White House delaying release of report identifying Mexico as key to meth problem

In an apparent effort to sooth relations with the Mexican government, the Obama administration has delayed releasing the 2010 National Methamphetamine Threat Assessment, The New York Times reports. The report obtained by the Times "describes a 'high and increasing' availability of methamphetamine mainly because of large-scale drug production in Mexico," Charlie Savage and Michael R. Gordon report. The report was completed in mid-May, but administration officials first delayed its release because Mexican President Felipe Calderón was scheduled to come to Washington on a state visit, and have since delayed its release more than once.

"The report was particularly touchy because it came less than two months after the distribution of another National Drug Intelligence Center study that had portrayed the drug trafficking situation in Mexico in stark terms, prompting complaints from the Mexican government," the Times writes. A Justice Department spokeswoman told the Times there was no intention to suppress the report by the NDIC and that the department was delaying its release for administrative reasons.

The center sent advance copies of the report to the White House and to Justice Department headquarters and printed about 300 copies and shipped them to San Diego for distribution at a conference about efforts to block the flow of chemicals used to manufacture meth, the Times reports. An official in the Office of National Drug Control Policy then pointed out Calderón's visit, prompting the first delay. For now, "the report remains in official limbo," the Times writes. (Read more)