5/5/2017

BUDGET/CRIME/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “When he was running for office, Donald J. Trump promised 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.
But on Friday [5-5-17], President Trump’s administration revealed plans to gut the 2018 budget of his 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 about 95 percent, to just $24 million from $388 million. The cuts would mean the office could lose up to 33 employees.
The 2018 budget would also eliminate grant programs administered by the drug control office. Those include the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program and the Drug-Free Communities Support Program, which, according to the document, the Trump administration thinks are duplicative with other federal and state programs.”

-Alan Rappeport, “White House Proposes Cutting Drug Control Office Funding by 95%,” The New York Times online, May 5, 2017