Over the last century, the Federal effort to fight illicit drug trafficking has been carried out by several agencies: FBN (Federal Bureau of Narcotics), BDAC (Bureau of Drug Abuse Control), BNDD (Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs) and the current flagship, DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration).
Conventional wisdom argued that the agency best suited to solve “the drug problem” was, of course, the FBI. J. Edgar Hoover would have none of this. He reasoned that the problem had no solution, and he didn’t want his agents getting “dirty”. After his passing in 1972 , the Bureau did get into “drug work” with mixed success, at best. Whether the Bureau could have made a decisive dent in the problem, we’ll never know. The FBI certainly led them all in terms of PR.
Let’s get to the agencies; The Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN) was formed in 1930, within the Treasury Department. It had become obvious that “narcotics” trafficking and addiction had become a major problem. The nation had come to realize that heroin was not a cure for morphine addiction, and organized crime had spread drugs everywhere. The Bureau was underresourced throughout its existence. It also suffered from lack of its own laboratory system. As I have mentioned in previous posts, drug trafficking is legally considered a “victimless crime”, in that nobody complains to law enforcement, “hey, he just sold me dope”. Consequently, prosecuters need to present evidence that an illegal substance has changed hands, and what the substance actually is. Lab services to FBN agents were provided by other Treasury labs, most notably by Alcohol and Tobacco Tax facilities. Also, there is, to this day, no universally accepted definition of “narcotic”, to my knowledge. Narcotics are generally considered to be agents which cause stupor. However, cocaine and marijuana are classified, for legal purposes, as narcotics.
By the 1950’s, new sets of drugs were causing major problems – hallucinogens (LSD, STP, MDA, peyote, to name a few), amphetamines (abused by truckers, WWII soldiers and others needing to go without sleep for extended periods of time). What is the typical Federal response to something like this? Reorganize! Create a new crime fighter! The result: The Bureau of Drug Abuse Control (BDAC), formed as a part of FDA, in 1966, when the government was seen as the ultimate problem solver. Anything was possible. The new bureau’s charter was to fight trafficking in these newer remedies. Never mind that FDA personnel had no arrest powers. We’ll just go out and recruit some agents to do this stuff!
Nice thought, America. The new Bureau lasted just a couple of years, and was merged with FBN in 1968. New name: Bureau of Narcotics (whatever that means) and Dangerous Drugs (BNDD). BNDD became a part of the Department of Justice. This time, the new outfit was permitted to form its own lab system. I was recruited as a founding member of the New York regional lab. We also established labs in Dallas, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington, DC, along with a Special Testing and Research facility. We later added San Diego and Miami.
The “drug problem” continued to soar, however, and BNDD was not having (or seeming to) an impact. The Nixon Administration declared WAR!! If the FBI was AWOL, why not form another agency? Taking personnel from the Treasury Department and using them to beef up the Bureau, and voila! The Drug Enforcement Admimistration was born as the lead agency in the War on July 1, 1973. The Drug what? Whoever conceived this agency had a tin ear for nomenclature. From Day 1, DEA had powerful enemies, most notably, the U.S. Customs Service, within Treasury.
The new agency was, from its onset, starved for funds. Subsequent events taught me a valuable lesson in public administration: follow the money! In 1984, the Asset Forfeiture Laws were passed. Their principal purpose was to deprive criminals of ill gotten gains. DEA began to pass funds to the Treasury, far exceeding its budget, from seizures of vehicles, yachts and other trinkets from the bad guys. This transformed it into a money making agency.
Despite all these wars and agency name changes, the “drug problem” continues to fester, and, not incidently, kill many people. When I left DEA in 1994, fentanyl analogs largely were attempts to circumvent drug laws. Since then, fentanyl, itself, has become virtually mainstream. Illicit drug use is a disease of despair – an attempt, however futile, to ease personal suffering. It is, in many respects, a death wish. We will never solve the “problem” until we can deal with this social dysfunction – and find a way to get money out of the trade. And not only from the bad guys.
Rogernarc 