Nicholas Atanasoff Psychiatrist: The Failure of the DEA

1. Nicholas Atanasoff Psychiatrist: The Failure of the DEA Dr. Nicholas Anthony Atanasoff is a mental health expert and addiction specialist who knows first-hand that every day, nearly 200 individuals in the United States die from drug overdoses and opioids have been a primary cause of this epidemic. However, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), the agency directly tasked with overseeing access to these narcotics, may be deserving of much of the blame. Further, the solution could be overhauling the agency, or eliminating it completely. The DEA is the brainchild of former President Richard Nixon's "war on drugs" and the agency sought to cut off drug supplies on the black market. Unfortunately, the passing of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 saw Congress give the DEA broad authority and latitude on how prescription opioids and other controlled substances were classified, produced, and distributed. Even more alarming, the DEA was tasked with curbing problematic drug use and abuse, but failed to do so because the agency's tactics were never informed by public health or addition science (in spite of billions of dollars in taxpayer's dollars being invested). In short, the DEA's record of accomplishment is abysmal (at best), and so far the agency has been either unwilling or unable (or both) to balance legitimate access to and control of prescription medications. Yet, our citizens are paying the ultimate price with the widespread over-reliance on opioids, benzodiazepines, amphetamines, along with scores of other controlled medications being widely available on the black market, explains psychiatrist Nicolas Anthony Atanasoff.