witchlinblue
02-17-2005, 02:30 PM
Group Identifies 'Wasteful Spending' in War on Drugs
By Susan Jones
CNSNews.com Morning Editor
February 17, 2005
(CNSNews.com) - A taxpayer watchdog group says the nation's "high-intensity drug trafficking program" is not working as intended. Rather, it is giving lawmakers another way to spend tax dollars on "superfluous" projects back home.
Citizens Against Government Waste is calling for a significant reduction in funding and a reorganization of the high-intensity program, which is run by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.
The program, established in 1988 and funded in 1990, was set up to concentrate on five "gateway" areas for drugs entering the United States, including Los Angeles, Houston, New York/New Jersey, South Florida and the southwest border.
"The high-intensity drug trafficking program was started to combat drugs entering our borders," said CAGW President Tom Schatz. "But with non-border states like Colorado and Nebraska receiving money, insufficient dollars are moving to the most at-risk states, such as Arizona, California, and Texas."
According to CAGW, the program now targets 26 "high-intensity" areas, including the Midwest (Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska) and the Appalachian region (Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia).
With funding now spread across much of the U.S., the program has lost much of its "intensity" in so-called drug "gateways," and as a result, success in the most vital states has been negligible, CAGW said.
"Members of Congress are funneling these dollars away from key areas and back to their own districts," said Schatz. "While drugs are everywhere in the U.S., this program has been abused by Congress -- the dollars are spread so thinly now they do little to help anyone."
Many of the dollars earmarked for the high-intensity program are now being used to combat methamphetamine labs, CAGW said. Although the Midwest has a growing number of meth labs, California still accounts for most of the nation's illegal meth production, the group said.
The war on drugs has cost taxpayers more than $25 billion over 25 years -- but it's not working, CAGW said. The group points to a report from the Washington Office on Latin America showing that wholesale and retail prices of cocaine and heroin are at or near their lowest levels in 22 years because of increased supply.
That increased supply is symptomatic of the failure of the war on drugs, CAGW said.
CAGW said it will release a comprehensive report on its three areas of concern -- the high-intensity drug trafficking program, anti-drug media/marketing campaigns, and the Colombian drug war project -- next month.
Citizens Against Government Waste describes its mission as the elimination of waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.
By Susan Jones
CNSNews.com Morning Editor
February 17, 2005
(CNSNews.com) - A taxpayer watchdog group says the nation's "high-intensity drug trafficking program" is not working as intended. Rather, it is giving lawmakers another way to spend tax dollars on "superfluous" projects back home.
Citizens Against Government Waste is calling for a significant reduction in funding and a reorganization of the high-intensity program, which is run by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.
The program, established in 1988 and funded in 1990, was set up to concentrate on five "gateway" areas for drugs entering the United States, including Los Angeles, Houston, New York/New Jersey, South Florida and the southwest border.
"The high-intensity drug trafficking program was started to combat drugs entering our borders," said CAGW President Tom Schatz. "But with non-border states like Colorado and Nebraska receiving money, insufficient dollars are moving to the most at-risk states, such as Arizona, California, and Texas."
According to CAGW, the program now targets 26 "high-intensity" areas, including the Midwest (Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska) and the Appalachian region (Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia).
With funding now spread across much of the U.S., the program has lost much of its "intensity" in so-called drug "gateways," and as a result, success in the most vital states has been negligible, CAGW said.
"Members of Congress are funneling these dollars away from key areas and back to their own districts," said Schatz. "While drugs are everywhere in the U.S., this program has been abused by Congress -- the dollars are spread so thinly now they do little to help anyone."
Many of the dollars earmarked for the high-intensity program are now being used to combat methamphetamine labs, CAGW said. Although the Midwest has a growing number of meth labs, California still accounts for most of the nation's illegal meth production, the group said.
The war on drugs has cost taxpayers more than $25 billion over 25 years -- but it's not working, CAGW said. The group points to a report from the Washington Office on Latin America showing that wholesale and retail prices of cocaine and heroin are at or near their lowest levels in 22 years because of increased supply.
That increased supply is symptomatic of the failure of the war on drugs, CAGW said.
CAGW said it will release a comprehensive report on its three areas of concern -- the high-intensity drug trafficking program, anti-drug media/marketing campaigns, and the Colombian drug war project -- next month.
Citizens Against Government Waste describes its mission as the elimination of waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.