ONDCP seeks to reduce the number of Americans using opioids (including synthetic opioids like fentanyl), cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamines, and other psychoactive substances. To combat the drug crisis, the Trump Administration has adopted a comprehensive approach which balances public safety and public health. As outlined in its National Drug Control Strategy, National Treatment Plan for Substance Use Disorder, and National Drug Control Assessment, the Trump Administration seeks to save American lives by preventing drug use before it starts, providing evidence-based treatment and recovery support for those suffering from substance use disorder, and reducing the availability of illicit drugs in the United States.
Prevention
Preventing drug use requires practitioners to use evidence-based approaches to shift behaviors and develop community norms that discourage drug use. As the first line of effort in our strategy, ONDCP will support ongoing efforts to stop substance use before it starts by:
- Reducing the presence of unnecessary and unneeded prescription drugs by promoting safe prescribing practices, expanding the use of prescription drug monitoring programs, and expanding drug take-back programs
- Empowering and supporting families, caregivers, and local communities as they address substance misuse
- Educating citizens and changing norms and behaviors around drug use by implementing a nationwide media campaign such as the Truth about Opioids
Treatment and Recovery
In 2018, only 11% of the estimated 21.3 million Americans who met the criteria for substance use disorder received treatment at a specialized facility. Research shows that this“treatment gap” is caused by a combination of a lack of access to effective treatment services and prevailing attitudes about addiction.
The second line of effort in our strategy therefore seeks to expand high-quality treatment and recovery services by:
- Enhancing the quality of and eliminating barriers to evidence-based addiction treatment, and increasing the size of the addiction recovery workforce
- Supporting those seeking long-term recovery through access to drug courts, employment opportunities, and peer support services
- Removing the feelings of shame and judgement and reducing the stigma of addiction through a nationwide media campaign
- Improving the public’s response to overdose by distributing naloxone and educating citizens on life-saving measures
Reducing the Availability of Illicit Drugs
Almost all of the illicit drugs consumed in this country are produced abroad and brought across our borders or delivered through our mail and commercial carriers.
The third line of effort in the National Drug Control Strategy aims to stop the production of drugs abroad and prevent them from entering our country by:
- Disrupting, dismantling, and defeating drug trafficking organizations by working with foreign partners and enhancing cooperation among our domestic law enforcement agencies, including through the HIDTA program
- Responding to constant changes in drug trafficking patterns, disrupting internet sales on the dark web, and better detecting and interdicting deliveries through the mail and express consignment companies
- Interdicting the flow of drugs across our physical borders and into the United States
In conjunction with the National Drug Control Strategy, ONDCP released the National Interdiction Command and Control Plan, which outlines the Trump Administration’s interdiction strategy to reduce the availability of illicit drugs in the United States.
Additionally, the Administration released three counternarcotics strategies, outlining priorities in stopping the flow of drugs along the Southwest border, the Northern border, and the Caribbean border.
- The Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy aims to prevent drug trafficking along the almost 2,000-mile border that separates the United States and Mexico
- The Northern Border Counternarcotics Strategy aims to prevent the illegal trafficking of drugs across the United States-Canada border with regard to our 5,225-mile shared border—the longest in the world between two countries
- The Caribbean Border Counternarcotics Strategy aims to prevent the illegal trafficking of drugs into the United States along the Caribbean border
