The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)

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History The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is the biggest enforcement agency in the United States designed to attack illegal drugs. The Drug Enforcement Administration was established in 1973 by President Nixon through an Executive Order. The government sought to end interagency issues between Customs and the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNDD) (DEA Editors, 2015). The DEA is under the purview of the Department of Justice. The Drug Enforcement Administration investigates criminals and drug gangs who distribute paraphilia in the United States (Sacco, 2014). They also work with other agencies to help eradicate the plants in order to reduce the manufacturing of the drugs. The DEA has eleven different programs. These programs …show more content…

This act required manufacturers and distributors of cocaine, opium to register with the US Department of Treasury. This placed a special tax on these drugs and keep records of each transaction. The act authorized the prescribing of opiates and cocaine but the law was open to interpretation of the enforcement body. The Internal Revenue Bureau closed down state and city narcotic clinics and arrested drug violators to federal penitentiaries (Wallechinsky, 2015). In 1930 the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN) was established within the Treasury to handle narcotic enforcement. In 1937, the government imposed the Marihuana Tax of 1937. The MTA required a high cost transfer tax stamp for each sale. Stamps were hardly ever issued and shortly after all states made possession of marijuana illegal (DEA Editors, …show more content…

The power is generally used to investigate the executive branch and the administrative bodies. Most of the investigations are highly public and generate media attention. For example the current Ben Ghazi investigation has gained media attention due to Hilary Clinton being involved. The press media has ways to spin the information into any light they deem necessary. With this power to investigate gives the press power to destroy a candidate or an organizations integrity and require a leadership change. The Drug Enforcement Administration has been investigated in the past year. Agents were found to be a frequent patron of prostitutes, soliciting sex from undercover police officers, engaging in sex parties thrown by drug cartels, and accepting gifts from drug cartels. The agents who did not resign from their position received relatively minor punishments. The case was opened September 18, 2014 (Full Senate Committee, 2014). The investigation is opened in order to decide if there is a need to make adjustments to the administration. This could include funding and impeachment of the administrator.