L. 100–690, Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4181 , known as the National Narcotics Leadership Act of 1988, which is classified principally to this chapter (§1501 et seq.). For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 1501 of this title and Tables.

Amendments

1994-Subsec. (a)(2)(A). Pub. L. 103–322, §90203(1), inserted "and the consequences of drug abuse" after "drug abuse".

Subsec. (a)(4) to (7). Pub. L. 103–322, §90203(2), amended par. (4) generally and added pars. (5) to (7). Prior to amendment, par. (4) read as follows: "Beginning with the second submission of a National Drug Control Strategy, the Director shall include with each such strategy a complete evaluation of the effectiveness of drug control during the preceding year."

Section Referred to in Other Sections

This section is referred to in sections 1502, 1507 of this title; title 42 sections 285o–4, 11903, 11904.

¹ So in original. Probably should be "paragraphs (4) and (5)."