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On 4 May 2026, the White House released the 2026 National Drug Control Strategy, the first US drug policy framework to formally commit to deploying wastewater surveillance at a national scale. The document states that the administration will prioritize "the establishment of new data systems to monitor drug consumption in real-time, through a national wastewater-based monitoring system and biosurveillance." The reasoning is laid out plainly: self-reported survey data gives an incomplete picture because people may not know what they have consumed given the widespread adulteration of the drug supply, and because of reluctance to disclose illegal behavior. The strategy concludes that "this survey data needs to be complemented with more objective measures of drug use, such as wastewater testing and biologic specimen testing."