Budget Cuts Series: Office of National Drug Control Policy

In this continuing series, we are examining the White House proposed budget cuts to learn what's hidden beneath the surface and later update based on Congressional budget proposals and actions.  This post is about the proposed 95% savage cuts to the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

According to an Office of Management and Budget document obtained by The New York Times, the White House is proposing to slash the drug policy office budget by about 95 percent, to just $24 million from $388 million... The budget would eliminate grant programs it administers, including the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program and the Drug-Free Communities Support Program. 

Politicans in both parties and intelligent people across the country were quick to rebuke the lunacy of effectively eliminating the department.

Rich Baum, the acting drug czar appointed by Mr. Trump, expressed anguish about the cuts...  Senator Rob Portman of Ohio said that the antidrug programs that the Trump administration wants to eliminate have had a profoundly positive impact in his state.  

Another Trump lie, no surprise, after promising to rid America of the scourge of drugs, vowing to crack down on dealers and invest heavily in programs to get heroin and other opioids off the streets.

“This is a cruel betrayal by Trump,” said Daniel Wessel, a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee. “Throughout the campaign, Trump promised communities ravaged by opioid addiction that he would come to their aid. That was a lie.”

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/05/us/politics/white-house-proposes-cutting-drug-control-office-funding-by-95.html?smid=tw-ny...

Date: 
Thursday, May 25, 2017