PHARMACIST STEVE

With most entities … growth is a “yardstick” by which success is measured..

Before the Controlled Substance Act 1970 (CSA) was signed into law we had the Bureau of Narcotics with a TWO MILLION annual budget…

When the CSA was implemented and the Bureau of Narcotics was disbanded… and the BNDD ( Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs) was created.. It started with some 1500 employees and a 43 million/yr budget.

Fast forward to today… the DEA replaced the BNDD in early 1970’s and today the DEA has some 12,000 employees that > 50% sit at a desk.  FY 2017 budget is abt 2.1 BILLION…

But that is only part of the success story… since 1970 we have spent > ONE TRILLION on the war on drugs and currently spend a estimated 81 BILLION annually.

So in 47 years… the growth of expenditures fighting the war on drugs has increased 43,000 TIMES.

It has increased our prison population that we have the largest per-cent of our citizens incarcerated of any “socialized countries”… this has led the way to the creation of for profit prison operators such as http://www.cca.com/   since prisons have to be staffed 24/7/365… just imagine all the jobs have been created for prison guards.

Back to the 81 billion annual budget on the war on drugs… we now have police depts with sub groups of police dedicated to fighting the war on drugs… at the city, county and state level… Total number of police  – at the state level – that are dedicated in fighting the war on drugs… is not clear… but.. there is 81 billion/yr out there to help fund all those law enforcement..

People get arrest for violating the CSA… so we need prosecutors , defense attorneys, court system, judges and all the ancillary services  required…

Just think of all the guns and ammunition that is purchased by all levels of the government, but also by all those that sell illegal drugs.

It is estimated that the value of illegal drug sales is abt 100 billion dollars… all of which the various levels of drug dealers earn TAX FREE… so we are expending 81 billion to stop 100 billion in illegal drug sales..

So if you are one of those whose paycheck is partially or totally funded via that 81 billion dollars… would you want to see the war on drugs go away ?

If you presume that HALF of that 81 billion goes to payroll in the war on drugs… and presume that the AVERAGE pay package is $75,000/yr… there would be over ONE-HALF MILLION  people employed – FULL TIME – by the war on drugs.

And why is the war on drugs a FAILURE ?

Of course, if you are a chronic pain pt and you wonder why an attorney will not talk to you about suing about being denied care…  If they did take on such a case and was successful… they could possibly put a number of their “brothers” in the “judicial fraternity” out of a job.

Filed under: General Problems