The Office of National Drug and Money Laundering Control Policy (ONDCP) is pleased to announce the completion of the Information Needs and Resource Analysis (INRA) Report commissioned by the Organization of American States (OAS)/Inter American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD). The report evaluated the Nation’s data collection and analytical capacity on drug abuse and other drug related matters.

The completion of this report has moved Antigua and Barbuda one step closer in realizing the full potential of the recently approved national anti-drug strategy.

The INRA examined the information and resources readily available on drug use and treatment, the needs of key institutions and a strategic analysis of the data collection mechanism. The report also identified three main areas of development geared at significantly improving the data collection and dissemination capabilities on island. These areas include: ‘…the establishment of a National Drug Council to house the centralized database and to oversee the collection, analyzing and dissemination of data; the updating of the current IT hardware to support proper data management and analytic software; and the training of individuals to utilize these systems.’

The needs analysis provided a number of short, medium and long term recommendations for the targeted institutions. Short term goals such as fully establishing the Drug Information Network; medium term goals such as re-establishing the National Drug Council and long termed goals which include the instillation of specialized programmes to properly manage the collected data.

Lt. Col Edward Croft, Antigua and Barbuda’s Commissioner to CICAD indicated that the release of the report was timely as efforts to coordinate the relevant stake holders to provide accurate information is critical. This information will result in a more realistic picture of the efforts by agencies to implement the national drug strategy with a goal of becoming a healthier and more productive nation. Lt. Col Croft expresses appreciation to the OAS and CICAD in particular for the assistance rendered for the completion of this project. The ONDCP also recognizes the work undertaken by Dr. John Swift in compiling and analyzing the relevant data and for generating the INRA.

Click To View Report: INRA REPORT MARCH 2014