ONDCP Blog

ONDCP Visits Detroit as Part of National Youth Initiative

On August 8th, a team from the Domestic Policy Council, Office of National Drug Control Policy, Department of Justice, Department of Education, Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Corporation for National and Community service visited Detroit, Michigan, as part of the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention.

The Forum, a White House-led initiative commissioned by President Obama in 2010, links cities and Federal agencies together to prevent youth and gang violence in the United States.

The visit brought together city, state, and Federal officials, members of the business and philanthropic communities, law enforcement professionals, community leaders, and young people to discuss Detroit's efforts to reduce gang- and firearms-related violence.  ONDCP works closely with Federal agencies and national and local organizations to educate and empower young people to reject the negative influences surrounding them, including the influence to drink alcohol and use drugs.  Youth violence—particularly gang violence—is often linked to substance abuse and drug markets. 

During the visit, ONDCP shared information on the agency’s youth drug prevention initiatives and the Drug Free Communities Support Program.  In the words of senior policy advisor Cynthia Caporizzo, “The Drug Free Communities Program helps to empower teens and young adults to make healthy decisions and to become leaders in their communities.  In that same spirit, this Forum brought adults and young people together to work on solutions that will make a difference for their community.”

A Federal grant to support Detroit’s youth violence reduction efforts was announced by the Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice Programs.  Detroit Mayor Dave Bing and Police Chief Ralph Godbee met with U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade to discuss the city’s plans to sustain its efforts into the future. 

The other cities that currently comprise the National Forum are Boston, Chicago, Memphis, Salinas, and San Jose. 

Meeting with Congressman Steny Hoyer

Today, Director Kerlikowske met with Congressman Steny Hoyer, House Democratic Whip, to co-host a roundtable discussion about drug policy in Maryland’s 5^th congressional district. During the roundtable, which included leaders from the Maryland public health and safety systems, the Director emphasized the importance of a balanced approach to drug policy—one that emphasizes drug prevention, treatment, and recovery in conjunction with effective law enforcement.

This roundtable also gave the Director an opportunity to discuss criminal justice reform. We know that we cannot arrest our way out of the Nation’s drug problem, and we must break the cycle of arrest, incarceration, and re-arrest when criminal behavior is driven by an underlying—and treatable—substance abuse problem.

This Administration has an historic record of reforming the criminal justice system’s treatment of drug offenders. Here’s an overview of some of the criminal justice efforts we’re promoting:

• Empowering communities to disrupt drug markets.Overt drug markets are major threats to the health and safety of the communities around them. They are magnets for crime, drug use, and addiction; draw local youth into the drug trade; and dramatically reduce the quality of life for area residents. One innovative, pre-arrest diversion strategy that shows promise in reducing the presence of drug markets is Drug Market Intervention (DMI). Read more about DMI here.
• Smart probation. Started in 2004, Hawaii’s Opportunity Probation with Enforcement (HOPE) program uses drug testing and swift, certain sanctions to change a probationer’s drug using and criminal behavior. Since 2009, more than 1,500 probationers (one in every six felony probationers in Oahu) have been enrolled in HOPE. Read more here.
• Alternatives to incarceration. Drug Courts, which combine treatment with incentives and escalating sanctions, mandatory and random drug testing, and aftercare, are a proven solution that reduces substance use, prevents crime, and maximizes limited financial resources.  Read more about Drug Courts here.

The drug problem in Maryland and the U.S. is complex. It requires complex, evidence-based solutions. There’s no silver-bullet solution to reducing illegal drug use in this country, but we’re committed to working with our partners to implement smart, effective solutions that reduce undue burden on our already strained criminal justice system.

National Minority Mental Health Month

ONDCP is proud to join partners in government to acknowledge July as National Minority Mental Health Month. Mental health is an important component of prevention, treatment and recovery from substance dependence, especially in minority communities. We must all work together to ensure access to mental health support services across the Nation. In honor of National Minority Mental Health Month, we’re pleased to share the Congressional Tri-Caucus’s statement on the meaning of this month. Please visit the statement here, or read it in full below.

(Washington, DC) Today, Rep. Grace F. Napolitano, Congressional Mental Health Caucus Co-Chair, joined by the chairs of the Congressional Tri-Caucus, recognized July as National Minority Mental Health Month, to enhance public awareness about mental illness in diverse communities.

“Mental health has long been ignored, and we must continue to de-stigmatize the issue and increase funding, elevating it as any other illness or conditions, such as diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure, and other physical illnesses,” Napolitano said. “Mental health does not discriminate: it affects all of us regardless of race, class, or gender. Mental wellness is just as important as physical wellness. We must all be part of the solution and work to invest in mental health services for those who need help.”

Rep. Charles Gonzalez, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairman:“While mental illness does not discriminate, it disproportionately affects our minority communities. This month must be seen as an opportunity to not only increase awareness for mental illness, but also to promote long-term solutions that address the uniqueness of America’s minority communities.”

 Rep. Judy Chu, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Chairwoman: “Mental health issues affect every community within our nation, but the effects of these disorders are especially challenging for minority communities where resource limitations and cultural stigmas make it much harder to address these problems. In the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, young AAPI women have the highest rates of depression and suicide ideation of any racial group, and nearly 40 percent of Southeast Asian refugees suffer from acute levels of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. These problems are compounded by cultural and linguistic barriers to accessing mental health services, limited research on the unique mental health needs and challenges of the AAPI community, and the fact that AAPIs have the lowest rate of mental health care use among all populations.  National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month is a time to raise awareness of these critical issues, address systematic barriers to quality care, and ensure that our communities understand that saving lives is more important than saving face.”

Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver, Congressional Black Caucus Chairman:“While the trend is getting better, far too little attention is paid to mental health and the racial and ethnic disparities that exist not only in mental health care, but in mental health status. For example, African Americans are 20% more likely than Whites to report psychological distress, yet are more than two times less likely than Whites to receive antidepressants, and a report from the Surgeon General found that the suicide rate among African Americans, aged 10 to 14 years, increased 233% from 1980 to 1995. Now that the Supreme Court has upheld the Affordable Care Act, we -- as a nation -- have never had a better opportunity to work to eliminate racial and ethnic mental health disparities, destigmatize mental health illnesses, improve our mental health screenings and diagnoses, expand access to needed mental health care services and treatments, and ensure that the mental health and wellness of every citizen in this nation is protected, preserved and improved.”  

To honor a life-long advocate for mental health, Congress designated July as Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month in 2008. Before her untimely death in 2006, Campbell was an author and co-founder of the National Alliance on Mental Illness Urban Los Angeles. The goal of National Minority Mental Health Month is to increase awareness of mental illness, prevention, treatment, and research in diverse communities.

According to the Office of Minority Health:

• The death rate from suicide for African American men was almost six times that for African American women, in 2008.
• African Americans are 20% more likely to report having serious psychological distress than Non-Hispanic Whites.
• Older Asian American women have the highest suicide rate of all women over age 65 in the United States.
• Suicide attempts for Hispanic girls, grades 9-12, were 70% higher than for White girls in the same age group, in 2011.
• While the overall death rate from suicide for American Indian/Alaska Natives is comparable to the White population, adolescent American Indian/Alaska Natives have death rates at twice the rate for Whites in the same age groups.
• National Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander mental health data is limited at this time. Data will be published as it is released in reports published by the CDC.

National Mental Health Crisis Hotline: 1-800-273-TALK

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A Collaborative Approach to Reduce Drug Use and Prevent HIV Transmission

Today, Director Kerlikowske participated in a preconference hosted by the International AIDS Society to help kick off the 2012 International AIDS Conference in Washington D.C. Director Kerlikowske underscored the Obama Administration’s commitment to preventing drug use and its consequences, particularly the transmission of HIV. Injection drug use is a leading cause of HIV in the United States.

Director Kerlikowske made clear that the Administration and ONDCP recognize and acknowledge the connection between drug use and the spread of HIV/AIDS. The National Drug Control Strategy, the federal government’s primary blueprint for drug policy in the United States, includes an action item from the Administration to help reduce drug use and the attendant spread of HIV. The Strategy explores all avenues for curbing the drug problem in America, including areas not emphasized in past drug policies: treatment, prevention, and recovery.

The Administration’s policy recognizes drug addiction not as a moral failing but as a chronic disease of the brain, a disease that can be treated and managed. The policy encourages and applauds those who have overcome the disease of addiction, and it supports former users who are now living healthy, productive lives in recovery.

In recent years ONDCP has worked collaboratively with the Office of National AIDS Policy and the Department of Health and Human Services to develop the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, which calls for the coupling of HIV screening with traditional substance abuse treatment programs. The Nation’s first-ever comprehensive HIV/AIDS roadmap, the Strategy urges more medical facilities to employ rapid HIV screenings and, thus, give more people the opportunity to be tested in a variety of settings.

Working together with our partners in and out of government, we are committed to “turning the tide together” while building a healthier, safer America. For more information on this year’s International AIDS Conference, please visit the event page on AIDS.gov.