Editing Drug Enforcement Administration (section)

== Criticism and controversies ==
{{See also|Criticism of the United States government#Criticism of agencies}}
The DEA has been criticized for placing highly restrictive schedules on a few drugs that researchers in the fields of [[pharmacology]] and medicine regard as having medical uses. Critics assert that some such decisions are motivated primarily by political factors stemming from the U.S. government's [[War on Drugs|war on drugs]] and that many benefits of such substances remain unrecognized due to the difficulty of conducting scientific research. A counterpoint to that criticism is that under the [[Controlled Substances Act]] it is the [[United States Department of Health and Human Services|Department of Health and Human Services]] (through the [[Food and Drug Administration]] and the [[National Institute on Drug Abuse]]), not the DEA, which has the legal responsibility to make scientific and medical determinations with respect to drug scheduling; no drug can be scheduled if the secretary of health and human services recommends against it on a scientific or medical basis, and no drug can be placed in the most restrictive schedule ([[List of Schedule I drugs|Schedule I]]) if DHHS finds that the drug has an accepted medical use. [[Jon Gettman]]'s essay ''Science and the End of Marijuana Prohibition'' describes the DEA as "a fall guy to deflect responsibility from the key decision-makers" and opines, "HHS calls the shots when it comes to marijuana prohibition, and the cops at DEA and the general over at [[Office of National Drug Control Policy|ONDCP]] take the heat."{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

The DEA is also criticized for focusing on the operations from which it can seize the most money,<ref>{{cite SSRN|ssrn=959869 |title=Policing for Profit: The Drug War's Hidden Economic Agenda |date=January 29, 2007 |last1=Blumenson|first1=Eric D.|last2=Nilsen|first2=Eva S.}}</ref> namely the [[organized crime|organized]] cross-border trafficking of [[marijuana]]. Some individuals contemplating the nature of the DEA's charter advise that, based on danger, the DEA should be most focused on cocaine. Others suggest that, based on [[opiate]] popularity, the DEA should focus much more on [[medical prescription|prescription]] opiates used recreationally, which critics contend comes first before users switch to heroin.

[[Medical practitioner|Practitioner]]s who legally prescribe medicine however must possess a valid DEA license. According to federal law, the budget of the DEA Diversion Control Program is to be paid by these license fees. In 1984 a three-year license cost $25. In 2009 the fee for a three-year license was $551. Some have likened this approach to license fees unreasonable, "like making pilot licenses support the entire [[Federal Aviation Administration]] (FAA) budget." The renewal fee for 2020 as of October 1, 2020, is $888 for a three-year license.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cda.org/Home/News-and-Events/Newsroom/Article-Details/deas-prescriber-registration-fees-will-increase-oct-1|title=DEA's prescriber registration fees will increase Oct. 1|access-date=October 16, 2020|archive-date=October 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201018082757/https://www.cda.org/Home/News-and-Events/Newsroom/Article-Details/deas-prescriber-registration-fees-will-increase-oct-1|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2005, the DEA estimated that it had over 4,000 informants without which they "could not effectively enforce the controlled substances laws of the United States."<ref name="usatoday.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2012/10/07/informants-justice-crime/1600323/|title=Crimes by ATF and DEA informants not tracked by feds|website=[[USA Today]] |date=October 7, 2012}}</ref> To gather information, agents permitted their informants to  buy and sell drugs, engage in Medicaid fraud rings, and other illicit acts.<ref name="usatoday.com"/> Despite this, the DEA claims that they are "in compliance" with the rules for using informants to gather information about illicit activities.<ref name="usatoday.com"/>

===Costs===
The total budget of the DEA from 1972 to 2014, according to the agency website, was $50.6 billion. The agency had 11,055 employees in 2014. For the year 2014 the average cost per arrest made was $97,325.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dea.gov/about/history/staffing.shtml |title=DEA Staffing & Budget |publisher=Justice.gov |access-date=December 18, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150103090908/http://www.dea.gov/about/history/staffing.shtml |archive-date=January 3, 2015 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

===Civil liberties===
Others, such as former Republican congressman Ron Paul, the [[Cato Institute]],<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.cato.org/pubs/handbook/hb109/hb_109-24.pdf
 |work        = Cato Handbook on Policy
 |title       = The war on drugs
 |last        = Boaz
 |first       = David
 |author-link  = David Boaz
 |author2     = Timothy Lynch
 |publisher   = Cato Institute
 |pages       = 253–260
 |date        = August 12, 2004
 |access-date  = May 3, 2007
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20070415065502/http://www.cato.org/pubs/handbook/hb109/hb_109-24.pdf
 |archive-date = April 15, 2007
 |df          = mdy-all
}}</ref> The [[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian Party]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lp.org/platform#1.1 |title=LIBERTARIAN PARTY PLATFORM |author=Libertarian Party |date=July 11, 2018 |author-link=Libertarian Party (United States) |access-date=January 14, 2016 |archive-date=September 5, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120905224919/http://www.lp.org/platform#1.1 |url-status=live }}</ref> and the [[Drug Policy Alliance]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.drugpolicy.org/about/mission/|title=Mission and Vision {{!}} Drug Policy Alliance|website=www.drugpolicy.org|access-date=May 3, 2007|archive-date=April 4, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070404073503/http://www.drugpolicy.org/about/mission/|url-status=live}}</ref> criticize the very existence of the DEA and the war on drugs as both hostile, and contrary, to the concept of [[civil liberties]] by arguing that anybody should be free to put any substance they choose into their own bodies for any reason, particularly when legal drugs such as alcohol, tobacco and [[prescription drug]]s are also open to addiction, and that any harm caused by a drug user or addict to the general public is a case of conflicting civil rights. Recurrently, billions of dollars are spent yearly, focusing largely on [[criminal law]] and [[demand reduction]] campaigns, which has resulted in the imprisonment of thousands of U.S. citizens.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/pressrel/pr021099.htm |title=News from DEA, News Releases, 02/10/99 |publisher=Usdoj.gov |access-date=August 31, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081021030858/http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/pressrel/pr021099.htm |archive-date=October 21, 2008 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Demand for recreational drugs is somewhat static as the market for most illegal drugs has been saturated, forcing the cartels to expand their market to Europe and other areas than the United States.{{Citation needed|date=February 2008}} United States federal law registers cannabis as a Schedule I drug.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/scheduling.html |title=DEA, Drug Scheduling |publisher=Usdoj.gov |access-date=August 31, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081020210309/http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/scheduling.html |archive-date=October 20, 2008 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

===Incarceration of Daniel Chong===
{{Main|Incarceration of Daniel Chong}}
In April 2012 in [[San Diego, California]], DEA agents detained a student, Daniel Chong, and left him locked in a holding room for five days. The cell contained no food, water or bathroom facilities.<ref name="MSNBC">[https://web.archive.org/web/20120505234650/http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/04/11527375-students-ordeal-how-was-daniel-chong-lost-in-dea-detention?lite "Student's ordeal: How was Daniel Chong lost in DEA detention?"], MSNBC, May 4, 2012</ref> When he was found, he had to be hospitalized for several days for a variety of medical problems. The incident touched off a national furor, resulting in several investigations. The incident has been described as a "[[Kafkaesque]] nightmare,"<ref name="NYT">[https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/03/us/daniel-chong-left-for-days-in-holding-cell.html "California Man's ‘Drug Holiday’ Becomes Four-Day Nightmare in Holding Cell"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170310173817/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/03/us/daniel-chong-left-for-days-in-holding-cell.html|date=2017-03-10}}, New York Times, May 2, 2012</ref> a "debacle," and "one of the worst cases of its kind."<ref>Watson, Julie, and Freking, Kevin, [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/05/01/national/a215603D99.DTL&tsp=1 "Federal lawmaker: DEA debacle suggests breakdown"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120503091921/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/05/01/national/a215603D99.DTL&tsp=1|date=2012-05-03}}, San Francisco Chronicle, May 3, 2012</ref> Chong subsequently sued the DEA; the government settled the suit for $4.1 million.<ref name="Wilson">Stan Wilson, [https://www.cnn.com/2013/07/30/justice/california-dea-settlement/index.html Daniel Chong, forgotten in DEA cell, settles suit for $4.1 million] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181229032020/https://www.cnn.com/2013/07/30/justice/california-dea-settlement/index.html|date=2018-12-29}}, CNN (July 30, 2013).</ref>

===Department of Justice Smart on Crime Program===
On August 12, 2013, at the [[American Bar Association]]'s House of Delegates meeting, Attorney General [[Eric Holder]] announced the "Smart on Crime" program, which is "a sweeping initiative by the Justice Department that in effect renounces several decades of tough-on-crime anti-drug legislation and policies."<ref name="ABA meeting Aug 12 2013">{{cite web | url=http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/sweeping_reversal_of_the_war_on_drugs_announced_by_atty_general_holder/?sc_cid=130815AR | title=Sweeping reversal of the War on Drugs announced by Atty General Holder | publisher=American Bar Association | work=ABA's 560-member policy making House of Delegates | date=12 August 2013 | access-date=16 August 2013 | author=Carter, Terry | pages=1 | archive-date=September 29, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170929091909/http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/sweeping_reversal_of_the_war_on_drugs_announced_by_atty_general_holder/?sc_cid=130815AR | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Reforming The Criminal Justice System Aug 12 2013">{{cite web | url=http://www.abajournal.com/files/SMART_ON_CRIME.PDF | title=Smart on Crime: Reforming The Criminal Justice System | publisher=US Department of Justice | work=Remarks to American Bar Association’s Annual Convention in San Francisco, CA | date=August 12, 2013 | access-date=16 August 2013 | pages=7 | archive-date=January 9, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160109013224/http://www.abajournal.com/files/SMART_ON_CRIME.PDF | url-status=live }}</ref> Holder said the program "will encourage U.S. attorneys to charge defendants only with crimes "for which the accompanying sentences are better suited to their individual conduct, rather than excessive prison terms more appropriate for violent criminals or drug kingpins..."<ref name="ABA meeting Aug 12 2013"/><ref name="Reforming The Criminal Justice System Aug 12 2013"/> Running through Holder's statements, the increasing economic burden of over-incarceration was stressed.<ref name="ABA meeting Aug 12 2013"/><ref name="Reforming The Criminal Justice System Aug 12 2013"/> {{As of | August 2013}}, the Smart on Crime program is not a legislative initiative but an effort "limited to the DOJ's policy parameters."<ref name="ABA meeting Aug 12 2013"/><ref name="Reforming The Criminal Justice System Aug 12 2013"/>

===International events===
David Coleman Headley (born Daood Sayed Gilani, June 30, 1960) who was working as an informant for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) simultaneously made periodic trips to Pakistan for LeT training and was one of the main conspirators in the [[2008 Mumbai attacks]].
On January 24, 2013, Headley, then 52 years old, was sentenced by U.S. district judge Harry Leinenweber of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago to 35 years in prison for his part in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, in which at least 164 victims (civilians and security personnel) and nine attackers were killed. Among the dead were 28 foreign nationals from 10 countries.<ref name="Casualties">{{Cite press release |url=http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=45446 |publisher=Press Information Bureau ([[Government of India]]) |date=11 December 2008 |title=HM announces measures to enhance security |access-date=14 December 2008 |archive-date=December 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225050738/http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=45446 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="CNN">{{Cite news |last1=Stevens |first1=Andrew |first2=Mallika |last2=Kapur |first3=Harmeet |last3=Shah Singh |first4=Saeed |last4=Ahmed |first5=Sara |last5=Sidner |first6=Alessio |last6=Vinci |first7=Reza |last7=Sayah |first8=Paula |last8=Newton |title=Indian official: Terrorists wanted to kill 5,000 |publisher=CNN |date=29 November 2008 |url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/11/29/india.attacks/index.html |access-date=30 November 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202083137/http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/11/29/india.attacks/index.html |archive-date=2 December 2008  |url-status=live|author2-link=Mallika Kapur |author8-link=Paula Newton }}</ref><ref name="bbc1">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7751707.stm |title=Indian forces storm Jewish centre |work=BBC News |date=27 November 2008 |access-date=27 November 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081128024751/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7751707.stm |archive-date=28 November 2008  |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/392538/1/.html |title=One Japanese killed, another wounded in Mumbai shootings |publisher=[[Channel NewsAsia]] |access-date=26 November 2008 }}{{dead link|date=June 2016}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="for">{{Cite news |author=P.S. Suryanarayana |title=Caught in the crossfire, 9 foreign nationals killed |date=27 November 2008 |url=http://www.hindu.com/2008/11/28/stories/2008112854911900.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110813153720/http://www.hindu.com/2008/11/28/stories/2008112854911900.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 August 2011 |access-date=27 November 2008 |work=[[The Hindu]] |location=Chennai, India}}</ref> One attacker was captured.<ref name="CNN"/> The bodies of many of the dead hostages showed signs of torture or disfigurement.<ref name="torture">{{Cite news |url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/nov/30mumterror-doctors-shocked-at-hostagess-torture.htm |title=Rediff: Doctors shocked at hostages's torture |work=[[Rediff.com]] |author1=Krishnakumar P  |author2=Vicky Nanjappa |date=30 November 2008 |access-date=21 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305213427/http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/nov/30mumterror-doctors-shocked-at-hostagess-torture.htm |archive-date=5 March 2009  |url-status=live}}</ref> A number of those killed were notable figures in business, media, and security services.<ref>{{Cite news |first=Philippe |last=Naughton |title=British yachting tycoon Andreas Liveras killed in Bombay terror attacks |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5246974.ece |work=The Times |location=UK |date=27 November 2008 |access-date=27 November 2008 |archive-date=July 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220713040729/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="topcopcasualties">{{Cite news |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Mumbai_3_top_cops_die_on_duty/articleshow/3762023.cms |title=Three top cops die on duty |work=The Times of India |location=India |date=27 November 2008 |access-date=27 November 2008 |archive-date=July 25, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190725175046/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Mumbai_3_top_cops_die_on_duty/articleshow/3762023.cms |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="nsgkia">{{Cite news |title=Indian victims include financier, journalist, actor's sister, police |publisher=CNN |date=30 November 2008 |url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/11/29/india.victims/index.html?iref=topnews |access-date=30 November 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202083222/http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/11/29/india.victims/index.html?iref=topnews |archive-date=2 December 2008  |url-status=live}}</ref>

The DEA was accused in 2005 by the [[Venezuela]]n [[Government of Venezuela|government]] of collaborating with drug traffickers, after which President [[Hugo Chávez]] decided to end any collaboration with the agency. In 2007, after the [[United States Department of State|U.S. State Department]] criticized Venezuela in its annual report on drug trafficking, the Venezuelan Minister of Justice reiterated the accusations: "A large quantity of drug shipments left the country through that organization. We were in the presence of a new [[drug cartel]]."<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/03/03/news/nation/20_41_553_2_07.txt
|work=New County Times
|title=Venezuela rejects U.S. drug report, accuses DEA of collaborating with traffickers
|author=Christopher Toothaker
|access-date=March 2, 2007
|archive-date=September 29, 2007
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929083435/http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/03/03/news/nation/20_41_553_2_07.txt
|url-status=live
}}</ref>
In his [[Dark Alliance series|1996 series of articles]] and subsequent [[Dark Alliance (book)|1999 book]], both titled Dark Alliance, journalist Gary Webb asserts that the DEA helped harbor Nicaraguan drug traffickers. Notably, they allowed [[Oscar Danilo Blandón]] political asylum in the USA despite knowledge of his cocaine-trafficking organization.<ref>{{cite book|last=Webb|first=Gary|year=1999|pages=177|title=Dark Alliance|publisher=Seven Stories Press|isbn=978-1-888363-93-7|title-link=Dark Alliance (book)}}</ref>

The government of [[Bolivia]] has also taken similar steps to ban the DEA from operating in the country. In September 2008, Bolivia drastically reduced diplomatic ties with the United States, withdrawing its ambassador from the US and expelling the US ambassador from Bolivia. This occurred soon after Bolivian president [[Evo Morales]] expelled all DEA agents from the country due to a revolt in the traditional coca-growing [[Chapare Province]]. The Bolivian government claimed that it could not protect the agents, and Morales further accused the agency of helping incite the violence, which claimed 30 lives. National agencies were to take over control of drug management.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://articles.cnn.com/2008-11-01/world/bolivia.dea_1_bolivian-government-autonomy-movement-chapare?_s=PM:WORLD|title=Morales: Government will take over for DEA in Bolivia|date=November 1, 2008|publisher=CNN|access-date=November 2, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121005171533/http://articles.cnn.com/2008-11-01/world/bolivia.dea_1_bolivian-government-autonomy-movement-chapare?_s=PM%3AWORLD|archive-date=October 5, 2012|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Three years later, Bolivia and the US began to restore full diplomatic ties. However, Morales maintained that the DEA would remain unwelcome in the country, characterising it as an affront to Bolivia's "dignity and sovereignty".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-15649399|title=Bolivia's Morales insists no return for US drug agency|date=November 8, 2011|publisher=[[BBC]]|access-date=November 2, 2012|archive-date=November 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112041153/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-15649399|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the Netherlands, both the Dutch government and the DEA have been criticized for violations of Dutch sovereignty in drug investigations. According to [[Peter R. de Vries]], a Dutch journalist present at the 2005 trial of Henk Orlando Rommy, the DEA has admitted to activities on Dutch soil. Earlier, then Minister of Justice [[Piet Hein Donner]], had denied to the [[States General of the Netherlands|Dutch parliament]] that he had given permission to the DEA for any such activities, which would have been a requirement by Dutch law in order to allow foreign agents to act within the territory.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.peterrdevries.nl/programma/textprogramma021005.htm
|title=Dossier: De zwarte Cobra
|last=de Vries
|first=Peter R.
|work=Programma
|language=nl
|date=October 2, 2005
|access-date=May 12, 2007
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927223607/http://www.peterrdevries.nl/programma/textprogramma021005.htm
|archive-date=September 27, 2007
|df=mdy-all
}}</ref>

The DEA conducted a covert operation over several years in which undercover operatives were sent to Venezuela to build drug-trafficking cases against Venezuela's leadership, including [[Nicholas Maduro]]. The plan was part of "Operation Money Badger", which the DEA and prosecutors in Miami created in 2013. It potentially breached Venezuelan and international law and therefore required the approval of the Sensitive Activity Review Committee, a secretive panel of senior State and Justice Department officials that oversees the most sensitive DEA cases involving tricky ethical, legal or foreign policy considerations.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Goodman |first1=Joshua |last2=Mustian |first2=Jim |title=Secret US spying program targeted top Venezuelan officials, flouting international law |url=https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-dea-drugs-cocaine-maduro-spying-law-fbf37f94207d05fb45dca1b75bf04d41 |website=AP News |access-date=4 February 2024 |language=en |date=1 February 2024}}</ref>

Following the [[Colombian peace process]], which brought an end to the [[Colombian conflict]] between the [[Government of Colombia|Colombian government]]  and the [[Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia]] (FARC–EP), the [[Special Jurisdiction for Peace]] found that the DEA had plotted with Colombian Attorney General Néstor Humberto Martínez to fabricate drug trafficking charges against [[Jesús Santrich]], in a bid to jeopardize the peace agreement by inciting the FARC to take up arms again.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cambiocolombia.com/articulo/poder/la-dea-la-fiscalia-y-un-coronel-entramparon-el-proceso-de-paz |title=La DEA, la Fiscalía y un coronel entramparon el proceso de paz &#124; Cambio Colombia}}</ref>

===Special Operations Division fabricated evidence trails===
In 2013, ''[[Reuters]]'' published a report about the DEA's Special Operations Division (SOD) stating that it conceals where an investigative trail about a suspect truly originates from and [[Parallel construction|creates a parallel set of evidence]] given to prosecutors, judges, and defense lawyers. This DEA program mainly affects common criminals such as drug dealers. The concealment of evidence means the defendant is unaware of how his or her investigation began and will be unable to request a review of possible sources of exculpatory evidence. Exculpatory evidence may include biased witnesses, mistakes, or entrapment. Nancy Gertner, a former federal judge who had served from 1994 to 2011 and a [[Harvard Law School]] professor, stated that "It is one thing to create special rules for national security. Ordinary crime is entirely different. It sounds like they are phonying up investigations."<ref>{{cite news|first1=John|last1=Shiffman|first2=Kristina|last2=Cooke|title=Exclusive: U.S. directs agents to cover up program used to investigate Americans|date=Aug 5, 2013|work=[[Reuters]]|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-dea-sod-idUSBRE97409R20130805|access-date=Jun 2, 2016|archive-date=August 14, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130814032628/http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/05/us-dea-sod-idUSBRE97409R20130805|url-status=live}}</ref> Andrew O'Hehir of ''[[Salon (magazine)|Salon]]'' wrote that "It's the first clear evidence that the “special rules” and disregard for constitutional law that have characterized the hunt for so-called terrorists have crept into the domestic criminal justice system on a significant scale."<ref>{{cite news|last=O'Hehir|first=Andrew|title=The NSA-DEA police state tango|date=August 10, 2013|work=[[Salon (magazine)|Salon]]|url=http://www.salon.com/2013/08/10/the_nsa_dea_police_state_tango/|access-date=June 2, 2016|archive-date=June 22, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160622005724/http://www.salon.com/2013/08/10/the_nsa_dea_police_state_tango/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Cannabis rescheduling===
A 2014 report by the [[Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies]] and the [[Drug Policy Alliance]] accuses the DEA of unfairly blocking the [[Removal of cannabis from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act|removal of cannabis]] from [[List of Schedule I drugs (US)|Schedule I]]. The report alleges that the methods employed by the DEA to achieve this include: delaying rescheduling petitions for years, [[Removal of cannabis from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act#1972 petition|overruling DEA administrative law judges]], and systematically impeding scientific research.<ref>{{cite web|title=The DEA: Four Decades of Impeding And Rejecting Science|url=http://www.drugpolicy.org/resource/dea-four-decades-impeding-and-rejecting-science|publisher=DPA, MAPS|access-date=14 June 2014|archive-date=June 13, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140613012935/http://www.drugpolicy.org/resource/dea-four-decades-impeding-and-rejecting-science|url-status=live}}</ref> The DEA continues to refuse the removal of cannabis from Schedule I despite wide-scale acceptance of the substance among the medical community, including 76% of doctors, for the [[Medical cannabis|treatment of various diseases]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Grotenhermen|first1=F|last2=Müller-Vahl|first2=K|title=The therapeutic potential of cannabis and cannabinoids|journal=Deutsches Ärzteblatt International|date=July 2012|volume=109|issue=29–30|pages=495–501|pmid=23008748|doi=10.3238/arztebl.2012.0495|pmc=3442177}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Pamplona|first1=FA|last2=Takahashi|first2=RN|title=Psychopharmacology of the endocannabinoids: far beyond anandamide.|journal=Journal of Psychopharmacology|date=January 2012|volume=26|issue=1|pages=7–22|pmid=21652605|doi=10.1177/0269881111405357|s2cid=4000916}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Adler|first1=Jonathan N.|last2=Colbert|first2=James A.|title=Medicinal Use of Marijuana — Polling Results|journal=New England Journal of Medicine|date=30 May 2013|volume=368|issue=22|pages=e30|doi=10.1056/NEJMclde1305159|pmid=23718175}}</ref>

===Domestic anti-drug advocacy===
The DEA, in addition to enforcement, also regularly engage in advocacy, specifically against rescheduling marijuana, by publishing policy-based papers on certain drugs.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Statement of the Drug Enforcement Administration before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce-Subcommittee on Health for a Hearing Entitled: Cannabis Policy-For The New Decade |url=https://www.dea.gov/documents/2020/2020-01/2020-01-15/statement-drug-enforcement-administration-house-committee-energy |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250404015644/https://www.dea.gov/documents/2020/2020-01/2020-01-15/statement-drug-enforcement-administration-house-committee-energy |archive-date=2025-04-04 |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=DEA |language=en}}</ref> Figures such as Ifetayo Harvey, founder and executive of the People of Color Psychedelic Collective,<ref>{{Cite web |title=About |url=https://www.ifetayo.me/about |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=Ifetayo Harvey |language=en-US}}</ref> have criticized the DEA for using tax dollars in what they call an attempt to change public opinion, a practice they call an overreach from the scope of the agency's job of enforcement. They claim that the DEA releasing such non-peer-reviewed reports is a transparent attempt to justify its own activities<ref name=":0" /> and that since it is not by law an advocacy group but rather a legal enforcement group, those press releases are tantamount to what they consider domestic propaganda.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Ifetayo |first=Harvey |date=2024 |title=Time to Abolish the DEA: Evaluating the Agency’s Failures and&nbsp;Calling for Community Investments |url=https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6113&context=flr |journal=[[Fordham Law Review]] |publication-date=2024 |volume=93 |issue=2 |page=429 |access-date=20 May 2025 |via=The Fordham Law Archive of Scholarship and History}}</ref>{{Nbsp}}

===Insufficient monitoring of David Headley===
The DEA faced a major setback for not keeping stringent observation on Pakistani-American informant [[David Headley]], for involvement in the [[2008 Mumbai attacks|November 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai]], as well as conspiring a terror attack on the Danish newspaper [[Jyllands-Posten]] for the [[Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy|cartoons of Muhammad]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Slideshow: An American's Path to the Mumbai Attacks |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/slideshow-an-americans-path-to-the-mumbai-attacks/ |access-date=August 4, 2024 |website=FRONTLINE}}</ref> Headley, while working with the DEA, took part in the plot by providing reconnaissance to the Pakistan based terror outfit [[Lashkar-e-Taiba]], which he was introduced to while visiting Pakistan. <ref>[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/labs/i/perfect-terrorist/# Interactive: David Coleman Headley's Web of Betrayal], PBS. Retrieved July 26, 2013</ref> On January 24, 2013, a [[United States federal courts|U.S. federal court]] eventually sentenced Headley to 35 years in prison for his role in Mumbai and Copenhagen.<ref name="SweeneySentence">{{cite news |last=Sweeney |first=Annie |date=January 24, 2013 |title=Chicago man gets 35 years in Mumbai terror attack |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-sentencing-today-for-chicago-man-in-mumbai-terror-attack-20130124,0,3301876.story |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130124183315/http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-sentencing-today-for-chicago-man-in-mumbai-terror-attack-20130124,0,3301876.story |archive-date=January 24, 2013 |access-date=January 24, 2013 |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]}}</ref>