THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE ON DRUG ABUSE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80M00165A000700110015-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 2, 2004
• Sequence Number: 15
• Publication Date: December 10, 1977
• Content Type: MF

The Director
Central Intelligence Agency
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MEMORANDUM FOR: The Honorable Peter G. Bourne
Special Assistant to the President
SUBJECT: The President's Message on Drug Abuse
This Memorandum is being submitted as a classified
addendum to the Central Intelligence Agency's unclas-
sified memorandum response to the President's 2 August
1977 Message on Drug Abuse. It is our understanding,
based on discussions with your Deputy, Mr. Lee Dogoloff,
that these comments may be useful in future classified
briefings of the President concerning actions taken by
the intelligence community with regard to the narcotics
intelligence effort.
The directive contained in the President's message
to Congress which pertains directly to the CIA concerns
the priority being given to narcotics intelligence
collection. In responding to this priority task, we
have identified three of the more important problem
areas affecting the narcotics intelligence collection
effort and described the progress that has been made
i
n resolving these problems.
Issues and Problems
The current Narcotics Intelligence Review being
conducted by the Office of Drug Abuse Policy has
surfaced several key issues and problems involving
the collection, coordination, analysis and dissemina-
tion of narcotics intelligence information. Three of
th
ese issues involve the CIA directly:
a. There is a need to establish
structures and procedures to ensure
systematic interagency coordination of
foreign narcotics intelligence activities.
b. There is a need to develop a
reliable system for forecasting worldwide
licit and illicit opium poppy cultivation.
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c. There is a need to ensure that
narcotics intelligence information collected
by foreign intelligence agencies overseas is
exploited to the maximum degree possible
while protecting the sensitive sources and
methods used in the collection process.
Progress
a. The Narcotics Working Group, a sub-
committee of the Critical Collection Problems
Committee which operates under a CIA chairman,
is the interagency mechanism for the coordina-
tion of narcotics intelligence activities.
The fact that there are no major coordination
problems evident at this time reflects favor-
ably on the relationships that exist between
the Federal agencies and departments involved
in the collection of foreign narcotics intel-
ligence information. Another positive step
is being taken by CIA and the Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA), which currently are in
the process of approving a joint statement of
operational guidelines concerning foreign
narcotics information collection activities.
These guidelines are designed to explain the
different roles and responsibilities of each.
agency and to strengthen the degree of opera-
tional cooperation and coordination against
.the common narcotics target.
b. Based on a recommendation of the
Interagency Crop Detection Review Committee,
CIA agreed to take on the managerial respon-
sibility for setting up a multidisciplinary
team charged with developing a system for
forecasting worldwide licit and illicit
opium poppy cultivation to support the
overall Federal narcotics control strategy.
The team, using all available information
sources, was asked to conduct a feac;hilit-y
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similar approach will be used in
other areas of the world where opium poppies
are grown. An agreement has been reached
with ODAP and the Office of Management and
Budget whereby funds will be transferred
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from the Department of State to CIA in
Fiscal Year 1978 in order to begin the
feasibility study. A team leader has been
selected and he started work on the study
on a full-time basis on 28 November 1977.
c. The need to ensure maximum exploita-
tion of foreign narcotics information collected
by foreign intelligence agencies creates a
serious problem for the intelligence community
since the primary users of tactical information
are law enforcement agencies. CIA, which is
required to protect its sensitive sources and
methods, collects excellent tactical informa-
tion, usually as a by-product of operations
designed to obtain strategic information.
The tactical intelligence information is
essential to the international narcotics
program but, at the same time, raises a
fundamental problem to be resolved: namely,
to what extent can (or should) foreign intel-
ligence agencies such as the CIA be involved
in the international narcotics rcrni-vnl 1
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