Trump maintains drug control funding in budget proposal

May 24--After aiming to cut 95 percent of the Office of National Drug Control Policy earlier this month, the Trump administration reversed its recommendation in its budget proposal announced Tuesday.

The office works with local programs to reduce drug use. Grants administered by the office have used by several agencies in Southwest Missouri, most recently the Ozarks Drug Enforcement Task Force and the Newton County Community Coalition.

When The New York Times obtained an Office of Management and Budget document earlier in the month, it revealed that the administration had plans to slash the Office of National Drug Control Policy's budget by 95 percent, taking funding from $388 million to $24 million.

U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., expressed her concern in a letter to the president. Eighteen Missouri counties access High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area grant money and several coalitions all over state have used grants through the Drug-Free Communities Support Program.

"Such a cut would hamper the enormous efforts required to help manage and overcome the opioid epidemic," McCaskill wrote, also noting that Trump signed an executive order with similar aims.

In the budget rolled out Tuesday, the administration restored most of the funding that reportedly was on the chopping block. In an interview, McCaskill said "it was good to see the budget come out with the majority of the cuts restored," after hearing informally that the administration was reconsidering.

"I have to believe it was because of pressure from senators like me across the country that were saying, 'Wait, we have a crisis, a public health crisis,'" McCaskill said. "We have young people dying all over our country, we have people dying all over the state of Missouri."

Having formerly worked as Jackson County prosecutor, McCaskill said, she's seen the efficiency of interagency cooperation through HIDTA up close.

Jasper County classifies as a high intensity drug trafficking area.

Last year, a HIDTA grant was about 30 percent of the Ozarks Drug Enforcement Task Force's budget, according to the chairman of the task force, Joplin police Chief Matt Stewart. The task force scours Jasper, Newton, Barton, McDonald and Barry counties for illegal drug trafficking. It also helps educate the collective 243,000 people within the counties about drug awareness. The $98,000 goes to cover the task force's operational expenses.

The task force gives law enforcement the flexibility to work over multiple jurisdictions, Stewart said.

"In the drug trafficking world, dealers don't necessarily stay in one county," Stewart said.

In 2016, Stewart said, the task force seized almost 8,000 grams of meth, 16,000 grams of high-grade marijuana, 1,678 prescription pills, 49 grams of cocaine, 2 grams of crack cocaine and 6 grams of heroin.

For the Newton County Community Coalition, the Office of National Drug Control Policy staying intact came as a sigh of relief, according to Tal Clubbs, its drug-free community coordinator. The coalition works to prevent substance abuse through education and awareness.

"Everything is pretty much business as usual with the drug-free communities program," Clubbs said.

The office has given the Newton County Community Coalition a grant of $125,000 for the last five years. Clubbs said he's hoping to hear in August if the coalition wins the competitive grant for another five years.

The day the budget was announced, Clubbs coordinated a 53-person meeting in the community to discuss efforts for possibly getting a local prescription drug monitoring program off the ground. Other efforts include Youth Reaching Youth, in which high school students talk to younger kids about not using drugs.

Clubbs also trains teachers in new drug trends and how to spot signs of abuse in their students. The money also has helped Clubbs put together "Mental Health First Aid" classes, in which adults can learn about what to do when their child is addicted to drugs or is thinking of committing suicide.

The money really helps pull together the many drug prevention efforts from all over the community, Clubbs added.

"We are not reinventing the wheel every six months," Clubbs said. "We can reach a bigger audience and further that reduction of substance abuse."

Though McCaskill was pleased that the new budget reconsidered the Office of National Drug Control Policy, she said she found it "ironic" that the new budget proposed cutting Medicaid severely.

"There are very few people who are addicted to heroin that have money to pay for a private treatment center," McCaskill said, adding that more uninsured people added costs to the bills of all Missourians.

A request for comment from U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., could not be returned by press time.

Senator's efforts

Sen. Claire McCaskill has been a vocal advocate for curbing drug abuse. She asked the governor earlier in the month to call the Legislature into special session to pass a prescription drug monitoring program. As the ranking Democrat on the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, McCaskill is investigating the top five opioid manufacturers to see how they may have contributed to "opioid overutilization and overprescription," according to a news release.

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