Kaptur condemns Trump’s move to slash drug policy office budget

Washington, D.C. — Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09), Dean of the Ohio Delegation, issued the following statement after news that President Trump would cut funding of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) by 95%. The ONDCP not only provides the annual strategy to reducing illicit drug use, drug trafficking and crime, and related health consequences, it also administers funding programs that are vital to achieving those objectives.

"More than 91 people die every single day as a result of the scourge of the opioid epidemic, and sadly Ohio leads the Nation in opioid overdose deaths per capita," said Kaptur. "Every American needs to know that this Administration will live up to its promise, and put aside politics to address this epidemic. This move is more evidence the Trump Administration has no plan to provide real relief and resources to people who are suffering."

There were more than 5,000 drug overdose deaths estimated in the last 12 months in Ohio. In 2016, more than 63,600 people died from drug overdoses – more lives than were lost in the entire Vietnam War.

The ONDCP helps support the following in Ohio:

Lucas, Lorain, and Cuyahoga counties all have been designated High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas which facilitates coordination among federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies to share information and design strategies and operations to reduce the supply of illegal drugs in designated areas and in the U.S. as a whole.

Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Support Program helps communities to prevent or reduce substance use in youth by providing grants to community coalitions. The Erie County Health Department through and the Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services Board of Lorain County both received DFC grants in FY 17. Also, the ONDCP supports drug court programs in Ohio, of which there are 113. Drug courts are a critical local tool to divert non-violent offenders with substance use problems from jails or prisons into treatment programs with accountability.

Additionally, in May of 2017, Kaptur and 70 Members of the House wrote to Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney and urged him to maintain funding for the ONDCP in the Trump Administration's FY2018 Budget, after initial reports the Administration would slash the ONDCP's budget.