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The Drug Enforcement Agency [hereinafter DEA] was created on July 1, 1973 to wage the "war on drugs." See, e.g., DEA, DEA History Book, 1970-1975, available here (last visited March 7, 2008). According to the DEA, it was created to help put an end to interagency rivalries, provide a focal point for coordinating federal drug enforcement efforts, place a single administrator in charge of federal drug law enforcement, and establish the DEA as a superagency to provide the momentum needed to coordinate all federal efforts related to drug enforcement. Id.

More than thirty years later, the drug war is still ongoing. Methamphetamine is the cover story of the August 8, 2005 issue of Newsweek magazine. See David J. Jefferson, America's Most Dangerous Drug, Newsweek Aug. 8, 2005, available here (last visited March 7, 2008). A recent Supreme Court decision determined that the federal government could bar states from legalizing marijuana use for medicinal purposes. See Gonzales v. Raich, 545 U.S. 1 (2005). The first-ever drug-smuggling tunnel between Canada and the United States was recently discovered. See Tomas Alex Tizon, Suspected Smuggling Tunnel is Closed; The elaborate passage, apparently for drugs, is the first found on the U.S.-Canada border, L.A. Times, Jul. 22, 2005 at A12. Just recently a massive tunnel was found near San Diego that burrowed nearly 60 feet under ground and stretched for nearly 800 meters. See Huge Tunnel full of Drugs, Sydney Morning Herald, Jan. 29, 2006, available here (last visited March 7, 2008).

The drug laws in this country are enormously complex and are tucked into Title 21 of the United States Code. Drugs are categorized into one of five "schedules." "In determining into which schedule a drug or other substance should be placed," certain factors, which do not require specific findings, are considered. Drug Enforcement Agency, Drugs of Abuse Publication, Chapter 1, available here (last visited March 7, 2008).

1. The drug's actual or relative potential for abuse.
2. Scientific evidence of the drug's pharmacological effects. The state of knowledge with respect to the effects of a specific drug is, of course, a major consideration. For example, it is vital to know whether or not a drug has a hallucinogenic effect if it is to be controlled due to that effect. The best available knowledge of the pharmacological properties of a drug should be considered.
3. The state of current scientific knowledge regarding the substance. Criteria (2) and (3) are closely related. However, (2) is primarily concerned with pharmacological effects and (3) deals with all scientific knowledge with respect to the substance.
4. Its history and current pattern of abuse. To determine whether or not a drug should be controlled, it is important to know the pattern of abuse of that substance, including the socio-economic characteristics of the segments of the population involved in such abuse.
5. The scope, duration, and significance of abuse. In evaluating existing abuse, the DEA Administrator must know not only the pattern of abuse, but whether the abuse is widespread. In reaching a decision, the Administrator should consider the economics of regulation and enforcement attendant to such a decision. In addition, the Administrator should be aware of the social significance and impact of such a decision upon those people, especially the young, that would be affected by it.
6. What, if any, risk there is to the public health. If a drug creates dangers to the public health, in addition to or because of its abuse potential, then these dangers must also be considered by the Administrator.
7. The drug's psychic or physiological dependence liability. There must be an assessment of the extent to which a drug is physically addictive or psychologically habit forming, if such information is known.
Whether the substance is an immediate precursor of a substance already controlled. The CSA allows inclusion of immediate precursors on this basis alone into the appropriate schedule and thus safeguards against possibilities of clandestine manufacture. Id.

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