Dr. Rahul Gupta Releases Statement on DOJ’s New Drug Enforcement Actions

Washington, D.C. – Dr. Rahul Gupta, Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), issued the following statement regarding the Administration actions announced today to stop fentanyl trafficking.

“The actions announced today by the Departments of Justice and Treasury highlight President Biden’s call in his State of the Union to accelerate efforts to disrupt and take down fentanyl trafficking operations at every level while also boosting our investments in prevention and public health,” said Dr. Gupta. “Disrupting the trafficking of illicit drugs into the United States not only keeps them from harming our citizens and denying profits to drug traffickers, but it also allows our historic investments in public health interventions to take hold so we can save lives, and that is exactly the intent of the President Biden’s National Drug Control Strategy.”

This announcement comes on the heels of Dr. Gupta designating fentanyl combined with xylazine as an emerging drug threat facing the United States, in addition to several other new Administration actions to reduce drug poisoning deaths, including launching a social media campaign aimed at young people about the dangers of illicit fentanyl and how Naloxone can reverse overdoses, the FDA making Naloxone available over-the-counter, and strengthening the Administration’s approach to crack down on illicit fentanyl supply chains.

To support the Administration’s efforts to save lives and disrupt drug trafficking, President Biden has requested a historic $46.1 billion from Congress for national drug control programs. This represents a $5.0 billion increase from the FY2022 request and a $2.3 billion increase over the FY2023 enacted level. The FY2024 budget also includes an increase in funding for efforts to reduce the supply of illicit drugs like fentanyl and combat drug trafficking. It also includes an increase in funding to support the expansion of prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and recovery support services. Read more HERE.

To read President Biden’s National Drug Control Strategy, click HERE.