Executive Order 12880—National Drug Control Program

The Office of National Drug Control Policy has the lead responsibility within the Executive Office of the President to establish policies, priorities, and objectives for the Nation’s drug control program, with the goal of reducing the production, availability, and use of illegal drugs. All lawful and reasonable means must be used to ensure that the United States has a comprehensive and effective National Drug Control Strategy. Therefore, by the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the National Narcotics Leadership Act of 1988, as amended (21 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.), and in order to provide for the effective management of the drug abuse policies of the United States, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. General Provisions. (a) Because the United States considers the operations of international criminal narcotics syndicates as a national security threat requiring an extraordinary and coordinated response by civilian and military agencies involved in national security, the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (Director), in his role as the principal adviser to the National Security Council on national drug control policy (50 U.S.C. 402(f)), shall provide drug policy guidance and direction in the development of related national security programs. (b) The Director shall provide oversight and direction for all international counternarcotics policy development and implementation, in coordination with other concerned Cabinet members, as appropriate. (c) An Interagency Working Group (IWG) on international counternarcotics policy, chaired by the Department of State, shall develop and ensure coordinated implementation of an international counternarcotics policy. The IWG shall report its activities and differences of views among agencies to the Director for review, mediation, and resolution with concerned Cabinet members, and if necessary, by the President. (d) A coordinator for drug interdiction shall be designated by the Director to ensure that assets dedicated by Federal drug program agencies for interdiction are sufficient and that their use is properly integrated and optimized. The coordinator shall ensure that interdiction efforts and priorities are consistent with overall U.S. international counternarcotics policy. (e) The Director shall examine the number and structure of command/ control and drug intelligence centers operated by drug control program agencies involved in international counter-narcotics and suggest improvements to the current structure for consideration by the President and concerned members of the Cabinet. (f) The Director, utilizing the services of the Drugs and Crime Data Center and Department of Justice Clearinghouse, shall assist in coordinating and enhancing the dissemination of statistics and studies relating to anti-drug abuse policy. (g) The Director shall provide advice to agencies regarding ways to achieve efficiencies in spending and improvements to interagency cooperation that could enhance the delivery of drug control treatment and prevention services to the public. The Director may request agencies to provide studies, information, and analyses in support of this order. Sec. 2. Goals, Direction, Duties and Responsibilities with Respect to the National Drug Control Program. (a) Budget Matters. (1) In addition to the budgetary authorities and responsibilities provided to the Director by statute, 21 U.S.C. 1502, for those agency budget requests that are not certified as adequate to implement the objectives of the National Drug Control Strategy, the Director shall include in such certifications initiatives or funding levels that would make such requests adequate. (2) The Director shall provide, by July 1 of each year, budget recommendations to the heads of departments and agencies with responsibilities under the National Drug Control Program. The recommendations shall apply to the second following fiscal year and address funding priorities developed in the annual National Drug Control Strategy. (b) Measurement of National Drug Control Strategy Outcomes. (1) The National Drug Control Strategy shall include long-range goals for reducing drug use and the consequences of drug use in the United States, including burdens on hospital emergency rooms, drug use among arrestees, the extent of drug-related crime, high school dropout rates, the number of infants exposed annually to illicit drugs in utero, national drug abuse treatment capacity, and the annual national health care costs of drug use. (2) The National Drug Control Strategy shall also include an assessment of the quality of techniques and instruments to measure current drug use and supply and demand reduction activities, and the adequacy of the coverage of existing national drug use instruments and techniques to measure the total illicit drug user population and groups at-risk for drug use. (3) The Director shall coordinate an effort among the relevant drug control program agencies to assess the quality, access, management, effectiveness, and standards of accountability of drug abuse treatment, prevention, education, and other demand reduction activities. (c) Provision of Reports. To the extent permitted by law, heads of departments and agencies with responsibilities under the National Drug Control Program shall make available to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, appropriate statistics, studies, and reports, pertaining to Federal drug abuse control. William J. Clinton THE WHITE HOUSE, November 16, 1993.