Drug Control

In response to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the U.S. International Narcotics Control Program, specifically: (1) efforts by the Department of State's Bureau of International Narcotics Matters (INM), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Agency for International Development (AID) to curb the international cultivation and production of illicit narcotics; (2) the administration of drug control efforts in Pakistan and Thailand; and (3) the linkage of U.S. foreign assistance to recipient governments' progress in controlling narcotics production and trafficking.

GAO found that: (1) the United States began to actively support international efforts to control drug production in 1967; (2) in 1985 and 1986, INM, DEA, and AID spent $121 million, or 7 percent of total federal narcotics control funds; (3) INM develops, coordinates, and implements the narcotics control strategy through diplomatic efforts, assisting in crop control and interdiction, training foreign personnel, participating in international organizations, and providing technical assistance to reduce international demand; (4) DEA provides expertise, technical assistance, and training to drug law enforcement officials in foreign countries, collects international narcotics intelligence, and assists in investigations; (5) AID implementes area development projects to improve the quality of life of those living within the project areas, and a narcotics awareness program to inform source countries' opinion leaders and publics about the harmful effects of narcotic production, trafficking, and abuse on their societies; and (6) in fiscal year 1986, INM spent $60 million to control narcotics production, DEA spent $42.3 million, and AID spent $1.3 million. GAO noted that: (1) Congress must withhold 50 percent of the economic and military assistance allocated to illicit-drug-producing countries unless the countries attempt to control drug distribution; and (2) although Congress denied benefits to Pakistan once in the past 5 years for the production of narcotics, opium production in Pakistan increased in 1986 after farmers violently protested government efforts to ban it.