DEA Set to Lose Over $150 Million in Funding
Thanks to the incoming government sequester, automatic budget cuts are put in place today, March 1st. As part of these budget cuts, the Drug Enforcement Administration is set to lose $166 million in funding.
This cut will drop the overall funding of the DEA to a level it hasn’t been at since the 2002-2003 budgetary calendar.
In addition, numerous other government agencies that perpetuate the drug war will be getting a cut. Here’s a breakdown of where the funding will be trimmed.
- The Department of Defense’s Drug Interdiction and Counter-Drug Activities budget of $1.6 billion will be reduced by $157 million
- The Department of Justice Interagency Crime and Drug Enforcement budget of $528 million will be reduced by $43 million.
- The DEA Diversion Control Fee Account budget of $335 million will be reduced by $25 million.
- The Office of National Drug Control Policy budget of $25 million will be reduced by $2 million.
- The High-intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program budget of $239 million will be reduced by $20 million.
- “Other Federal Drug Control Programs,” with a total budget of $100 million, will undergo $8 million in cuts.
Although we have little doubt that they’ll try, these cuts will make it even more difficult for the DEA and the White House to continue its war on cannabis consumers.
– TheJointBlog
Doug Mathews
The sad thing about all of the cuts is that when these agencies bust citizens for any kind of drug related crime, they will simply increase the fines and penalties to continue buttering their pockets!
I DO PRAY THAT IT WILL HELP TO CUT DOWN ON THE AMOUNT OF ARREST FOR CANNABIS RELATED CHARGES!!!!!!!
moldy
I don’t see the good news here. They’ll just rip off more suppliers and retailers of MMJ to make up the short fall. Wanna bet?
David James
If we were to base our policies on harm caused, not only would cannabis be totally legalized, but the administrators of the DEA would be facing criminal charges.
stanman
I smoked pot on and off for 45 years, with never an ill effect. Now I’m facing 15 years for marijuana possession with intent to distribute. I have degenerative bone disease in my lower back. Feels like electricity hitting me in my back. I have a choice of marijuana or oxycodone. Marijuana works great, oxycodone makes me puke. I grew my own for my own use. Another life ruined by prohibition. If I get the minimum, 5 years, I’ll be 64 when I get out
Bryan Smith
The federal government should discontinue a large chunk of the funding for the DEA. Medical marijuana is now legal in more than twenty states and recreational use has been legalized in a handful states that have done the math and figured out that it is not cost effective prosecuting such ‘crimes.’ Drug possession crimes constitute such a large portion of some local budgets that LE agencies don’t want the laws to change. Take into account the fines that can be levied against someone found to be in possession of illegal drugs…court costs, fines, probation costs, and that is just the beginning. Courts will also- at least here in California- require the individual to register as a drug offender and their chances of obtaining any meaningful type of employment are virtually destroyed. As a member of the medical community and emergency medicine for more than twenty years, I am telling you the war on drugs (marijuana) can not be won. I’ve never seen a trauma/motor vehicle accident that was directly the result of someone smoking marijuana, but I’ve seen hundreds attributed to the abuse of alcohol. And alcohol use is condoned by every state in the union…what is wrong with this picture? I don’t smoke or use marijuana, but I say the most intelligent way to address the ‘problem’ is to completely legalize it and tax it like tobacco or alcohol, the states will easily make up any lost revenue.