Agency heads say that the fruit of their anti-drug programs is to be found in the small picture. DEA Director Constantine sees success in the neighborhoods that federal law enforcement agencies have helped reclaim for residents. He offers New Haven, Connecticut, as an example. The group, called the New Haven Drug Gang Task Force, used intelligence gathered by the New Haven Police Department and stiff federal sentencing laws to dismantle or disrupt three gangs in two years. New Haven's murder rate dropped from a high of 34 in 1991 to 20 in 1993, its lowest point since 1986.
Critics also contend that federal agencies fail to fight the drug war cost-effectively.
A recent report by the Drug Strategies group asserts that agencies could get more bang for their buck if they increased spending on treatment programs and research. The report argues that more research is needed to ensure that the programs agencies fund are the programs that produce the best results. Agency heads, however, say they are seeking to improve their programs' cost-effectiveness by increasing interagency cooperation rather than by adjusting spending priorities. You can't infuse rehabilitation and prevention programs in the middle of chaos. To take money from rehabilitation or prevention to increase law enforcement would be a mistake.