Resources

One of the seldom noted but most valuable services provided by the government is statistical information on subjects of national interest and concern. Substantial resources are expended by the federal government in tracking trends in drug use in the United States, both from a health policy and an enforcement policy perspective, both nationally and internationally.

The national policy on combating drug abuse is centered in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). The office prepares a drug control policy each year for the President's signature, coordinates efforts across the federal bureaucracy, and is an excellent source for statistics, collected from many other agencies, and displayed on ONDCP's Web site at http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/. Publications consulted for this volume include International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (2005), The President's National Drug Control Strategy (2004), the National Drug Control Strategy, FY 2005 Budget Summary, and national drug control strategy documents published in earlier years.

Several elements of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) are involved in monitoring the prevalence of drug use across the population, health consequences of drug use, and interventions to provide treatment. Valuable data are available from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), reachable at http://www.samhsa.gov/. Detailed current and historical data sets on drug use incidence and prevalence are provided in an annual series titled the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (formerly called the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse). SAMHSA also tracks treatment services. The most recent survey was the National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS), 2003, the new implementation of an earlier survey called the Uniform Facility Data Set (UFDS), last published for 1998. SAMHSA also tracks reported episodes of drug abuse; the most recent published results were issued as the Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS), 1992-2002. The agency also operates the Drug Abuse Warning Network, which collects data from emergency rooms. The last report in the series from the network was Drug Abuse Warning Network, 2003: Interim National Estimates of Drug-Related Emergency Department Visits (2004).

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) provides information on all drugs for both users and professionals. The Institute is reachable at http://www.nida.nih.gov/. The Institute published Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment: A Research-Based Guide (1999) and is the funding agency for Monitoring the Future, a study program conducted by the University of Michigan. The study tracks high school students and their patterns of drug use. The results of this study are published in the annual report Monitoring the Future: National Results on Adolescent Drug Use.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), another agency under the DHHS, publishes a wealth of information on health-related topics, including drugs and their abuse. A good point of entry to CDC on the Internet is through the National Center for Health Statistics at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/default.htm. Data on HIV/AIDS in this edition came from CDC's HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report. Another valuable resource is CDC's journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, accessible at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/mmwrsrch.htm.

Domestic law enforcement and interdiction activities fall under the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has charge over all domestic drug control activities. DEA's Web site is at http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/. In support of its own activities, DEA collects information on street-level activities using knowledgeable informants. A source for pricing is DEA's Illegal Drug Price and Purity Report (2003). The DEA also publishes Drugs of Abuse, a resource tool that educates the public about drug facts and the inherent dangers of illegal drugs. The agency issues periodic reports, such as Drug Intelligence Brief: Changing Dynamics of Cocaine Production in the Andean Region (2002), Drug Intelligence Brief: Heroin Signature Program: 1999, and Meth in America: Not In Our Town (2002). DEA also uses its publication arm to advance the administration's position on the issue of legalizing drugs, in such publications as Speaking Out against Drug Legalization (2003).

An excellent source for data on what happens to drug users when caught is DOJ's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), reachable at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/. BJS focuses on criminal prosecutions, prisons, sentencing, and related subjects. Its annual publications, Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics and Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics, are good starting points. A segment of the BJS Web site entitled Drug & Crime Facts provides a good overview of statistics on drug-related crimes and legal consequences in the United States. Details are available in such publications as Felony Sentences in State Courts, 2000, Trends in State Parole, 1990-2000, and Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2003.

Data on federal prisons are available from the Federal Bureau of Prisons at http://www.bop.gov/. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is a rich source on arrests of people for drug offenses. The data appear in annual editions of Crime in the United States.

The effort to control drugs beyond the nation's borders is largely under the supervision of the U.S. Department of State, although certain activities, such as the control of money laundering, also involve the U.S. Treasury. The agency within the State Department in charge of the drug control effort is the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (http://www.state.gov/g/inl/). An excellent source of information are the Bureau's strategy reports published as the annual publication International Narcotics Control Strategy Report.

The U.S. Department of Defense conducts periodic surveys of drug use among service people. The most recent one, used in this edition, was the 2002 DoD Survey of Health Related Behaviors among Military Personnel.

Congress employs the U.S. General Accountability Office (GAO), one of its staff agencies, to monitor how well federal agencies are carrying out mandates Congress has framed into law. GAO's Web site is at http://www.gao.gov/. GAO serves as a source of sometimes critical assessments of executive branch activities. GAO conducts reports at the request of Congressional committees. Reports consulted for this edition that provide a look at the scope of these investigations include: Drug Control: U.S.-Mexican Counternarcotics Efforts Face Difficult Challenges (1998), Drug Control: Counternarcotics Efforts in Columbia Face Continuing Challenges (1998), Drug Control: U.S. Assistance to Colombia Will Take Years to Produce Results (2000), and U.S. Nonmilitary Assistance to Colombia Is Beginning to Show Intended Results, but Programs Are Not Readily Sustainable (2004).

Many private organizations use statistics in support of their positions; these are largely drawn from the federal sources cited above. Two private sources used in this edition were based on original data collection. One is polling data developed by The Gallup Organization, used with Gallup's permission. Gallup is at http://www.gallup.com/. Another source has been Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, (http://www.questdiagnostics.com/), the nation's leading drug testing firm, which assembles and publishes data on private drug testing results for general use by the public.

To all sources, public and private, Information Plus expresses its appreciation and thanks for invaluable assistance.