Washington, D.C. –
Today, Michael Botticelli, Director of National Drug Control Policy,
announced $13.4 million in funding for High Intensity Drug Trafficking
Areas (HIDTA).
Of that, $5 million will be directed to a broad range of efforts that
will reduce the trafficking, distribution, and use of heroin – a drug
that has emerged as a serious threat to multiple regions of the United
States.
In particular, $2.5 million will fund
the Heroin Response Strategy, an unprecedented partnership among five
regional HIDTA programs — Appalachia, New England, Philadelphia/Camden,
New York/New Jersey, and Washington/Baltimore
— to address the severe heroin threat facing those communities through
public health-public safety partnerships across 15 states.
“The High Intensity Drug Trafficking
Areas program helps Federal, state, and local authorities to coordinate
drug enforcement operations, support prevention efforts and improve
public health and safety,” said Director Botticelli.
“The new Heroin Response Strategy demonstrates a strong commitment to
address the heroin and prescription opioid epidemic as both a public
health and a public safety issue. This Administration will continue to
expand community-based efforts to prevent drug
use, pursue ‘smart on crime’ approaches to drug enforcement, increase
access to treatment, work to reduce overdose deaths, and support the
millions of Americans in recovery.”
Nearly $4 million in HIDTA funds will
support prevention efforts in 18 regional HIDTA programs, many of which
draw upon key partnerships between law enforcement agencies and their
counterparts in public health and education.
In recognition of the unique drug
challenges faced by law enforcement agencies in the region along the
U.S.–Mexico border, $1.3 million in HIDTA funds will be directed to the
five regional HIDTA programs along the Southwest
border. These funds will be used to enhance investigative efforts
against large-scale transnational criminal organizations, reduce the
flow of dangerous drugs (including heroin and methamphetamine) across
the border, and prevent drug use in border communities.
Nearly $500,000 will be directed
toward addressing drug threats on tribal lands. Regional HIDTA programs
in six states will receive funding to investigate and dismantle the
organizations that exploit tribal communities to traffic
and distribute dangerous drugs.
Background on the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program
Created by Congress in 1988, the HIDTA program serves as a catalyst for
coordination among Federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement
agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug trafficking
regions of the United States. Law enforcement
organizations working within HIDTAs assess drug-trafficking issues and
design specific initiatives to decrease the production, transportation,
distribution, and chronic use of drugs and money laundering. There are
currently 28 HIDTAs located in 48 states,
as well as in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of
Columbia.
Background on the 15-State Heroin Response Strategy
The Heroin Response Strategy
will foster a collaborative network of public health-public safety
partnerships to address the heroin/opioid epidemic from multiple
perspectives. The
Strategy will enhance the efficacy and efficiency of the
criminal intelligence process in support of cooperative law enforcement
operations. The five HIDTAs will create a 15-state network of
experienced, connected law enforcement contacts and leverage
these connections and information-gathering capabilities with a strong,
complementary, analytical capacity.
The five HIDTAs will select two
centrally located Regional Coordinators, one with a public health focus
and the other with a public safety focus, who will manage and oversee
implementation and operation of the Heroin Response
Teams. The Public Health Coordinator will oversee regional reporting of
fatal and non-fatal overdose information and issuing of relevant alerts
regarding dangerous batches of heroin and other heroin-related threats
to health authorities. This will mobilize
a rapid public health response to distribute naloxone or expand
resources in the affected areas, helping to mitigate the number of
overdoses and prevent deaths. The Public Safety Coordinator will oversee
execution of public safety goals by ensuring case support
is provided where needed and intelligence is being disseminated to
relevant law enforcement authorities to enable disruption of the heroin
supply.
A heroin and prescription opioid
training curriculum will be developed and used to prepare rural and
municipal officers and first responders who are inexperienced responding
to heroin and prescription opioid-related incidents.
To assist communities in coping with this escalating problem, the five
HIDTAs will develop Education & Training strategies that
will increase awareness of heroin and opiate addiction, create linkages
to available prevention and treatment resources
in the respective regions, and enable first-responders to know how to
report all pertinent lead information developed from seizures and
overdose responses.
The Heroin Response Strategy
builds upon the successes of the 2014 symposium hosted by the
Washington/Baltimore HIDTA. Each year, the five HIDTAs will host two,
two-day
State of the Region symposia at a jointly nominated HIDTA.
These symposia will build additional structure within each respective
HIDTA region for the attendees to maintain regular contact and continue
their public health-public safety partnerships
between symposia. The aim will be to facilitate collaboration between
public health and public safety partners within and across
jurisdictions, sharing best practices, innovative pilots, and
identifying new opportunities to leverage resources.
Background on the Administration’s National Drug Policy
The Obama Administration’s drug policy
treats the national drug challenge as both a public health and public
safety issue. This approach is built upon the latest scientific research
demonstrating that addiction is a chronic
disease of the brain that can be successfully prevented and treated,
and from which one can recover. The Administration has directed Federal
agencies to expand community-based efforts to prevent drug use before it
begins, empower healthcare workers to intervene
early at the first signs of a substance use disorder, expand access to
treatment for those who need it, support the millions of Americans in
recovery, and pursue “smart on crime” approaches to drug enforcement.
Source: The White House Press Office
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