Total federal drug control spending in the U.S. 2012-2023

The largest amount of federal drug control spending was reported for FY 2020 with some 39.7 billion U.S. dollars. However, the requested funding for 2023 is significantly higher. This statistic depicts the total federal drug control spending in the United States from FY 2012 to FY 2023, in million U.S. dollars.

U.S. drug control spending

In the United States, around half of the requested budget for federal drug control spending in 2023 was requested for treatment of substance use disorders; the remaining budget was distributed amongst various governmental departments for prevention, interdiction, and law enforcement. In particular, the largest amount of drug control spending in 2022 by the Department of Health and Human Services was spent by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, followed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Drug control and the opioid epidemic

The misuse of prescription drugs and the opioid epidemic are a major focus of U.S. drug control strategies and spending. In the U.S., the top controlled prescription drugs distributed are hydrocodone and oxycodone, both potentially addictive opioid analgesics that can be misused and sold illegally. In 2010-2019, efforts to reduce illegal sales of opioid narcotics in the U.S. have managed to reduce the amount of opioids diverted from the legal market by over half. Unfortunately, misusing opioids and synthetic variants such as heroin can be life-threatening; death rates due to opioid overdoses are continuing to rise.