Courtney Joins Bipartisan Effort To Oppose Defunding Of The Office Of National Drug Control Policy As Nationwide Opioid Crisis Persists

Press Release

Today, Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02) announced that he is joining more than 60 of his colleagues on a bipartisan letter to President Donald Trump's Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Mick Mulvaney, strongly opposing any funding cut for the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). ONDCP is responsible for leading federal drug policy efforts with a focus on innovations in drug abuse prevention, criminal justice, treatment, and recovery. As reported by the New York Times, the White House has floated a proposal to cut the ONDCP budget by 95 percent. A cut of that scale would mean that critical federal programs such as the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program (HIDTAP) and the Drug-Free Communities Support Program (DFC) would be eliminated.

"It hard to imagine why the White House is considering slashing the funding for the primary agency leading anti-drug efforts in the midst of a nationwide drug abuse epidemic," said Courtney. "I urge the president's key advisors to meet with local law enforcement officials battling drug abuse on the front lines like I have done in the past to better understand how their departments utilize federal funding in the fight against prescription opioid and heroin abuse. Local police and health professionals on the front lines of this epidemic tell me that the primary reason we are losing the battle against opioids is lack of resources at every level. The bipartisan letter signed by more than sixty of my colleagues today from both parties demonstrates that the administration will face stiff opposition to any proposed funding cut for drug abuse prevention and treatment."

ONDCP was created by the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 signed into law by President Ronald Regan. The agency's primary responsibilities include advising the president on national drug control issues and polices and coordinating federal drug-control activities. More recently, ONDCP has served one of the lead agencies coordinated the federal response to the opioid crisis and working with stakeholders from across the country to get resources into communities that need it.

The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program was also created under the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988. The federal program provides assistance to federal, state, local law enforcement agencies operating across the country in support of critical anti-drug trafficking operations. Last year, law enforcement agencies in southeastern Connecticut began exploring a HIDTA designation to bring new resources and expanded coordination to the region.

Drug-Free Communities Support Program (DFC) is a federal grant program that provides funding to local organizations conducting activities to prevent youth substance use. It was founded under the DFC Act of 1997. DFC supports 10 grantees operating across 11 eastern Connecticut towns including Enfield, Putnam, Chester, Deep River, Essex, Willimantic, Moodus, Madison, Waterford, Hebron, and New London.

In February of 2016, Courtney hosted Michael Botticelli, the Director of ONDCP in eastern Connecticut to learn more about local efforts to combat growing prescription opioid and heroin abuse. The roundtable took place at Lawrence+Memorial hospital in New London where there had been a spike in the number of patients suffering from opioid and heroin overdoses. In September, Courtney hosted ONDCP Chief of Staff Regina Labelle for an additional discussion following up on the director's visit.

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