‘Don’t ever suggest that federal bureaucrats are not smart. Take, for instance, the DEA, the federal agency that has the responsibility of waging the war on drugs, a war that has obviously failed to achieve its objective after 30 years of warfare, not to mention all the collateral violence that the drug war has spawned.

Amidst growing discussion and debate in the mainstream media on the libertarian idea of ending the war on drugs by legalizing drugs, guess what the DEA is using as a way to distract people’s attention away from that solution.

Yes, you guessed it! The DEA is employing the magic word, the word that gets everyone’s knees-a-knockin’ – the word that causes them to pull the duct tape out and start sealing their windows – the word that induces them to beg the government to “temporarily” take away their freedoms.

Yes, the DEA is saying that the drug war is necessary because of ... (drum roll) ... terrorism!

Much like the snake-oil salesmen of old, the DEA is touring the country with a travelling exhibit in which a post–9/11 President Bush waving a flag is juxtaposed with an African-American woman lying in bed next to her baby as she smokes crack cocaine. There are also photos of the noted terrorist Osama bin Laden on the walls of the exhibit alongside noted drug dealer Pablo Escobar.’

DEA Snake Oil