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Part V: Implementation Themes
The statute creating the Task Force charged the group with implementing a national strategy to address methamphetamine; however, there were no appropriations to implement such a strategy. The Task Force therefore offers the implementation themes contained in this advisory report to the Attorney General and the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, who may then charge executive branch agencies with executing the themes as they see fit.
The Task Force's final meeting in November 1999 was dedicated to discussing implementation issues. The Task Force convened a group of national stakeholders representing each of the disciplines covered in this report. Consistent with the Task Force's guiding principle that an effective strategy must include all levels of government working together, the 1-day discussion was structured to focus on how to implement a national response rather than merely a Federal response. Participants voiced a wide array of ideas regarding the role of the Federal Government in a national strategy to address methamphetamine. In most cases, neither the stakeholders nor the Task Force members made any attempt to delineate specific executive branch organizations to execute the recommendations contained in this section.
To ensure a consistent Federal response to methamphetamine across the country and
over time, it is essential to clearly define the administrative responsibility for coordinating resources. Each year, ONDCP publishes a National Drug Control Strategy (National Strategy), a long-term plan to change American attitudes and behavior with regard to illegal drugs. ONDCP should integrate the Task Force recommendations into the National Strategy and evaluate them within the framework of the current performance measure of effectiveness logic model. Including the recommendations
in the National Strategy will support an interagency planning process and ensure that sufficient resources are allocated to efforts to address methamphetamine.
During the final Task Force meeting, a number of themes emerged regarding promising ways in which Federal agencies could provide services
to communities to assist them in addressing methamphetamine. Implementation themes included the following:
- Encourage U.S. Attorneys or other locally based Federal officials to take a leadership role in forming local task forces or initiating local discussions or calls to action, particularly in the area of enforcement.
- Promote multidisciplinary approaches and partnerships among prevention, education, treatment, and law enforcement agencies at the Federal, State, and local levels.
- Fund research directly relevant to community needs.
- Use Federal funding to leverage partnerships at the local level or to provide direct support to existing community-based coalitions.
- Disseminate information about effective strategies being implemented across the country as well as the most current research.
- Facilitate "lateral learning" among communities grappling with similar methamphetamine problems by sponsoring mentor sites.
A second set of implementation themes that emerged dealt specifically with how Federal agencies should respond to emerging drug crises in a timely manner. Recommendations included the following:
- Provide direct assistance to communities during a crisis in the form of money,
expertise, or technical assistance. Discussion participants suggested creating a Federal Emergency Management Agency-like, "one-stop shopping" model that would enable a community to access prevention, education, treatment, and law enforcement resources on short notice during a crisis.
- Establish early warning systems to identify emerging drug trends during the initial stages of their development and to guide strategic resource allocation.
- Develop and disseminate to communities a resource guide containing comprehensive information on prevention, education,
treatment, and law enforcement resources available.
A final set of implementation themes specifically addressed the challenges associated with addressing methamphetamine and other illicit drugs in rural America. Recommendations included the following:
- Create data-collection methods that are sensitive to drug trends in rural jurisdictions.
- Close the treatment gap in rural jurisdictions by funding additional treatment slots.
- Encourage Federal agencies to explore creative ways to use current technology such as telemedicine to disseminate information on education, prevention, and treatment programs to rural areas.
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