Booting Earth Optimization System
Thank you for your patience. Your civilization is very important to us.
Thank you for your patience. Your civilization is very important to us.
Agency Report Card
Enforce controlled substance laws and reduce drug availability
Enforce controlled substance laws and reduce drug availability
Federal drug control spending grew from $20.6B (FY2006) to $43.6B (FY2024) while overdose deaths went from 17,415 (2000) to 107,941 (2022) — a 520% increase — before falling to 79,384 in 2024. Since the DEA was created in 1973, yearly deaths peaked at roughly 20 times their starting level.
| Year | Federal drug control budget (ONDCP; budget authority, nominal USD, fiscal year; includes treatment and prevention) | Drug overdose deaths (NCHS final, US residents) |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | – | 17,415 |
| 2002 | – | 23,518 |
| 2004 | – | 27,424 |
| 2006 | $20.6B | 34,425 |
| 2008 | $21.8B | 36,450 |
| 2010 | $24.6B | 38,329 |
| 2012 | $24.5B | 41,502 |
| 2014 | $25.7B | 47,055 |
| 2016 | $26.9B | 63,632 |
| 2018 | $33.3B | 67,367 |
| 2020 | $39.7B | 91,799 |
| 2022 | $40.9B | 107,941 |
| 2024 | $43.6B | 79,384 |
“97% clinical trials, 3% overhead — the exact mirror of your NIH”
Total annual funding for the National Institutes of Health
Share of NIH budget that actually funds clinical trials — ~$1.55B of $47B
Average cost per patient in a traditional randomized controlled trial
Share of researchers' time spent writing grant proposals instead of doing science
Did creating the DEA reduce drug use, drug deaths, or drug availability?
Did creating the DEA reduce drug use, drug deaths, or drug availability?
Drug overdose deaths went from 2.5 per 100,000 in 1968 to 32.6 per 100,000 in 2022 — a 13x increase. The rate was stable or slightly declining in the 1970s (when the DEA was new), then began an exponential increase that continues to this day. Over 1.1 million Americans died from drug overdoses between 1968 and 2020, with 85% of those deaths occurring after 1999. The DEA budget went from ~$75M in 1973 to $3.5B in 2024 — a 47x increase — while the problem got 13x worse.
Drug overdose deaths went from 2.5 per 100,000 in 1968 to 32.6 per 100,000 in 2022 — a 13x increase. The rate was stable or slightly declining in the 1970s (when the DEA was new), then began an exponential increase that continues to this day. Over 1.1 million Americans died from drug overdoses between 1968 and 2020, with 85% of those deaths occurring after 1999. The DEA budget went from ~$75M in 1973 to $3.5B in 2024 — a 47x increase — while the problem got 13x worse.
“Forty-four billion dollars a year — and overdose deaths peaked at twenty times the level you started with. Portugal decriminalized everything in 2001 and deaths dropped eighty percent. You are spending forty-four billion a year on a problem that got twenty times worse.”
A drug-free America
Created 100:1 crack/powder sentencing disparity. Mandatory minimums filled prisons with nonviolent offenders. Incarceration rate tripled. Overdose deaths increased 600%. America is less drug-free than ever.
Overdose deaths +600%, incarceration +300%
Overdose deaths since 1968
$47B/yr
ONDCP FY2024: DEA + enforcement + interdiction + incarceration
-80% deaths
Portugal decriminalized all drugs in 2001. Drug deaths dropped 80%. US overdose deaths went up 20x.
On a well-run planet, this agency would have been deprecated centuries ago. Here is what replaces it.
Decentralized Institutes of Health — National Institutes of Health + FDA