DEA Should Stay Off
Doctor-Patient Relationship
By Bart Stratton
October 24, 2003
Since
its inception, the DEA has been a political entity, not merely enforcing laws,
but reflecting a viewpoint held by a minority in our country that drugs and
drug users reflect a moral threat to our nation. Pain management is a
legitimate medical practice that should be exclusively the province of the
doctor-patient relationship. Nor should the doctors be forced to act as
unpaid investigators for the state by interrogating or investigating their own
patients.
It
is cowardly of the DEA to divert resources from organized crime investigations
to the investigation and prosecution of doctors. Doctors are easy targets
precisely because they are legitimate professionals who keep extensive records,
file tax returns and have community standing. If we allow the DEA to
smear doctors, then what will prevent them from prosecuting accountants,
lawyers, investment advisors and pharmaceutical salesman for associated crimes
like money laundering and conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance?
One of the signs of the growing boldness of a police state is its willingness
to attack law-abiding citizens.
The
DEA has failed in its primary mission to reduce the flow of illegal drugs into
this country. Nor has it been able to effectively reduce demand. It is a
failed agency and should be closed down, or completely
overhauled until it can effectively police the drug cartels it was
established to investigate.