ONDCP Excel Twelfth Row

Law enforcement officers, especially when seen outside of law enforcement settings, are uniquely able to garner the attention of youth. This investment of their time working on prevention has tremendous potential to reduce drug use and crime. Federal agencies will explicitly encourage their own personnel and federally supported task force officers to participate in drug prevention campaigns in conjunction with local organizations and coalitions. To increase the involvement of HIDTA law enforcement personnel in drug prevention, ONDCP allocated $800,000 of FY 2009 discretionary funding among 18 HIDTAs for prevention initiatives, resulting in the creation of 15 new initiatives and the expansion of 3 existing ones. Those HIDTA-funded prevention initiatives are tailored to the specific needs of each community served and expand evidence-based prevention programs for at-risk youth. In addition, as part of DEA’s Demand Reduction Program, special agents in every DEA Field Division work with their communities to provide in-house expertise on the illegal use of substances ranging from prescription drugs to heroin. DEA is uniquely suited to providing direct information and support to community coalitions.