# Drug Enforcement Administration

| Drug Enforcement Administration |
| --- |
|  |
|  |
| Abbreviation | DEA |
| Agency overview |
| Formed | July 1, 1973 |
| Preceding agencies | * Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs
* Office of Drug Abuse Law Enforcement
 |
| Employees | 10,891 (2006) |
| Annual budget | $2.415 billion USD (2006) |
| Jurisdictional structure |
| Federal agency | United States |
| Operations jurisdiction | United States |
| General nature | * Federal law enforcement
 |
| Operational structure |
| Headquarters | Arlington, Virginia |
| Special agents | 5,500+ |
| Elected officer responsible | * Eric Holder, Attorney General
 |
| Agency executives | * Terry Cole, Administrator
* (Vacant), Deputy Administrator
 |
| Parent agency | United States Department of Justice |
| Website |
|  |

The **Drug Enforcement Administration** (**DEA**) is a law enforcement agency that works for the United States Department of Justice that enforces the United States drug laws. The DEA is the agency with the most responsiblility for drug enforcement in the U.S. and also shares its responsibilities with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It also has complete responsibility (duty to do something) for U.S. drug enforcement investigations in other countries.

## History

Two DEA agents trainingThe Drug Enforcement Administration was created on 1 July 1973, by Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1973, signed by President Richard Nixon on 28 March 1973. It suggested a single federal agency to enforce the federal drug laws as well as to join together and to organize the government's drug control efforts.

In 1999, the DEA opened the Drug Enforcement Administration Museum in Arlington, Virginia. In February 2003, the DEA started a Digital Evidence Laboratory in its Office of Forensic Sciences.

## Organization

The DEA is run by an Administrator of Drug Enforcement who is given the job by the President of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The Administrator's direct boss is the Attorney General through the Deputy Attorney General. It has its own training centre called the DEA Academy on the United States Marine Corps base at Quantico, Virginia with the FBI Academy. It has 21 domestic divisions inside the U.S. with 227 field offices and 86 foreign offices in 62 countries. With a budget of over 2.415 billion U.S. dollars, the DEA employs over 10,800 people, including over 5,500 Special agents.

## Narcotics registration

The DEA has a system in place which allows doctors and other people, such as dentists, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners, to prescribe medicines, researchers and manufacturers access to "Schedule I" drugs, as well as Schedules 2, 3, 4 and 5.

## Related pages

* List of United States federal law enforcement agencies

## Other websites

* DEA official web site
* The History of the DEA from 1973 to 1998
* List of former DEA Administrators
* Agency of Fear - The History of the origins of the DEA in the Nixon White House Archived 2020-02-09 at the Wayback Machine
* Results of Prohibition Archived 2009-01-14 at the Wayback Machine The financial costs of drug use and drug prohibition in the U.S., impact on levels of drug use and prices.
* A response to the DEA web site Archived 2018-11-19 at the Wayback Machine
* "98 Percent Of All Domestically Eradicated Marijuana Is "Ditchweed," DEA Admits". *NORML News Archive*. 7 September 2006. Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2007-03-27.
* Major Studies of Drugs and Drug Policy Archived 2020-11-01 at the Wayback Machine Full text of major government commission reports on the effects of drug enforcement
* The Drug Hang-Up by Rufus King Archived 2018-12-15 at the Wayback Machine A history of the drug laws with special emphasis on the predecessors to the DEA
* DEA Watch - A dissenting view of the DEA Archived 2007-10-28 at the Wayback Machine
* Drug Enforcement Administration Meeting Notices and Rule Changes Archived 2012-01-05 at the Wayback Machine from The Federal Register RSS Feed Archived 2012-01-05 at the Wayback Machine
* DEA Lookup.com Commercial DEA number database search service
* Office of Diversion Control Archived 2009-03-20 at the Wayback Machine
* Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1973 - Appendix to Title 5, U.S. Code Archived 2011-06-07 at the Wayback Machine
* Get Smart About Drugs - A DEA Resource for Parents
* DEA Demand Reduction - Street Smart Prevention