Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 2, 1993 TAG: 9312020018
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
State and local governments spent $15.9 billion, devoting almost four-fifths to criminal justice activities, such as incarcerating prisoners and paying for police.
That same year, the federal government spent $11 billion in its war against drugs, with $3.2 billion of it given to state and local governments, according to the report sponsored by the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Since the state and local governments included that amount in their figures, the total expenditure to fight drugs in 1991 was $23.7 billion.
"The report demonstrates, in no uncertain terms, that state and local governments continue to play a leading role in our national drug-control strategy," Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Lee Brown said on releasing the report at a conference of state and local drug directors.
The biggest cost was $6.8 billion for corrections. Next was police at $4.2 billion, health at $2.8 billion and legal services at $1.5 billion.
Criminal justice costs totaled $12.6 billion, using up 79 percent of the money spent on anti-drug activities. The other 21 percent was for rehabilitation and education.
The federal anti-drug budget has hovered near the 70-30 breakdown for the past four years, and critics have said it should be closer to 50-50, with a far greater emphasis on prevention and treatment.
Brown has refused to say what breakdown he would seek for fiscal 1995, but he wrote in the introduction to the report that the administration's drug-control program will focus on reducing demand.
by CNB