The War on Drugs is (Not) Over

Despite the false promises of White House Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske, it’s the same old same old. This from LEAP’s Sean Dunagan:

If
you haven’t seen it, the National Drug Control Strategy and
accompanying budget and performance summaries are out. Requested funding
for 2013 totals $25.6 billion, a $415 million increase over last year.
The allocation is 58.8% for law enforcement and interdiction (vs. 59.7%
last year) and 41.8 percent for treatment and prevention (up from 40.3%
last year). 

Notably, the “prevention and treatment” funding includes
gems like $20 million for the ludicrous “above the influence” media
campaign and $5 million for mandatory drug testing. Despite the “change
in strategy” spin, 58.8% is the same percentage that went to
LE/interdiction in the 2008 drug control budget. 

The request for
domestic LE, $9.4 billion, is the highest amount ever and a $1.15
billion increase over 08 (+ $61.4 million over last year). The request
also seeks $120 million more for the BOP, $89.3 million more for
interdiction, and $40.9 million more for DEA. Interestingly (at least
to me), the request acknowledges that 51.4 percent of BOP’s budget is
drug-related (p. 165). On a positive note, requested funding for
treatment is up 4.6 percent.

 A billion here and a billion there, and pretty soon we’re talking about real money.