DoD, Drug Czar in Budget Spat

THE DAILY FED

DoD, Drug Czar in Budget Spat

The nation's drug czar last week called on the Pentagon to spend more of its budget on the war against drugs in an unprecedented criticism of an agency's drug control efforts by the White House drug office.

In a Nov. 6 letter to Defense Secretary William Cohen, Retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey, head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, said the $809 million DoD set aside for drug control in its fiscal 1999 budget is inadequate. McCaffrey said DoD needs to add $141 million for drug control efforts in Latin America and along the U.S.-Mexico border. The ONDCP, which certifies the budgets of the more than 50 agencies involved in drug control efforts, decided to deny DoD certification for 1999.

McCaffrey also provided a copy of the letter to The Washington Post and gave an interview to the Post in which he criticized DoD for not responding to earlier requests from his office to include more money for drug control in the budget. "They're trying to find billions of dollars, and here comes a modest ding for $141 million, and they just blew it off," McCaffrey told the Post.

Cohen responded to McCaffrey in a letter, calling his request "excessive." He also questioned McCaffrey's decision to share his letter with the press.

White House spokesman Mike McCurry echoed that concern on Friday, saying "there's an OMB review process that will occur in which the concerns of the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Pentagon can be resolved. And that will be done quietly, and done smartly, and done patiently, and done not in The Washington Post."

McCaffrey's decision not to certify DoD's drug control budget is the first time the drug czar has used his authority to question an agency's drug control programs.