1998 Bill Clinton - The National Drug Control Strategy, 1998

In 1998, General Barry McCaffrey head of the ONDCP released his 10-year plan to combat both drug use and drug flow into America.   During Clinton’s State of the Union Address that year, he urged Congress to help him close the door on drugs at our border by hiring 1000 new border patrol agents and implement new technologies including scanning devices, intelligent communication systems and infrastructure such as roads and fences. 

In May of 1998, Federal officials in South Florida scored what they believed was the biggest cocaine seizure form a pleasure boat.  The drugs were hidden in a 62-foot luxury yacht.   The seizure of 4,000 pounds of cocaine worth $34 million in 1998 dollars made headlines across the United States.   It wasn't so much the size of the bust, but rather it was the location that caught attention.  Colombian traffickers were returning with a renewed intensity to the old familiar routes between the Bahamas and Florida.   Because of new technologies including cellular phones with 800 numbers, airplanes and speedboats with state-of-the-art navigation systems, the drug traffickers were able to routinely evade federal and local officials.  Despite the efforts of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the US Customs service, the flow of drugs continued to pour in to Florida.  So much Cocaine flowed in from 1984 to 1998 that the cost of a kilo of cocaine dropped from $38,00 to as little as $12,000.  

Bahamas to South Florida had become one of the hottest routes for drug traffickers in 1998.  Just one year earlier, the DEA estimated that 70 percent of all cocaine entering the United States come through the southeastern border, but by 1998 it dropped to 53 percent.   According to the DEA, it was like a big chess game, as soon as we figure out one way to stop them, they find another.   The drug traffickers looked for the path of least resistance, and that path was not to South Florida.  As the drug cartels became more sophisticated, American needed a new strategy to disrupt the flow of illicit drugs into its interior.  In 1996, President Clinton chose General Barry McCaffrey to lead his Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to develop this strategy.   As director of the ONDCP, McCaffrey wrote and published a book-length white paper that outlined a 10-year plan and strategy to combat both drug use and the flow of drugs into America.  The plan was a comprehensive approach with the following five goals.

1. Educate and enable America's youth to reject illegal drugs as well as alcohol and tobacco.
2. Increase the safety of America's citizens by substantially reducing drug-related crime and violence.
3. Reduce health and social costs to the public use of illegal drug use.
4. Shield America's air, land, and sea frontier from the drug threat.
5. Break foreign and domestic sources of supply.

In President Clinton's 1998 State of the Union address, Clinton boasted that under General McCaffrey's leadership, drug use in America was on the decline.   He also wanted to thank Congress for passing what amounted to the largest anti-drug budget in history.  For fiscal year 1998, the national drug control budget, as enacted totaled about $16 billion, but more was needed.   President Clinton urged Congress to adopt the new strategy and help to "close the door on drugs at our borders".   Specifically, in his 1998 State of the Union Address he requested legislation to implement goal number 4 of the ONDCP plan to 'Shield America's air, land, and sea frontier from the drug threat'.  In the ONDCP report, McCaffrey outlined the need to "support and highlight research and technology - including the development of scientific information and data - to detect, disrupt, deter, and seize illegal drugs in transit to the United States and at U.S. borders.   In McCaffrey's report, he called for a number of technologies.  First, he requested new technologies that would allow for non-intrusive inspections of trucks and rail cars at the border crossings and a more effective intelligence system to work closely with Mexican authorities.  Second, he called for infrastructure improvements including roads, fences, lights and surveillance devices.  And third, the asked for a balanced package of resources, technology and personnel along the border to increase the capacity to maintain appropriate inspections and vigilance. 

With this plan in hand, President Clinton brought his message to Congress in 1998.   He asked Congress to join him in a groundbreaking effort to "hire 1,000 new Border Patrol agents and to deploy the most sophisticated available new technologies to help close the door on drugs at our borders."  

"Drug use is on the decline. I thank General McCaffrey for his leadership, and I thank this Congress for passing the largest antidrug budget in history. Now I ask you to join me in a groundbreaking effort to hire 1,000 new Border Patrol agents and to deploy the most sophisticated available new technologies to help close the door on drugs at our borders."

References 

Presidency.ucsb.edu. (2019). Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on the State of the Union | The American Presidency Project. [online] Available at: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-before-joint-session-the-congress-the-state-the-union-8 [Accessed 16 Jan. 2019].

McCaffrey, B. (1998). The National Drug Control Strategy, 1998, A Ten Year Plan, 1998-2007. Diane Publishing, pp.42-47.

Navarro, M. (2019). Upgraded Drug Traffic Flourishes on Old Route. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/31/us/upgraded-drug-traffic-flourishes-on-old-route.html [Accessed 16 Jan. 2019].


Report to the Chairman, Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy, and Human Resources. Drug Control 1999. (1999). Washington, D.C. (P.O. Box 37050, Washington 20013): U.S. General Accounting Office.  Available at: https://www.gao.gov/assets/230/227278.pdf [Accessed 16 Jan. 2019].