8. The DEA became a tool used by the Nixon Administration
Part of the Nixon Administration strategy in the newly declared War on Drugs was, according to John Ehrlichman, to “raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news”, referring to the two groups that when Nixon entered the White House he considered his enemies. The DEA became a primary tool of the administration in achieving the goal described by his aide. At the same time, Nixon supported initiatives to reduce demand for drugs through education and drug-treatment programs, and the 2-10 year mandatory sentence for first time offenders convicted of cannabis possession was repealed. By late 1973 the Watergate scandal threatened Nixon’s message regarding drug use and the administration was beset with reports of heavy drug use by conscripted troops in Vietnam.
By the end of the twentieth century the DEA had expanded to over 4,600 Special Agents, with another 800 Intelligence Analysts. In total it employed over 10, 000 people at the cost to the taxpayer of nearly $2 billion. It maintained offices in 70 countries, and worked closely with the sovereign nation’s own law enforcement mechanisms. Under Nixon, the War on Drugs resulted in an increase in arrests for drug violations, but the increase in drug related incarceration rates was relatively small. The propaganda campaign which Ehrlichman called “vilifying them” was successful in creating a demand for greater government action against drug abuse however, and under Nixon more than 6,000 federal arrests for various drug violations occurred during 1972-73. The demand for illegal drugs continued to increase, and Presidents Ford and Carter, despite continuing and reinforcing Nixon’s policies, achieved little to stem the drug trade.