The Trump administration plans to cut 96% of the budget of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), effectively eliminating the federal agency that has traditionally been used to spearhead the war on drugs, according to multiple media reports.
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Trump is planning to effectively kill the office that has traditionally spearheaded the 'War on Drugs'
The White House's proposed fiscal year 2018 budget reduces the funding request for ONDCP from $388 million in 2017 to $24 million.
Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks, as New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (L) looks on, during Trump's five state primary night event in New York City, U.S., April 26, 2016.
The White House Office of Management and Budget's proposed fiscal year 2018 budget reduces the funding request for ONDCP from $388 million in 2017 to $24 million, according to a leaked memo first reported by CBS News.
The cuts would eliminate approximately half ONDCP's staff, around 33 employees, as well as "intelligence, research and budget functions
In addition, the budget proposes to eliminate multiple grant programs administered by ONDCP, including the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program and the Drug-Free Communities Support program, which the memo called "
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The ONDCP was first created in 1988 by the Anti-Drug Abuse Act at the height of the crack epidemic and the so-called War on Drugs.
that it was only during the last years of the Obama Administration, under the direction of then-ONDCP director Michael Botticelli, that the agency made positive efforts towards harm reduction and treatment policies. Traditionally, according to Smith, the agency has been at the forefront of efforts to prosecute and stigmatize drug use.
Many experts said the president's action is "underwhelming."
The White House didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
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