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Attorney General February 13, 1998 Memorandum: Drug Conrol Strategic Plan


 

 

Office of the Attorney General
Washington, D.C. 20530

February 13, 1998

MEMORANDUM FOR ALL UNITED STATES ATTORNEYS

FROM: THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

SUBJECT: U.S. Attorneys Participation in Department of Justice Drug Control Strategic Plan

Congress recently directed the Department of Justice to develop a "strategic plan for drug enforcement activities within the Department of Justice" by March 31, 1998 (Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, Fiscal Year 1998, H.R. Rep. 105-207, 105th Cong., 1st Sess., July 25, 1997). The Department's Drug Control Strategic Plan will be a coordinated, comprehensive national plan that builds on lessons learned at the district level.

I am requesting that each United States Attorney head his or her district's efforts on the plan, which will include submitting to the Department a comprehensive counter-drug strategy and drug problem assessment. Toward this end, each United States Attorney should convene a meeting with state, local, and federal agency heads to evaluate the district's drug problems. These representatives should then work together to develop a collaborative drug strategy that includes state, local, and federal law enforcement efforts.

Many of your offices are already working closely with state, local, and federal law enforcement and have collaborated on district counter-drug activities. We are not asking United States Attorneys to undertake a new initiative. Rather, this project should be used to identify gaps in existing strategies, devise a plan for addressing those gaps, and enhance existing programs and resources, such as the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area programs.

Recognizing that the development of a comprehensive strategy is a time-consuming process, I ask that you hold your meetings with state, local, and federal law enforcement representatives as soon as possible. The heads of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, and the United States Customs Service have given their support to this effort, and you will soon receive more detailed guidance from Donna A. Bucella, Director of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys (EOUSA). Reports should be submitted to EOUSA by March 23, 1998.

Thank you for your efforts in compiling the Department's Drug Control Strategic Plan and for your local efforts to improve coordination and cooperation among agencies working to address drug problems.

Updated March 8, 2017