Office of National Drug Control Policy

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Office of National Drug Control Policy
Agency overview
FormedOctober 27, 1986; 37 years ago (1986-10-27)
HeadquartersWashington, D.C., U.S.
Annual budget$31.4 billion[1]
Agency executive
Parent agencyExecutive Office of the President
Websiteusa.gov/federal-agencies/office-of-national-drug-control-policy

The Office of National Drug Control Policy is a part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States.

Background[change | change source]

The Director of National Drug Control Policy, known as the Drug Czar, heads the office. "Drug Czar" was a term first used in the media by then-Senator Joe Biden in October 1982.[2][3]

In addition to running the ONDCP, the director evaluates, coordinates, and oversees both the international and domestic anti-drug efforts of executive branch agencies and ensures that such efforts sustain and complement State and local anti-drug activities. The Director advises the President regarding changes in the organization, management, budgeting, and personnel of federal agencies that affect U.S. anti-drug efforts; and regarding federal agency compliance with their obligations under the National Drug Control Strategy, an annual report required by law.

2017 Rumored shutdown[change | change source]

As early as February 2017, The New York Times had reported that the Trump administration was considering eliminating the office, and other programs responsible for a total of $2.5 billion of domestic spending.[4] In May, the office's website was blanked and Politico and The Washington Post both reported that the office was about to be drastically defunded.[5][6]

List of Directors[change | change source]

The title of Director, as well as the office, was created by the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988. The position had cabinet-level status from 1993 to 2009.

# Portrait Name Term President
1 Bill Bennett March 13, 1989 – December 13, 1990 George H. W. Bush
2 Bob Martinez March 28, 1991 – January 20, 1993
John Walters
Acting
January 20, 1993 – July 19, 1993 Bill Clinton
3 Lee Brown July 19, 1993 – January 1996
4 Barry McCaffrey February 29, 1996 – January 20, 2001
Ed Jurith
Acting
January 20, 2001 – December 7, 2001 George W. Bush
5 John Walters December 7, 2001 – January 20, 2009
Ed Jurith
Acting
January 20, 2009 – May 7, 2009 Barack Obama
6 Gil Kerlikowske May 7, 2009 – March 6, 2014
7 Michael Botticelli
Acting: 2014–2015
March 6, 2014 – January 20, 2017
Kemp Chester
Acting
January 20, 2017 – March 27, 2017 Donald Trump
Rich Baum
Acting
March 28, 2017 – February 9, 2018
8 Jim Carroll February 9, 2018 – January 20, 2021
Acting: February 9, 2018 – January 3, 2019
9 Rahul Gupta November 5, 2021 – present Joe Biden

References[change | change source]

  1. Office of the Press Secretary. "ONDCP". whitehouse.gov. Washington, D.C.: White House. Archived from the original on June 24, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
  2. Maintland, Leslie. (October 9, 1982) New York Times U.S. plans a new drive on narcotics.[permanent dead link] Section: 1; Page 18. (noting, "But Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., the Delaware Democrat who is a strong advocate of antinarcotics efforts, said today that he thought no program could work without a Cabinet-level "drug czar" in charge to coordinate the work of various agencies.")
  3. "Joe Biden Coined The Term "Drug Czar", Wrote Laws Banning Drug Paraphenilia". Archived from the original on 2008-09-23. Retrieved 2017-09-03.
  4. "Popular Domestic Programs Face Ax Under First Trump Budget", The New York Times, February 17, 2017 {{citation}}: Cite uses deprecated parameter |authors= (help)
  5. Dan Diamond (May 5, 2017), "Trump budget would effectively kill drug control office", Politico
  6. "Report: White House plans to slash funding for fed Drug Control Policy office", The Washington Post, May 5, 2017, archived from the original on May 6, 2017, retrieved September 3, 2017 – via MassCentral

Other websites[change | change source]