Reports: Trump Administration Plans to Slash Funding for Drug Czar’s Office

Today, reports have emerged that the Trump Administration plans to cut the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s budget by nearly 95%.

Below is a statement by Grant Smith, deputy director of national affairs with the Drug Policy Alliance:

“The reality is that ONDCP is an agency in dire need of reform. Under Michael Botticelli, during Obama’s second term, the agency made progress in terms of seeing drugs as a public health issue, not a criminal justice issue. But we know that Trump and Sessions are keen on escalating the war on drugs, so there is a real fear that ONDCP will be used as another tool to prosecute this failed drug war – as it was under Bill Clinton and both Bush presidencies. If that was the plan for ONDCP, then we would rather see it eliminated. The HIDTA and Drug Free Communities grant programs, run by ONDCP, are a phenomenal waste of money that contribute to the incarceration and stigmatization of drug users, so their elimination is a welcome move.”