by Donnie Marshall

About the author: Donnie Marshall is the deputy administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the arm of the U.S. Department of Justice that is responsible for enforcing the nation’s drug laws.

Editor’s note: The following viewpoint is excerpted from testimony delivered before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy, and Human Resources, Committee on Government Reform, June 16, 1999.

Iwould like to discuss what I believe would happen if drugs were legalized. I realize that much of the current debate has been over the legalization of so- called medical marijuana. But I suspect that medical marijuana is merely the first tactical maneuver in an overall strategy that will lead to the eventual legalization of all drugs.

Whether all drugs are eventually legalized or...