Administration’s FY 2011 Budget Proposal Demonstrates Balanced Approach to Drug Control

WASHINGTON, DC – The Fiscal Year 2011 National Drug Control Budget proposed by the Obama Administration would devote significant new resources to the prevention and treatment of drug abuse, National Drug Control Policy Director Gil Kerlikowske said today. These resources are complemented by an aggressive effort to enhance domestic law enforcement, interdiction, and supply control programs.

Funding for prevention measures under the President’s proposal would increase 13.4 percent over the level of funding for the current fiscal year, and expenditures for treatment programs would be increased by 3.7 percent, Kerlikowske said.

Those expenditures are included in the FY 2011 request, for a total of $15.5 billion to reduce drug use and its consequences. The funds would go to the 13 Federal agencies and departments responsible for the broad continuum of drug control – from prevention and treatment to enforcement, interdiction, and international efforts. The total proposed spending in the FY 2011 National Drug Control Budget represents a 3.5 percent increase over the current fiscal year.

“The new budget proposal demonstrates the Obama Administration’s commitment to a balanced and comprehensive drug strategy,” said Director Kerlikowske. “In a time of tight budgets and fiscal restraint, these new investments are targeted at reducing Americans’ drug use and the substantial costs associated with the health and social consequences of drug abuse.”

In developing the 2010 National Drug Control Strategy, which will be released soon, Director Kerlikowske led an unprecedented consultation process, engaging hundreds of community leaders, State and local officials, and Members of Congress over the last eight months, soliciting evidence-based solutions to reduce drug abuse and its consequences, and integrating their input, expertise, and on-the-ground-experience into the Strategy.

The new budget proposal would devote more than $150 million in new funding for creating a national, community-based prevention system to protect adolescents; training and engaging primary health care to intervene in emerging cases of drug abuse; expanding and improving specialty addiction care; developing safe and efficient ways to manage drug-related offenders; and creating a permanent drug monitoring system. Additionally, the Obama Administration’s National Drug Control Budget proposal devotes significant resources for law enforcement actions against drug traffickers, for protecting public lands from illicit drug cultivation, and for drug interdiction. Internationally, the budget supports a balanced and strategic approach that would strengthen partner nations and reduce the drug supply to the United States. At the same time, the budget would strengthen the drug enforcement capabilities of partner nations in order to reduce the drug supply to the United States through programs such as continuing the Merida Initiative with Mexico, a newly-developed Caribbean Basin Security Initiative, and augmented support for Western Hemisphere programs.