Ohio’s U.S. senators blast proposed cuts

Office of National Drug Control Policy could be gutted

The Trump administration is reportedly looking to gut the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

The Trump administration is reportedly looking to gut the Office of National Drug Control Policy and neither of Ohio’s U.S. senators are happy about it.

According to preliminary budget documents obtained by Politico, the administration is looking to cut the office’s funding by 95 percent — leaving a budget of $24 million and eliminating two major grant programs in fiscal year 2018.

“We have a heroin and prescription drug crisis in this country and we should be supporting efforts to reverse this tide, not proposing drastic cuts to those who serve on the front lines of this epidemic,” Republican Sen. Rob Portman said.

Portman said he’s worked with drug czars for more than 20 years and called the agency critical to fighting the opioid epidemic.

“This office supports the Drug Free Communities Act, legislation I authored in 1997 which has provided more than $1 billion to community drug coalitions around the country over the last 20 years, as well as the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program, which has helped states like Ohio that are ground zero for this problem,” he said.

More than 33,000 people died from opioid overdoses in the United States in 2015. Ohio has seen some of the worse of the epidemic. Opioids claimed the lives of 3,050 Ohioans in 2015. Statewide numbers for 2016 are not yet available, but the figures are assuredly worse in 2016 as fentanyl — 50 times more potent than heroin — became even more prominent.

“If these reports are true, President Trump will need to explain himself to the families whose loved ones have been taken by this epidemic and to the Ohio county morgues who’ve had to bring in extra refrigerated trucks to keep up with the overdose deaths in our state,” Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown said of the cuts to what is commonly referred to as the drug czar’s office.

What the office does

The Office of National Drug Control Policy was created by the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988. Part of its role is to “enhance national drug control planning and coordination and represent the drug policies of the executive branch before Congress.”

“The principal purpose of ONDCP is to establish policies, priorities and objectives for the Nation’s drug control program,” according to the Federal Register. “The goals of the program are to reduce illicit drug use, manufacturing, and trafficking, drug-related crime and violence, and drug-related health consequences.”

The drug czar is tasked with producing the National Drug Control Strategy.

“The strategy directs the nation’s anti-drug efforts and establishes a program, a budget, and guidelines for cooperation among Federal, State, and local entities,” according to the Federal Register.

The office’s two major grant programs are the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Program and the Drug Free Communities Program.

The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Program assists federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in what are determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions. Drug Free Communities grants helps local organizations battle drugs in their communities

According to the Government Accountability Office, the ONDCP makes up about 1 percent of anti-drug spending, but has a hand in approving billions of funds annually for other agencies.

The preliminary budget documents argue that the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Program and the Drug Free Communities Program are “duplicative of other efforts across the federal government and supplant state and local responsibilities.”

This is the second time it’s been reported that ONDCP could be facing massive cuts under the Trump administration. In February, the New York Times reported the program could be on the chopping block.

Following that report, the national president of the Fraternal Order of Police urged the president to “reject any notion” of proposed elimination of the office.

A large group of medical and drug policy organizations also denounced the cuts following the February report.

“At a time when drugs now kill more people than firearms or car crashes, it is more important than ever for ONDCP to remain a strong voice in the White House and a visible presence nationally,” the groups state in a letter written to Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney.

During the Trump administration, the office has been so far run by an acting director. Tom Marino, an early Trump ally and U.S. representative from Pennsylvania, was picked for drug czar but recently withdrew consideration because of a family illness.

Opioid commission

A March executive order signed by the president created a new opioid commission led by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. That committee will:

• Review the funding and availability of treatment

• Determine best practices for prevention and recovery

• Evaluate federal programs and the U.S. health system to identify regulatory barriers or ineffective initiatives

• Recommend changes to federal criminal law or other processes

The commission will submit an interim report after its first 90 days and a final report is due Oct. 1.

Critics of the commission argue it’s redundant. Last November, then-Surgeon General Vivek Murthy released his office’s first-ever comprehensive report on addiction. The report includes recommendations for combating the opioid epidemic. For example, he states in the report increased access to medications like methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone are critical.

Murthy, an Obamaera appointment, was dismissed from the position in April.

Both Portman and Brown have expressed support for the commission.

Brown, left, and Portman