I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1812 
To establish the Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 15, 2015 
Mr. ENGEL (for himself and Mr. SALMON) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To establish the Western Hemisphere Drug Policy 
Commission. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Western Hemisphere 
Drug Policy Commission Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) According to the Substance Abuse and Men-
tal Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) 
National Survey on Drug Use and Health, in 2013 
in the United States, an estimated 24,573,000 per-
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sons age 12 or older were current users of illicit 
drugs. There were an estimated 1,549,000 users of 
cocaine, 289,000 users of heroin, 1,330,000 users of 
hallucinogens, 19,810,000 users of marijuana, and 
6,484,000 non-medical users of prescription-type 
drugs. 
(2) On September 15, 2014, President Barack 
Obama identified 22 countries as major drug transit 
or major illicit drug producing countries. Of these, 
17 are located in the Western Hemisphere. They are 
The Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, 
the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, 
Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, 
Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela. 
(3) Nearly all cocaine consumed in the United 
States originates in the Andean countries of Bolivia, 
Colombia, and Peru and most of the heroin con-
sumed in the United States originates in Colombia 
and Mexico. The cultivation, production and traf-
ficking of cocaine and heroin generate violence, in-
stability, and corruption. 
(4) In the transit countries of Central America, 
Mexico, Venezuela, Ecuador, the Dominican Repub-
lic, Haiti, and other Caribbean countries, drug traf-
ficking is central to the growing strength of orga-
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nized criminals to threaten local and national law 
enforcement, political institutions, citizen security, 
rule of law, and United States security and inter-
ests. 
(5) Drug trafficking-related violence continues 
unabated in Mexico. According to Government of 
Mexico estimates, some 70,000 people died in Mex-
ico and 25,000 people disappeared as a result of 
drug trafficking and organized crime-related violence 
between December 2006 and December 2012. Since 
that time, independent sources estimate that more 
than 18,000 people in Mexico have died in organized 
crime-related killings. In addition, since 2007, there 
have been 22,610 disappearances in Mexico. 
(6) Foreign Terrorist Organizations and their 
supporters in the Western Hemisphere, including the 
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) 
and Hezbollah, have used drug trafficking to finance 
their activities. 
(7) The United States obligated roughly 
$15,700,000,000 
($18,600,000,000 
in 
constant 
2012 dollars) for counternarcotics programs in 
Latin America and the Caribbean between 1980 and 
2012. 
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SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT. 
There is established an independent commission to be 
known as the ‘‘Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commis-
sion’’ (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 
SEC. 4. DUTIES. 
(a) REVIEW OF ILLICIT DRUG CONTROL POLICIES.— 
The Commission shall conduct a comprehensive review of 
United States foreign policy in the Western Hemisphere 
to reduce the illicit drug supply and drug abuse and re-
duce the damage associated with illicit drug markets and 
trafficking. The Commission shall also identify policy and 
program options to improve existing international counter-
narcotics policy. The review shall include the following top-
ics: 
(1) An evaluation of United States-funded 
international illicit drug control programs in the 
Western Hemisphere, including drug interdiction, 
crop eradication, alternative development, drug pro-
duction surveys, police and justice sector training, 
demand reduction, and strategies to target drug 
kingpins. 
(2) An evaluation of the impact of United 
States counternarcotics assistance programs in the 
Western Hemisphere, including the Colombia Stra-
tegic Development Initiative, the Merida Initiative, 
the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative and the Cen-
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