Chairman Boehlert, Ranking Member Gordon, and Members of the Committee: thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss efforts to reduce the problem of methamphetamine in America.
The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), a component of the Executive Office of the President, was established by the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988.
ONDCP is the President's primary source of support for counter-drug policy development and program oversight. The Office advises the President on national and international drug control policies and strategies, and works to ensure the effective coordination of drug programs within the National Drug Control Program agencies. The principal purpose of ONDCP is to establish policies, priorities, and objectives for the Nation's drug control program. The goals of the program are to reduce illicit drug use, manufacturing, and trafficking, drug-related crime and violence, and drug-related health consequences. To achieve these goals, the Director of ONDCP is charged with producing the National Drug Control Strategy. The Strategy directs the Nation's anti-drug efforts and establishes a program, a budget, and guidelines for cooperation among Federal, State, and local entities.
In my testimony I will discuss the extent of the methamphetamine problem in America, the Federal government's progress in reducing the number of methamphetamine labs and ameliorating their impact, and the principal findings and recommendations of the Administration's "National Synthetic Drugs Action Plan" regarding methamphetamine laboratories.
The issue of methamphetamine is one with which I am well acquainted. Prior to being nominated and confirmed in my present position, I worked as an elected prosecutor in a rural county, where methamphetamine use, sales, and production were a problem. Prosecutors and police in areas where methamphetamine is a problem know too well the toll that methamphetamine production and use take on both individuals and their community. In short, the consequences to individual health and the associated criminal activity as well as the environmental and economic harm, can be devastating.
Fortunately, there is good news. We have recently seen some encouraging results from new methods of attacking the methamphetamine trade. And the Administration's above-referenced "National Synthetic Drugs Action Plan," which I will discuss here in more detail, is a comprehensive approach designed to weaken the supply of, and the demand for, methamphetamine in the United States. I will highlight relevant parts of the Action Plan and outline the tasks that we intend to accomplish over the next four years to continue to reduce the methamphetamine problem in America, focusing on methamphetamine labs for this hearing.
