[Title] Remarks of ONDCP Director Kerlikowske at the Chinese People’s Public Security University
Thank you for that kind introduction. I’d also like to thank the faculty and University staff for your important work in law enforcement education and training. Law enforcement is a position of great responsibility and public trust, and I am very proud of my many years of service in law enforcement. Institutions such as the Public Security University can play a vital role in fostering new ideas in policing, shaping policing practices, and advancing new law enforcement strategies in China and around the world. I appreciate the opportunity to talk about the U.S. approach to drug policy and to describe what lessons we have learned from our experience in drug-related policing over the past decades.
The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy
Let me begin by telling you a bit about the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). ONDCP’s primary role is to establish drug-related policies, priorities, and objectives for the Nation. Our objectives are to reduce illicit drug use, manufacturing, and trafficking, drug-related crime and violence, and drug-related health consequences. To achieve these goals, we coordinate the Nation's anti-drug efforts and develop guidelines for cooperation among Federal, state, and local entities. We set budget priorities for every Federal department and agency involved in drug issues, including the Departments of Justice, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Transportation, State (our Foreign Ministry), and Defense.
In 2010, we released the Obama Administration’s inaugural National Drug Control Strategy – the Administration’s blueprint for reducing drug use and its consequences in the United States. The 2010 Strategy and subsequent annual Strategies outline a balanced and comprehensive drug control policy recognizing that an effective approach must include prevention, early intervention, treatment, support for those in recovery from addiction, law enforcement, and international partnerships.
Lessons from My Career in Law Enforcement in the United States
Before President Obama appointed me as the Director of National Drug Control Policy in 2009, I’d spent 37 years – my entire professional career – in law enforcement. Of course I had to deal with all of the challenges faced by law enforcement officials – including domestic disturbances, robberies, acts of violence, gang activity, and drug- and alcohol-related problems.
As a practitioner of community policing, I also met with community leaders in the cities I served. Community policing, which I know has a long tradition in China, focuses on problem-solving, being proactive about crime and partnering with citizens, community stakeholders, government agencies and others to create effective solutions. During community meetings, I heard from many local residents. One of the issues that came up frequently was the difficulty communities had with drug and alcohol abuse.
Individuals who were abusing drugs and alcohol were sometimes arrested for petty crimes, disorderly conduct, or selling small amounts of drugs. Citizens complained that they did not feel safe on their neighborhood streets or were not comfortable letting their kids use the parks when drug trafficking or drug use was occurring nearby. So when we got complaints, we arrested the substance abusers. Arrestees would often go through short-term detox, receive a fine, and be back on the street within a day or two. I realized that this approach was not solving the problem.
For much of my law enforcement career, I thought, like a lot of people do, that drug addiction was primarily a moral failing, and that the cure was a simple matter of willpower; of addicts finding the resolve to stop using drugs. It was over the years I served as police chief in Seattle that my thinking about drug addiction began to change. Like many of my colleagues around the United States, I was looking for a better, more permanent solution. An approach that would keep the community safe, make wise use of officers’ time, and produce better results at a reasonable cost. Not overnight, but gradually, as I listened to researchers and physicians steeped in the latest science, I began to learn about addiction as a disease.
When President Obama asked me to come to the White House and serve as his top advisor on drug policy, I was committed to combining my experience in law enforcement with the latest research on the disease of addiction to formulate a new approach to drug policy. There was much to learn, and much had been written about drug use and its consequences by academics, former officials, and representatives of non-governmental organizations. I met with many experts, including treatment and prevention specialists.
We had to learn to work smarter in order to break the wasteful cycle of arrest, incarceration, release, and re-arrest.
I realized that in the United States we had often focused on prisons and not on drug prevention and treatment. Such an approach is an enormous waste of resources and destined to end in failure. Incarceration on its own – without treatment– has repeatedly proven to be unsuccessful in reducing drug use among criminal offenders. Many of my former colleagues who are police chiefs in the United States have become outspoken on the need to support both law enforcement and public health services to address substance abuse. Law enforcement will always play an integral role in drug policy, but we must broaden our perspective. We cannot respond to substance abuse only with arrests and incarceration.
The Obama Administration Approach
My main goals at ONDCP continue to be reorienting our approach to the drug problem so that it is more balanced and grounded in science. We must address both the public safety and public health sides of the equation. Achieving significant and lasting progress in reducing drug use and its consequences will require combining the best elements of prevention, treatment, and law enforcement, and breaking down the silos that exist among them. We know from decades of research from our Nation’s top neuroscientists that drug addiction is a disease – one that can be prevented and treated – if we invest properly in evidence-based policies and programs.
The Obama Administration has encouraged our law enforcement agencies to support prevention and treatment efforts. Now it is much more common in the United States for law enforcement agencies to meet with treatment experts, to offer use of their facilities for community prevention meetings, and to see treatment centers and law enforcement agencies working together to get those with substance abuse problems the help they need.
As part of this effort, I have directed our High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program – a Federal, state, and local law enforcement task force program funded by ONDCP – to enhance support for drug prevention. Over the past 3 years, we have funded initiatives for our HIDTAs to work with communities to stop drug use before it starts, expanding the number of HITDAs that support prevention from 4 to 20. HIDTA prevention initiatives facilitate increased coordination between the law enforcement and prevention communities to reduce drug abuse and its negative consequences. This direct cooperation between law enforcement agencies and drug prevention and treatment experts is a key to successful community anti-drug efforts. Law enforcement in the United States is, I believe, changing for the better by working to ensure that those citizens who require drug treatment services receive the help that they need.
Public Health Interventions
The U.S. National Drug Control Strategy is heavily focused on preventing substance abuse and involvement with the juvenile or criminal justice systems. Scientific evidence makes it clear that substance use prevention is the most cost-effective, common-sense approach to promoting safe and healthy communities. Put simply, it saves lives and cuts costs. That is why the Obama Administration is coordinating an unprecedented government-wide public health approach to reduce drug use and its consequences in the United States.
We’re also promoting early intervention, because when a person develops a substance abuse problem, catching that problem early, before it worsens, gives us the best chance to stop it from becoming a chronic disorder. Early-intervention programs – such as screening for substance abuse by doctors, nurses, and other health professionals – is especially promising. In the United States, we have introduced screening programs in many of our emergency rooms and health facilities. The way screening works is simple – when people come to a hospital with a broken arm, or for their annual check-up, they are asked about their substance use. If they are identified as at risk for developing a chronic substance use disorder, they receive information about the risks of abuse and are offered further voluntary counseling. Researchers have found that even short, structured discussions – brief interventions – during which patients confidentially discuss their substance abuse with a medical professional, can have a significant effect in getting the patient to understand the risks of their behavior and discouraging further substance abuse.
Treatment is another pillar of our drug policy. We have had success treating addiction as a disease – a disease that requires the same kind of evidence-based health remedies called for with other chronic diseases. Expanding our support for treatment puts a whole new range of effective tools at our disposal. There are several evidence-based treatment techniques that have been shown by rigorous research evaluations to be effective. These include medication-assisted treatment and behavioral therapies – both of which can be conducted either in an inpatient or outpatient setting. In the United States, our treatment system is not perfect; we are constantly evaluating and studying how to maximize and sustain good treatment results. However, we are very focused on putting Federal funding into those programs that adhere to our National Institute of Drug Abuse’s science-based national treatment standards.
Another important element of our demand reduction policy is support for what we call “recovery.” Recovery efforts are designed to help individuals with substance use disorders overcome or “recover” from the disease of addiction. Recovery services, such as opportunities for ongoing counseling after treatment is completed, housing, employment assistance, all of these services can help maintain the gains of treatment at modest costs. In addition, we are seeking to ensure that former users retain their full right to work, study, and acquire housing. It is vital that individuals with substance use disorders receive treatment for their addiction so that they can become fully integrated into society.
International Cooperation
Let me say a few words about the importance of international cooperation in addressing the drug problem. Drug trafficking, money laundering, and related organized crime are clearly global problems that require many countries to work together. During my visit to China, I have had the opportunity to meet with senior officials from the Ministry of Public Security and other government departments to talk about our bilateral cooperation.
There is much important anti-drug work China and the United States must do together. Our governments are partnering to address drug trafficking issues that affect both countries. For example, we are cooperating to address the problem of cocaine being trafficked from the Americas into Asia, which we know is a concern for China. We are also working to prevent precursor chemicals and synthetic drugs produced in Asia from being diverted into drug production in the Western Hemisphere, a concern for the United States.
This bilateral cooperation – which includes the exchange of intelligence, regular communications between law enforcement experts working specific cases, and discussion of legislative and policy changes needed by both countries – is already excellent. My hope is that this visit further improves the already well-established collaboration by our nations to bring to justice drug traffickers and to protect the health and safety of citizens of both China and the United States from dangerous drugs.
Because of our limited time today, I have not been able to discuss all aspects of the drug problem. However, my office has produced a short document entitled “Principles of Modern Drug Policy,” which I have attached at the end of the written version of my speech. This document is a summary of the U.S. approach to all aspects of the drug problem. Many of these principles, such as ensuring balanced strategies, supporting treatment and prevention, and the importance of disrupting trafficking organizations, I have referenced briefly in my remarks today.
In conclusion, let me say that the core mission of law enforcement – ensuring public safety – remains the focus of our work. But when we embrace the fact that preventing crime before it occurs is just as important as responding quickly to a crime scene, we understand that both of these things protect public safety in the end. During my work as a young lieutenant in Florida, I was fortunate to have been given the opportunity to serve in several different communities, where I was exposed to a wide range of challenges and opportunities.
It was during this time I first began to realize that wherever you find a law enforcement officer who is willing to learn from their experiences and use that knowledge to make a difference, that is where you find leadership. My experiences as a police lieutenant still inform what I do each day as President Obama’s senior drug policy advisor. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. I am happy to take any questions you may have.
Principles of Modern Drug Policy
The three United Nations drug control conventions are the foundation of the global effort to reduce drug use and its consequences. To implement the conventions in the 21st century, the United States commits itself to the following principles and encourages other nations to do the same:
1. Ensure Balanced, Compassionate, and Humane Drug Policies. Modern drug policies must acknowledge that drug addiction is a chronic disease of the brain that can be prevented and treated. Public health and public safety initiatives are complementary and equally vital to achieving reductions in drug use and its consequences. The drug policy challenge facing the world today is not a choice between an enforcement-only “war on drugs” on the one hand and the extreme notion of drug legalization on the other. Rather, the challenge lies in combining cost-effective, evidence-based approaches that protect public health and safety.
2. Integrate Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Support Services into Public Health Systems. Public health approaches, such as evidenced-based prevention, screening and brief interventions in healthcare settings, drug treatment programs, and recovery support services, are vital components of an effective drug control strategy. There is overwhelming scientific evidence that drug prevention, treatment, and recovery services are cost-effective ways to reduce drug use and its consequences.
3. Protect Human Rights. Respect for human rights is an integral part of drug policy. Citizens, especially children, have the right to be safe from illegal drug use and associated crime, violence, and other consequences—whether in their family or the community. Drug-involved offenders who have contact with the criminal justice system deserve to be supervised with respect for their basic human rights and be provided with services to treat their underlying substance use disorder.
4. Reduce Drug Use to Reduce Drug Consequences. The best way to reduce the substantial harms associated with drugs is to reduce drug use itself. Public health services for drug users, including HIV interventions for people who inject drugs, should be implemented in the context of comprehensive, recovery-oriented public health systems that also provide drug users access to treatment for addiction. Policies and programs such as injection rooms, drug distribution efforts, and drug legalization should be opposed because they tolerate drug use and allow the debilitating disease of addiction to continue untreated.
5. Support and Expand Access to Medication-Assisted Therapies. Recent innovations in medication-assisted therapies have demonstrated increasing effectiveness in reducing drug use and its consequences. These medications should be further studied to identify new therapies and best practices in program implementation.
6. Reform Criminal Justice Systems to Support both Public Health and Public Safety. Criminal justice systems play a vital role in breaking the cycle of drug use, crime, incarceration, and re-arrest. While individuals should be held responsible for breaking the law, the criminal justice system should help bring them into contact with treatment services if they are suffering from a substance use disorder. This includes providing treatment services in correctional facilities, providing alternatives to incarceration such as drug courts for non-violent drug-involved offenders, and using monitoring, drug testing, and other means to ensure recovery from illegal drug use.
7. Disrupt Drug Trafficking. Transnational criminal organizations should be targeted with a focus on the arrest, prosecution, and incarceration of drug traffickers, the seizure of illegal assets, disruption of drug production networks, control of precursor chemicals, and the eradication of illegal drug crops. International cooperation on information exchange, extradition, and training and technical assistance should be strengthened to eliminate safe harbors for transnational criminal organizations.
8. Address the Drug Problem as a Shared Responsibility. Drug use, production, and trafficking are increasingly globalized problems and pose challenges to all of our nations. Because of the global nature of today’s drug markets, international cooperation is essential to protect public health and safety.
9. Support the UN Drug Conventions: The three UN Drug Conventions are the foundation of our global drug control efforts and are effective in their current form. Efforts to renegotiate the Conventions should be opposed.
10. Protect Citizens from Drugs. Drugs are illegal because their use is dangerous not only to users but to society as a whole. We are committed to protecting all citizens, including those in recovery, from the tragic consequences of illegal drug use.