General Counterdrug Intelligence Plan

Executive Summary



The Counterdrug Technology Assessment Center (CTAC) was established within the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) as the central counterdrug enforcement research and development (R&D) organization of the U.S. Government. The CTAC counterdrug R&D program supports the National Drug Control Strategy and its five goals:

  • educate and enable America's youth to reject illegal drugs as well as alcohol and tobacco,

  • increase the safety of America's citizens by substantially reducing drug-related crime and violence,

  • reduce health and social costs to the public of illegal drug use,

  • shield America's air, land and sea frontiers from the drug threat, and

  • break foreign and domestic drug sources of supply.

This sixth Counterdrug R&D Blueprint Update provides the status of the CTAC counterdrug R&D program, the Technology Transfer Program, oversight and coordination activity, and a summary of plans for future counterdrug R&D initiatives. Appendices provide the following related material:

  • Appendix A provides a listing of recent legislation and conference reports,

  • Appendix B provides a listing of scientific and technological needs by technology area and agency,

  • Appendix C provides a listing of R&D projects being sponsored by each agency,

  • Appendix D provides the Annual Report on the Development and Deployment of Narcotics Detection Technologies (required by P.L. 105-85), and

  • Appendix E provides a summary of the Technology Transfer Program.

CTAC R&D Program

The applied technology efforts that comprise the CTAC R&D program address technology for demand reduction in areas, such as, brain imaging technology, therapeutic medications assessment and addiction treatment, and for supply reduction in areas such as drug detection, communications, and surveillance. In 1998, Congress authorized a Technology Transfer Program (TTP) for CTAC to provide successfully developed technologies to State and local law enforcement agencies. Congress continued the TTP program in 1999 and 2000.

In reducing the demand for illicit drugs, CTAC has worked in conjunction with the National Institute on Drug Abuse to provide the most advanced facilities to the nation's premier teams of medical researchers working on the underlying causes of substance abuse, dependence, and addiction. This has been accomplished by providing the leading medical research institutions with the neuro-imaging facilities, infrastructure, and technology necessary to support their substance abuse research programs.

The R&D efforts are heavily concentrated in the area of brain imaging technology and the development of catalytic antibodies, therapeutic drug assessment, treatment effectiveness, juvenile diversion from the criminal justice system, and studies of the use of banned substances in intercollegiate and Olympic sports.

Additionally, the Drug Evaluation Network System backbone is being used to accommodate innovative methodologies for estimating the number of hardcore drug users by region and nationwide. The vision is to provide a system architecture to project drug abuse trends, treatment modalities, and populations at risk across the nation in real time.

In Supply Reduction, efforts are concentrated on finding technological solutions to meet the needs of the officer on the beat. These technologies provide improved communications, surveillance and drug crime information sharing capabilities to make the law enforcement missions more effective, safe, and to ensure successful prosecutions. Technologies proven at the Federal level are being provided to State and local law enforcement through the continuing Technology Transfer Program.

Advanced coded aperture and neutron probe technologies are being developed to examine drug shipments as they enter the country. These advanced nonintrusive inspection technology concepts will, in time, replace the X-ray and gamma ray technology now used to search conveyances and cargo for hidden drugs at our ports-of-entry.

The Technology Transfer Program was established to provide technologies developed with Federal funding directly to State and local law enforcement agencies. The technology areas available for transfer include information technology and analytical tools, communications, tracking and surveillance, and drug detection devices. Hands-on training and limited maintenance support are provided to all recipients.

Over the past two years, the Technology Transfer Program has made possible the delivery of 892 pieces of equipment to 631 State and local law enforcement agencies. The evaluation reports from the recipient agencies indicate that the technologies have been readily integrated into the operations of these State and local agencies. The technologies have contributed to improved counterdrug operations. In general, the result has been an increase in drug-related arrests with a dramatic improvement in officer safety at each agency.

To reach out to the national and international counterdrug R&D community, a fifth International Technology Symposium was held last March in Washington, DC. Last year CTAC also participated in the first United States-United Kingdom (UK) Drug Summit in London, several international scientific meetings, and in technology exchange meetings with the Federal Police of Israel.

The Ten-Year Counterdrug Technology Plan and Development Roadmap organized the technology development efforts of the Federal drug control agencies. Each agency now prepares annual plans, performance reports and five-year strategic plans. CTAC continues to review and monitor the progress of each agency's technology development program based on these submissions.