Drug Enforcement Administration

George Feeney

Federal narcotic law enforcement began in 1915, within a year of passage of the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act, section 10 of which authorized the commissioner of internal revenue, with the approval of the secretary of the treasury, to appoint as many agents and messengers in the field and in the Bureau of Internal Revenue as may be necessary to enforce provisions of this act. In subsequent years, additional federal laws were passed to reflect societal and political responses to the problems of drug use and drug trafficking. The federal enforcement agency responsible for enforcing federal narcotics laws changed, transferred, merged, and shared concurrent jurisdiction with other federal agencies. Over the years, these changes resulted in the creation of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which has grown to become one of the largest of the federal law enforcement agencies. The handful of original internal revenue agents and messengers had grown by ...

Users without subscription are not able to see the full content on this title. Please, subscribe or login to access all content on this website.