The U.S. Senate is rushing to pass four bills that would expand the DEA’s power by giving them the authority to outlaw even more substances across the country and subject more Americans to long mandatory minimum sentences. This legislation would waste your tax dollars by escalating the war on drugs and increasing the DEA’s power.

These draconian bills would make it easier for the DEA to ban and criminalize more drugs. The legislation would make it easier for the DEA to bypass the formal drug scheduling process and prohibit substances at their own discretion. If enacted, possession of any quantity could subject someone to a mandatory minimum sentence and incarceration. This misguided legislation would make it easier for the DEA -- a law enforcement agency -- to decide what drugs should be legal or illegal at their whim.

The DEA has a history of consistently ignoring sound scientific research and issuing outright lies about marijuana and other drugs. They routinely reject science and common sense in favor of fear and hysteria, and are an obstacle to evidence-based drug policies.

Given their anti-science, anti-public health record, why give federal police agents more authority over more substances?

These bills would give the DEA greater power, increase the number of people in federal prison for nonviolent drug law offenses and waste taxpayer money. Tell the Senate: Don't escalate the war on drugs!