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Tom Charron
President, American Prosecutors Research Institute
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I am pleased to announce that APRI once again has a drug program. Between October 1989 and October 1995, with support from the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), APRI managed the National Drug Prosecution Center. Its primary services included developing and assessing information packages on emerging policy issues, documenting and disseminating information about innovative prosecutor-led drug enforcement and demand-reduction programs, and provision of regional policy workshops and on-site technical assistance. APRI also developed and delivered a widely acclaimed training program to prepare prosecutors for common challenges in prosecuting drug cases. Since 1995, when federal funding for APRI’s National Drug Prosecution Center expired, much has changed in the nation’s efforts to stem the use and abuse of drugs. Some examples—marijuana, which remains readily available, grows in potency with each passing year. Prescription drugs such as OxyContin are now widely abused. New “club” drugs have entered the market. Methamphetamine has established itself as the most dangerous drug in many parts of the Midwest and western United States and is headed east. Indeed, today, according to APRI’s workload assessments, 70% of all felony cases are drug related.
Now APRI has once again entered the fight. With the support of BJA and monies borne from the Project Safe Neighborhoods anti-gun violence initiative, the new Drug Prosecution and Prevention Program (or, as we like to call it, the “DP3 Program”) is planning a new course that not only identifies current difficulties in the prosecution of drug related crime but also offers new strategies to deal with this enduring problem.
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Andrew Wright Program Manager, Drug Prosecution and Prevention Program
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Recently DP3 launched its Web site that will serve as a portal to information on upcoming trainings and emerging trends and strategies for fighting illegal drugs. You can participate in our efforts by visiting the Web site located at www.ndaa-apri.org (click on DP3 in the right column) and answering a brief survey designed to identify areas of greatest need for technical assistance. In the months to come, DP3 will begin to build an information database and gather materials available to prosecutors engaged in drug prosecution and prevention efforts around the country.
Finally, I want to introduce to you DP3’s new program manager. In July, shortly after the unit’s formation, Andy Wright was named to head the unit. Andy is a former prosecutor from Fairfax County, Virginia, and has been with APRI for three years. Before taking over the drug unit, Andy was a senior attorney with our Gun Violence Prosecution Program. I know that Andy looks forward to meeting and working with you.
Drug abuse and drug-related crime are nagging problems. Prosecutors and allied professionals who battle these problems face new and perplexing challenges everyday. We at APRI hope that our new program will help aid them in their worthy effort.
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