by R. Gil Kerlikowske, Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy

Regardless of where you live or how much money you make, regardless of your race or your gender, it is very likely that drug use and its consequences affect you or someone close to you.

The direction our Nation must take is clear, and contained in the 2010 National Drug Control Strategy. This Strategy places renewed emphasis on prevention and treatment, because the drug problem is not just a threat to public safety, but also to public health.

Addressing the threat to our Nation's public health will be greatly aided by this Administration's historic passage of healthcare reform. But healthcare reform is only part of the solution.

Meeting the challenge requires a balanced, comprehensive, and evidence-based approach, starting with prevention. The simple fact is that good decisions are the best way to avoid bad outcomes. Substance use problems strike young people the hardest, and this Strategy lays the foundation for a national, community-based prevention system to protect our adolescents and help them make sound decisions. But not even the best prevention programs can keep every young person from using drugs.

All too often, risky behavior in youth devolves into a lifelong struggle with substance abuse and addiction. Here, we can apply a lesson learned from other public health crises: Responding at the first sign of trouble is absolutely essential to containing the damage.

This Strategy will help medical professionals determine if patients may have emerging substance use problems by supporting Screening and Brief Intervention programs throughout the health system, and by training healthcare providers to spot warning signs.

By catching use before it progresses to addiction, we can divert people from the downward spiral that so often leads to emergency room visits, accidents, and other costs. For too long, treatment for the disease of addiction has been segregated from the rest of the healthcare system.

This Strategy calls for bringing high-quality addiction treatment into the established healthcare arena. It puts a major emphasis on expanding the treatment capacity of mainstream, publicly funded providers such as the Indian Health Service and Federally Supported Community Health Centers.

This Strategy also recognizes the vital role of law enforcement. Traditional enforcement mechanisms, strengthened through intelligence sharing and the latest technologies, are key to disrupting drug markets and depriving criminal organizations of the revenues they seek. Enforcement can also be a bridge to treatment through drug courts or interventions such as testing and sanctions. By breaking down old silos between the law enforcement, prevention, and treatment communities, we can go a long way toward addressing the drug problem in the United States.

But we must also recognize that drug use and its consequences do not stop at country borders. For our efforts to succeed, we must strengthen our collaboration with international partners, support countries whose institutions and people are threatened by drug trafficking, and continually work to reduce drug demand from within our own country.

This Strategy includes strong measures to accomplish all of these goals, measures that are based on sound science and best practices.

This Strategy can work. Its goals of reducing drug use and its consequences are backed by the President's FY 2011 Budget request, which proposes increased funding for anti-drug efforts.

I am confident we possess the means, the will, and the tools necessary to achieve these goals. All that remains is for us to make wise use of them.