Emerging Drug Problems: Despite Changes in Detection and Response Capability, Concerns Remain

ONDCP and other Federal agencies have made substantial progress in implementing recommendations to improve the completeness, accuracy, and overall usefulness of data generated by the nation's drug data collection mechanisms. For example, consistent with recommendations, ONDCP and the Drug Enforcement Administration contracted RAND to improve and update information in existing data systems on the price and purity of illicit drugs. Also, ONDCP is working with the National Institute of Justice to expand research on the effectiveness of law enforcement activities and to redesign the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring program. ONDCP also has been working with the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to improve their data systems to identify and track emerging drug problems.

According to ONDCP, it has pursued a systematic research agenda to improve federal drug data collection, including determining what data should be collected and developing a systematic approach for gathering, analyzing, and disseminating information. ONDCP has worked close with its federal partners to increase the federal government's ability to address critical policy questions through improved data collection and research efforts. ONDCP sees its actions as ongoing. Among these efforts, ONDCP has supported the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's expansion and redesign of the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. ONDCP also requested that questions be added to the survey that would provide an improved estimate of the drug treatment gap. Additionally, ONDCP's High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program is implementing a new performance management system that includes the identification, collection/validation, and analysis of data sets essential to measuring the program's performance. ONDCP is also working with other federal agencies such as the National Institute of Justice and the National Institute on Drug Abuse to improve existing data collection systems.

According to ONDCP, it is addressing this recommendation through several activities. Annually, ONDCP asks its federal, state, and local partners to provide recommendations on the development of the Nations' drug control policy. ONDCP is working with federal agencies such as the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, to improve their data systems to identify and track emerging drug problems. Under its 25-City Initiative, ONDCP is undertaking a major effort to focus on the local drug problems of 25 of the largest metropolitan areas. ONDCP is working with these localities to identify their major existing and emerging drug problems, developing initiatives to address them, and monitoring appropriate data systems to track successes.