White House Unveils Drug Control Plan Emphasizing Treatment and Harm Reduction
White House drug czar Dr. Rahul Gupta, the first physician to head the Office of National Drug Control Policy, will oversee the strategy.
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A drug control strategy sent to Congress this week is the first national plan to prioritize harm reduction, focusing on the prevention of death and illness in drug users while trying to engage them in care and treatment, reports the Associated Press. It calls for changes in state laws and policies to support the expansion of the practice. “Everyone who wants treatment should be able to get it.” said White House drug czar Dr. Rahul Gupta.
Gupta, the first physician to head the Office of National Drug Control Policy, will oversee the strategy, which also calls for: targeting the financial activities of transnational criminal organizations that manufacture and traffic illicit drugs in the United States; reducing the supply of illicit drugs smuggled across U.S. borders; improving data systems and research that guide drug policy; and making sure the people most in danger of overdose can get evidence-based treatments, including people experiencing homelessness and those in prison or jail. “All too often, these drugs wind up in communities… where harm reduction services are restricted or underfunded, where there are unacceptable barriers to treatment,” said Gupta.
