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RELATED RESOURCES Opening Statement of the United States Before the 51st UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs Delivered What Works: Effective Public Health Responses to Drug Use

(Vienna, Austria)—Scott Burns, Deputy Director of U.S. National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), today heralded international cooperation in the effort to reduce methamphetamine production, trafficking, and use. Highlighting significant progress made against meth in the United States, Burns acknowledged the important role of Mexico in reducing supply, as well as critical prevention and treatment programs to reduce demand for the drug across the nation.

The United States has demonstrated how susceptible the meth market is to pressures against both supply and demand. Following concerted youth prevention and treatment efforts, national survey data in the U.S. indicate a 64 percent reduction in youth meth use since 2001. There has been a 73 percent increase in the average street price of meth and a corresponding 31 percent decrease in meth purity. Simultaneously, there has been a 70 percent decrease in meth lab seizures throughout the country from 2004-2007, and meth seizures along the Southwest border have decreased nearly 50 percent since Mexico has implemented significant restrictions against the importation of precursor chemicals.

Speaking at the United Nations' Commission on Narcotic Drugs meeting in Vienna, Deputy Director Burns urged other nations - particularly those vulnerable to illicit precursor trafficking, such as Syria, Burma and high volume transit states in the Middle East and Africa, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo - to join the global effort against meth by working with the International Narcotics Control Board and the international community to report their licit chemical requirements and transactions involving methamphetamine chemicals. Such actions will promote transparency and reduce the likelihood that these nations will be exploited by violent drug trafficking organizations.

The United States also highlighted its domestic progress against meth as evidence supporting the implementation of cost-effective programs to stop drug use before it starts and to heal those struggling with addiction.

Releasing What Works: Effective Public Health Responses to Drug Use, Deputy Director Burns said, "The great suffering inflicted by drugs in the United States has compelled us to massively invest in research to understand the causes of drug addiction and how to overcome it. This investment has paid off. Through effective prevention and education programs, we can ensure that the youth of today never take that first step down the awful path of addiction. And for those already struggling with addiction, science-based, comprehensive treatment and recovery support programs can bring hope back to lives that may have seemed lost. The United States is eager to share with nations around the globe what has worked in the U.S. in fighting drug abuse."

What Works: Effective Public Health Responses to Drug Use is available at www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov