NAPA Finds National Drug Strategies Since '99 Inconsistent, Based on Single Source Data

Too much time spent rallying against marijuana have allowed actual drug problems to spiral out of control, National Academy of Public Administration says.

Salem-News.com

(WASHINGTON D.C.) - In a report released today, a panel of the National Academy of Public Administration found the national drug control strategies since 1999 have been inconsistent, heavily reliant on data from a single source, and did not focus on comprehensive assessments of the status of the drug problem.

As a result, the panel recommended that the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) develop a comprehensive multi-year strategy informed by high-quality and diverse data covering all age-groups, illicit drugs, and regions of the country.

Completed at the request of Congress, the report is an in-depth study of management practices at ONDCP, the agency responsible for shaping the nation’s drug policy and leading the charge to reduce the use of illicit drugs in the United States.

National Academy President Jennifer L. Dorn noted, “Coordinating the thousands of public and private organizations that play a role in the nation’s effort to fight illicit drug use is a critical and monumental task. Implementing the Academy panel’s recommendations will give ONDCP the opportunity to enhance its credibility and effectiveness and realize the potential envisioned at its inception twenty years ago.”

With its significant responsibility for policy coordination, oversight, and communication, healthy relationships between ONDCP and federal, state and local stakeholders play a critical role in program effectiveness. The panel noted that relationships between the agency and Congress have deteriorated to the point of undermining the nation’s efforts to combat drug abuse and its consequences.

To rebuild important stakeholder relationships, the Academy recommended a series of actions, including a focus on compliance with statutory requirements, timely response to Congressional information requests, regular meetings between ONDCP representatives and Congressional staff, and use of a collaborative approach to engaging partner drug agencies in strategic planning.

At the same time, the panel noted that ONDCP’s statutorily-mandated budget review, certification, and accounting processes add little independent value, and recommended that Congress work with ONDCP to establish a more effective mechanism through which ONDCP and OMB would jointly communicate annual funding priorities, based on a multi-year strategic plan.

The panel also identified concerns about the agency’s personnel policies and practices, finding ONDCP’s workforce structure poorly aligned to its mission, highly compartmentalized, and out of balance, with an over-abundance of supervisors, managers and political appointees.

With 25% of its workforce in politically appointed positions, the agency will likely experience heavy turnover when the new administration takes office, hampering institutional and operational continuity.

The panel recommended that ONDCP significantly reduce the number of political appointees, develop a succession management plan to ensure continuity of operations during transition, and create a more balanced allocation of internal management responsibilities.

A complete copy of the Academy report and recommendations is available at: napawash.org.

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