The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 established the creation of a drug-free America as a policy goal. A key provision of the act was the establishment of the Office of National Drug Control Policy also known, as the ONDCP. .
It is the responsibility of the ONDCP to set priorities, implement a national strategy, and certify federal drug-control budgets. The law specified that the strategy must be comprehensive and research-based; contain long-range goals and measurable objectives; and seek to reduce drug abuse, trafficking, and their consequences. Specifically, drug abuse is to be curbed by preventing young people from using illegal drugs, reducing the number of users, and decreasing drug availability. .
John P. Walters was sworn in as the Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy on December 7, 2001. As the nation's "Drug Czar," Mr. Walters coordinates all aspects of federal drug programs and spending. It is my judgment that the war on drugs has failed because; it has not strengthened the public's confidence that the Government's business is conducted with impartiality and integrity. Instead, this policy is diverting intelligent energy away from dealing with the associative health problem of addiction. This is wasting our resources, and encouraging civil, judicial, and penal procedures associated with police states. .
According to Steven Belenko (Belenko, 1993), the drug hysteria of the nineteen-eighties have four common elements: Element # 1: The scope of the problem is never as great as originally portrayed in the media; Element #2: Despite the media portrayals, compulsive use and addiction are not inevitable consequences of using the drug; Element #3: The violent behavior associated with the use of the drug is not as common as initially believed nor is it necessarily caused by the drug. And Element #4: The popularity of the particular drug waxes and wanes overtime, and prevalence rates do not continue to increase.
