Government Hasn’t Made Progress on Most Drug Control Goals: Report
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found the
federal government has not made progress on most goals for reducing drug
use, which were outlined in the 2010 National Drug Control Strategy, UPI reports.
The strategy included seven goals, including reducing drug use among
12- to 17-year-olds by 15 percent. There has been no progress on this
goal, primarily because of an increase in teens’ use of marijuana, GAO
reported. Teens have decreased their use of other drugs, the report
noted.
The GAO noted programs designed to prevent and treat drug abuse are
spread over 15 federal agencies, some of which provide overlapping
services. “These programs could provide or fund one or more drug abuse
prevention or treatment service that at least one other program could
also provide or fund, either to similar population groups or to reach
similar program goals,” the report stated. “Such fragmentation and overlap may result in inefficient use of resources among programs providing similar services.”
Many prevention and treatment programs that GAO surveyed did not
report coordination efforts, according to the report. The office noted
40 percent of surveyed programs said there was no coordination with
other federal agencies on drug abuse prevention or treatment activities.
The Office of National Drug Control Policy has said it will work with
agencies administering federal programs that provide drug abuse
prevention and treatment activities to enhance coordination, according
to the article.
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