D rug trafficking is a significant public health and safety threat facing the United States. Criminals exploit the U.S. demand for illicit drugs, moving product into and throughout the country. Both transnational and domestic trafficking of drugs affects U.S. communities. Mexican transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) "remain the greatest criminal drug threat to the United States; no other group is currently positioned to challenge them." They are responsible for bringing large quantities of marijuana, methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, and possibly fentanyl into the United States. Once within the United States, Mexican TCOs may manage or influence the wholesale distribution of these drugs throughout the country. They work with local criminal networks and gangs, who are largely responsible for the retail-level transportation and distribution. The federal government has taken a variety of actions aimed at countering drug trafficking. These activities have ranged from giving law enforcement more tools for combatting traffickers to establishing programs and initiatives to reduce the supply of and demand for illegal drugs. Within the larger framework of the federal government's efforts to counter drug trafficking is the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program. Congress initially created the HIDTA program through the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 ( P.L. 100-690 ). It was permanently authorized through the Office of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 2006 ( P.L. 109-469 ). Administered by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), the HIDTA program provides assistance to law enforcement agencies—at the federal, state, local, and tribal levels—operating in areas of the United States that have been deemed as critical drug trafficking regions. The program aims to reduce drug production and trafficking through four means: promoting coordination and information sharing between federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement; bolstering intelligence sharing between federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement; providing reliable intelligence to law enforcement agencies such that they may be better equipped to design effective enforcement operations and strategies; and promoting coordinated law enforcement strategies that rely upon available resources to reduce illegal drug supplies not only in a given area, but throughout the country. The HIDTA program does not focus on a specific drug threat, such as heroin trafficking; rather, funds are used to support the most pressing initiatives in a region. These range from multiagency enforcement initiatives involving investigation, interdiction, and prosecution, to drug use prevention and treatment initiatives. This report provides an overview of the HIDTA program, including how areas are designated as part of a HIDTA, and program coordination and funding. It also examines issues that policymakers may consider as they debate the future of the HIDTA program: whether the county is still the appropriate unit of inclusion for the HIDTA, whether the criteria for inclusion remain adequate, whether the program is effective in accomplishing its goals, whether its tangential effects can be measured, whether the current bounds on the use of HIDTA funds are still appropriate, and which federal entity may be best suited to administer the program. The Director of ONDCP has the authority to designate areas within the United States that are centers of illegal drug production, manufacturing, importation, or distribution as HIDTAs. The director must first consult with the Attorney General, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Homeland Security, heads of the relevant National Drug Control Program Agencies, and the governor of the applicable state. Four main criteria are considered when designating an area as a HIDTA: the extent to which [1] the area is a significant center of illegal drug production, manufacturing, importation, or distribution; [2] State, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies have committed resources to respond to the drug trafficking problem in the area, thereby indicating a determination to respond aggressively to the problem; [3] drug-related activities in the area are having a significant harmful impact in the area, and in other areas of the country; and [4] a significant increase in allocation of Federal resources is necessary to respond adequately to drug related activities in the area. The HIDTA program is designed with the county as its geographic unit of inclusion. As such, if an entire state were to be included in a HIDTA, this would be because each county within the state had been separately designated as a critical drug trafficking area. To begin the designation process, a coalition of law enforcement agencies may petition the Director of ONDCP for a county to be included in a HIDTA. There are 29 designated HIDTAs in the United States and its territories, as outlined in Table 1 . The most recent HIDTA to be established was the Alaska HIDTA, which was announced on May 1, 2018. At the national level, the HIDTA program is administered by ONDCP. However, each of the HIDTA regions is governed by its own Executive Board. Each board consists of representatives from participating federal, state, local, and tribal agencies, and there must be an equal proportion of federal and nonfederal representatives. Additional nonvoting members from nonparticipating agencies or associations are also allowed. Among other duties, each board is responsible for providing direction and oversight in establishing and achieving the goals of the HIDTA, managing the funds of the HIDTA, and selecting the HIDTA director for the region. ONDCP notes that a "central feature of the HIDTA program is the discretion granted to these Executive Boards to design and implement initiatives that confront the specific drug trafficking threats in their respective regions." This allows a board to tailor its strategy and reassess its initiatives to respond to any changes in local drug threats. Each board is also responsible for ongoing evaluation of the HIDTA's initiatives. This assessment considers whether each initiative is in compliance with overall HIDTA program requirements, effectively implementing the HIDTA's strategy, achieving the performance standards negotiated for the HIDTA, and productive enough to merit continued funding from the HIDTA. Funding for the HIDTA program is provided by direct appropriation to the HIDTA subaccount under the ONDCP account. Over the past decade, funding for the HIDTA program increased by about $20 million (8.5%) from $234.0 million in FY2009 to $254.0 million in FY2017, and then by $26.0 million (10.2%) to $280.0 million for FY2018, as outlined in Table 2 . Executive Boards meet, at a minimum, four times each year to share information on the drug threats in the regions and the activities of the HIDTA-funded initiatives and task forces. Once a year, they determine which HIDTA task force initiatives to fund within their respective regions. From the total HIDTA program appropriation, each HIDTA receives a base amount of funding to support initiatives in its region. This base funding ranged from approximately $3.1 million to $14.6 million in FY2017—except for the Southwest border HIDTA, as its five regions collectively received over $48.7 million in base funding. The remainder of the overall HIDTA appropriation is allocated to specific initiatives throughout the country—as determined jointly by the HIDTA directors and ONDCP. HIDTA funds support six types of initiatives, many focused on enforcement and intelligence and information sharing: Enforcement. Multiagency (federal plus state/local/tribal law enforcement) task force activities focused on investigation, interdiction, fugitive apprehension, and prosecution of serious drug-related crimes and criminals/criminal networks. Intelligence and Information Sharing. Activities including intelligence analysis, deconfliction services, and information gathering and distribution. Support. Activities peripheral to core enforcement and intelligence and information sharing activities, including training, crime and forensic labs, shared resource expenses, and information technology needs. Prevention. Coordination and collaboration between law enforcement and the community to reduce drug use and its consequences and prevent drug related crime. Treatment. Since 2006, there has been a prohibition on the use of HIDTA funds to establish or expand drug treatment programs. However, the Washington/Baltimore HIDTA has continued its prior funding support to drug courts in its region. Management and Coordination. Coordination and integration of HIDTA initiatives and program overhead (e.g., HIDTA leadership and administrative staff salaries, rent). Notably, within the program's history, support for drug prevention initiatives has been more of a recent focus. Now, all HIDTAs support prevention initiatives. Several initiatives are perennial and not exclusive to one particular HIDTA region. For instance, the Domestic Highway Enforcement strategy supports multijurisdictional law enforcement efforts to counter drug trafficking and money laundering activities that are facilitated by the U.S. highways. The directors of nine HIDTA regions are currently coordinating this strategy. In addition, the National Emerging Threats Initiative identifies "emerging drug threats and their patterns [and addresses] each threat through the use of best practices, promoting cooperation among public safety, public health, regulators, treatment, and prevention entities" and provides solutions to the threats. There is one coordinator and two deputy coordinators for this initiative. There are several issues that policymakers may consider when they debate the future of the HIDTA program. A prevailing issue will be how much funding to provide for the program. Congress may also choose to exercise oversight and evaluate related issues such as whether the county is still the appropriate unit of inclusion for a HIDTA, whether the criteria for inclusion remain adequate, whether the program is effective in accomplishing its goals, whether its tangential effects can be measured, whether the current bounds on its funding usage are still appropriate, and which federal entity may be best suited to administer it. As mentioned, the county is the current unit of inclusion for the HIDTA program.